The Juvenile Birder

Small Bird, Mighty Twitch We arrived at Linford Lakes NR early morning at around 7:00am in hopes of seeing a Little Crake. We had to queue at the reserve gates, as the hides to view the Little Crake were full. After a few minutes, we were guided towards a bank, which provided more distant views of the section of reedbed where the Little Crake had favoured. Since we didn't have our tripod on us, the kind warden let me use his. Soon after, he received a call saying that the Warbler Hide had two spaces available. Since we didn't have a tripod, the warden let us have the space, so we made our way to the hide. Once at the hide, we took a seat and waited in the freezing cold. After around two hours, I was frozen solid. Even with a coat, my hands and feet were numb. On the lake  there were three Great Crested Grebes  fishing, as well as two Egyptian Geese  and a few Great White Egrets . One by one, the birders left the hide, defeated. After most of the people in the hide had lef...

 Smart-looking Gulls and Mega Rare Bird! We first arrived at RSPB Leighton Moss where we saw Garganey, Eurasian Otters and Pied Avocets. We then met Rob again, from Sizergh Castle, who gave us some details on the Belted Kingfisher in Preston, which we had yet to see. We went there as soon as we got the details but spoke to some birders who said it isn't worth the £10 since its not there. The man, who was named Bob, offered his contact number to alert us when it appears again. We then arrived at WWT Martin Mere at 1:00pm where we saw two Mediterranean Gulls and some more Pied Avocets. Finally, we got a call from Bob and dashed back to Roach Bridge. At first we only saw a Common Kingfisher as it flew upriver and when we followed it, we saw the Belted Kingfisher. We also saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker and managed to slip away from paying the farmer. The Belted Kingfisher at first flew near the river, then landed on the lower branches above some rocks until finally perching for a while...

Murmurations ! We arrived at 6:10am in hopes of seeing some Great Bitterns. We went to the Causeway where we were greeted to the continuous booming of Great Bitterns, a sure sign they were there. We went towards the Causeway Hide, seeing a Eurasian Wren on the way. There, two juvenile European Otters were seen playing with each other while the mother was somewhere nearby, probably hunting. We continued along the Causeway when we stopped at the channel crossing to scan the reedbeds yet we saw no Great Bittern. We heard a possible Red Fox along the way but never saw it. Common Pochards, Common Snipe, and many more were out but no Great Bitterns. We then headed towards the saltmarsh where we saw Black-Tailed Godwits, Pied Avocets, Eurasian Oystercatchers and Common Redshanks feeding in huge numbers out on the lagoons.  We then arrived back on the main reserve. We went to the Grisedale, Tim Jackson and Lilian's Hide without seeing anything. We then went to the Causeway Hide where ...

  Otters Finally! We arrived at 7:25 in the morning in hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive, sinuous European Otter. When we arrived, we were welcomed by a dawn chorus, loads of songbirds singing in the morning, and we heard Eurasian Green Woodpeckers, Marsh Tits, Great Tits and many other species. We went straight along the Causeway and straight through the Causeway Hide. Only one other birder was there that early. We went straight through the woodland part and arrived at the Lower Hide, the furthest hide, at 7:40. The other person in the hide had only seen Giant Otters in South America. This was their third and final attempt before she headed back to her home, as she was living in a van for 3 days since this place was far. We soon met two more people who said that they'd seen 2 juvenile European Otters at a bridge along the Causeway that crosses a channel. We soon left unsuccessful but had to return to grab the phone that we forgot at the hide. When we entered the Lowe...

 Deer Stags ! (image from internet) We arrived early at 8:20am ​in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Eurasian Otters that are making an almost daily appearance at the Lower Hide. We were told that 3 Eurasian Otters were out 20 minutes ago and are best seen at 8:00. We then went past the Lower Hide into the woodland in hopes of seeing some a Common Chiffchaff that had been spotted there. We had no luck but did hand feed 2 Marsh Tits, Eurasian Blue Tits and Great Tits. We also saw a large flock Eurasian Siskins along with two male Eurasian Bullfinches and a Eurasian Jay. We then made our way to the Lilian's Hide where we saw a Northern Shoveler/ Cinnamon Teal hybrid. The bird has escaped from an ornamental garden and is wild. It comes to Leighton Moss nearly every Winter and may also stay during the summer. Not a wild bird though. We also saw lots of Common Snipe, a Common Redshank a Great White Egret, Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Eurasian Teal, Northern Pintails and a male Common ...