The Juvenile Birder

Fleeting Glimpses of Gold! We arrived at RSPB Bempton Cliffs in hopes of seeing an extremely rare Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. We were accompanied by Dave, who we had given a lift to. On our drive to Bempton we spotted a Barn Owl perched by the side of the road. It soon got up and flew alongside us in the car, going almost the exact same speed as us and giving incredible views  Upon arrival at Bempton, we were greeted by a large crowd of birders, who all seemed to be looking at something in the car park. We parked in a convenient space opposite them and jumped out to see what they were looking at. Since I was at the back of the crowd, it was impossible for me to see over the birders. Dave then took us round to a gap in the hedge, where the bird had been showing well yesterday. We sat on the floor waiting for it to appear in the undergrowth. Suddenly, the Pale-legged Leaf Warbler  flitted right in front of us, calling. Although it was the bird, I didn't ideally want to tick the b...

Birding Bonanza! We arrived at RSPB Frampton Marsh at around 8:00am, in hopes of spotting many rare birds. We were with Dave, who had given us a lift there. Our first target was the Lesser Yellowlegs, which could be seen from the car park. We walked towards a small crowd which was gathered at the side of the car park, and Dave let me look through his scope pointed at the Lesser Yellowlegs . I managed to get a record shot of it, before Dave then let me look through his scope again, this time aimed at a female Black-winged Stilt . I also saw my first Avocet  and Little Ringed Plover of the year while at the car park too.  We then made our way to where the Bonaparte's Gull had been reported early today. Along the way, we spotted two Mediterranean Gulls flyover , making their distinctive call. We arrived at the viewpoint overlooking the reedbed, and waited. Almost immediately, I noticed at least two Little Gulls  doing circuits around the reedbed. One of them was an adult nea...

 Spurn on Point We arrived at around 6:40am and started the day by walking along the canal, hoping to see an Icterine Warbler and any other migrants. Halfway along the canal footpath, I spotted a juvenile Red-backed Shrike , sat in a bush, before it flew on the other side of the canal and landed on a post. We then reached the end of the canal footpath, so we checked the Crown & Anchor car park before entering Churchfield. We didn't see many birds in Churchfield, but I did see a Gatekeeper . We then noticed a warden opening a moth trap. I was looking to see if there were any new moths for me in the trap, so I asked him about all the moths I spotted which looked interesting. The first new moth I saw was a Dusky Sallow as well as a Common Plume  (both pictured). I then saw the only two new underwing moths in the trap, a Copper Underwing  as well as a Pearly Underwing  (a scarce migrant moth). The other new moths I saw in the trap were Dingy Footman , White Point , C...

 Found Myself a Patch! I have always intended to find a patch and have recently explored some potential sites. After browsing google maps looking for a place to patch, we found a place called Grimsargh Wetlands. We also saw that a Garganey was reported there yesterday. With it being quite local to us, and there being nothing to twitch, we decided to give it a try. We arrived at Grimsargh Wetlands at 10:30am and as soon as we got to the main viewing screen, we managed to spot the drake Gargane y straight away, fairly close on Island Lake. We also saw two Avocets  which were also reported on RBA yesterday. We then spotted two Great Crested Grebes doing their courtship display on The Mere and while we were watching them, I spotted a medium-sized bird with a striking blue wing fly across the lake and land in a tree. I had a look through my binoculars and saw that it was a Jay ! We watched it for a bit and then observed the species on both lakes. We spotted an Oystercatcher , a few...

 Rare Scaup in Spring and Summer Wagtails! We arrived at around 2:00pm in hopes of seeing a rare duck Rob had reported to us. It was called a Lesser Scaup, much rarer than our native Greater Scaup. It was seen at RSPB Marshside (go to Wader Fest blog post to see location pin). We headed straight towards Sandgrounder's Hide and right outside were flocks of birders. I asked one of them where the bird was and almost immediately after, I managed to spot it. It looked similar to a Tufted Duck, yet lacked the tuft. Then, a drake Garganey flew in. There were also a pair of Little Ringed Plovers on an island. We then came back to the car, and I was thrilled I had just seen my first Lesser Scaup. Many people I met said it was highly unlikely this was an escaped bird as it had nothing wrong with it's feathers, hangs out mainly with the Tufted Ducks and hasn't got a ring on its leg. We then ended the day by driving down Curlew Lane (location pinned to post). After a bit, we saw a Yell...

 Spring Migrants are Here! We arrived at Burton Mere at early evening. We first went to Bridge Pool where the female Long-Tailed Duck was. We then went on the boardwalk to Border Hide where Common Lizards normally bask. It seemed the the lizards were wise and decided to stay in due to the cold. 85 Knot had been reported on Border Pool so we made our way there. It turns out, a few minutes ago all the Knot were flushed by a Marsh Harrier and went back to the saltmarsh. We then went to Burton Point for Green Woodpeckers with no luck. There were no Woodcock seen on the journey either. We then stopped at the Bridge Screen after spotting some Sand Martins. There were many Sand Martins and at least 2 Swallows skimming over the water. There were also a pair of Little Grebes quite close in beautiful summer plumage. We also saw a male Blackcap in the hedgerow and heard lots of warblers. We then went to the Marsh Covert Hide where we saw a pair of Garganey to end the day.

 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...

 Bats and Rare Ducks! We arrived at 4:20pm, after a visit​ to RSPB Burton Mere, in hopes of seeing some Garganey. Yesterday, there were at least two pairs reported. We got info that a pair had been seen a quarter  of an hour ago at Grisedale Hide. We headed straight towards the hide. When we arrived, a few people were there. One of them let us use their scope pointed at a female. They then moved it on a drake duck. They were stunning. The ducks foraged in the lake. A Grey Heron, a Little Egret and a Great White Egret were also there. We then went to the Skytower to view the murmurations. We saw bits of the murmuration but it wasn't as good as the others. We also saw a Peregrine, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Western Marsh Harriers and a few Soprano and Common Pipistrelles at 7:20pm to end the day.