The Juvenile Birder

 From Despair to Delight! Image from Levi Gravett (same bird, but take n on different date) We arrived at Llanddulas Beach car park at 8.00am and started scanning towards the left of the car park. We started scanning for over an hour scanning through hundreds of Common Scoters which   were moving about everywhere. There were no other birders to help and I started doubting any success.  Suddenly, a Velvet Scoter came into view, flying low and eventually landing. Knowing that the Surf Scoters had been hanging around with Velvet Scoters, I scanned the scoters nearby and saw a smaller scoter with a funny shaped bill. I tried to keep on the bird but it was difficult with the choppy water and the distance they were at. Then, as it was preening, I saw some white on the back of its head. It was a Surf Scoter ! I stayed on it for a good few minutes before all four Velvet Scoters flew off; as well as the two Surf Scoters. There were also a few drake Red-breasted Mergansers and Gr...

The Last of My 2022 Birding Shenanigans! We arrived at Elmley NNR (5hrs away) at 10:30am in hopes of seeing Penduline Tits. When we arrived, we walked down a path that lead to where the Penduline Tits were last reported. We saw lots of Golden Plovers , Lapwings , and Curlew along the way to the Penduline Tits. Halfway along the path, we then got a call from Rob (@RobsBirding) who said the Penduline Tit was showing well further up. I then ran dangerously towards where the Penduline Tits were seen and met up with Evan (a young warden there) and Rob who let me look through his scope directed at the Penduline Tit ! I enjoyed watching it as it flit from one branch to another.  After getting good views and a digiscoped image of it, we went to the old ruins to try to see a Dartford Warbler, which Evan had found a week ago, that was still showing. We did a quick scan but to no avail. We then said goodbye to Evan and we went to Oare Marshes KWT in hopes of seeing our next target. We ar...

Just One... But a GOOD One! We arrived at RSPB Marshside at 10:30am. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of a Water Pipit, something that I had wanted to see and dipped before. We walked towards Crossens Outer Marsh, seeing a hunting female Sparrowhawk and a few Wigeon with a pair of  Teal along the way. We also saw a Buzzard flyover. We set up by the trough, that the Water Pipits were reportedly seen from. We waited for a while and were accompanied by a beautiful flock of Goldfinches flitting around, a few Stonechats posing on wires, two Pied Wagtails ,   and a  Robin made for a pleasant morning's birding . Suddenly, I think I spot a pipit species, so I immediately think it's a Water Pipit. As I try to get it in the scope to confirm it, I lose it. I then desperately try to re-find it, I start scanning, but to no avail. Then, a small bird waddles in the grasses by the edge of the water. It was a pipit species! I get it in the scope and immediately think it's a Water Pipi...

  Birding, My Legal High! Day 1: We arrived at Prawle Point at around 9:30am (set off at 3am!) in hopes of seeing Cirl Bunting and Chough. The roads to this point were extremely narrow and it was a struggle to pass by oncoming vehicles. When we finally arrived, the view was simply stunning. We were surrounded by a rugged environment with the rough sea crashing onto the rocks below. It was a place rich with birdlife. In the car park, we met a couple who said the easiest birds to see were the Cirl Buntings, as we were early, and these birds would be out feeding in the hedgerows. The harder ones to connect with were the Chough, they said, as they had probably been blown somewhere else, during the strong winds they had over the week. We took the footpath to where the Cirl Buntings were meant to be. In the hedgerows, we spotted multiple Stonechats  as well as witnessing a  Sparrowhawk  getting mobbed by two Crows . Then, the man we met earlier shouts 'Cirl' and waves us b...

Fast & Furious Ticks! We started the day at Easington at 7:00am (no light yet!) in hopes of seeing a Red-flanked Bluetail and an Olive-backed Pipit. We met up with Phil and searched behind The White Horse for the Olive-backed Pipit (OBP) that roosted yesterday. There, we also met Dave, who said the RFB along Vicars Lane was easier to see than the one at the Playing Fields. So we walked down there with Phil and waited. A few minutes later, we got a brief glimpse of it hovering before it dashed out of view.  The Red-flanked Bluetail showed again, but this time it was out in the open on a patch of seeds. Satisfied with getting good views, and a record shot, of the RFB on the driveway, we turned our attention back to the OBP, as Phil's friend rang up saying that the OBP had been seen. We walked back to The White Horse, but when we showed up, no birders were there. I was a bit confused until an RBA message popped up, saying something about the OBP being on a rooftop, south of the ...

  Owls and Stonechats ​ We started the day at 11:10am with a visit to the Discovery Hide but didn't see much other than the usual winter waterfowl. We then ventured on the long path to the Ron Barker Hide. We arrived at the hide and first viewed the ground floor before heading upstairs. There were many Greylag Geese, Northern Lapwing and Common Shelduck in the lake as well as a few Little Grebes in a nearby ditch filled with water. I then arrived at the second floor, which serves as a higher viewing platform for the lake. There were two people talking about a European Stonechat they'd seen. Since I'd never seen a European Stonechat, I politely asked them if I could see it. Luckily, they let me see through their scope; which was pointed at a male European Stonechat singing and dancing on top of a bush, doing its mating call. They also pointed out the Little Grebes in the ditch as well as the Great Egret that was on the bank of another ditch. I then set off to the other side ...