The Juvenile Birder

Another Showy Shrike! We arrived at RSPB Bempton Cliffs at around 8:30am in hopes of seeing yet another mega shrike. We were accompanied by Carl and Kristian, who had given us a lift. We joined the crowd and waited only a few minutes when a large, sandy bird came into view midway up the bush. It was our target bird, the Daurian Shrike ! The bird then decided to reveal itself in all its glory and sat up on top of the bush, giving spectacular views.  Since this bird was a 1st winter, it had been ruled as an Isabelline Shrike sp, meaning it could either be Daurian (which would be a lifer) or a Turkestan (which I had seen two years ago, also at Bempton) Shrike. However, based off of its extremely sandy plumage, it is very likely that it is a Daurian Shrike. Satisfied with our glorious views, we made our way down to Flamborough Head to try and find a bogey bird of mine.  As soon as we arrived at Flamborough Head, we made our way over to Motorway Hedge, where 3 Firecrests (a bi...

 Temporary Tick! Image by @RobsBirding, not same bird We set off at 3.30am, picked up Dave and were taken to Fakenham by Keith. We arrived at around 9:00am. Our target bird was the Rustic Bunting, that had been seen here yesterday, however a Coues's Arctic Redpoll had been seen earlier in the morning, which would also be a lifer. Once we had arrived at the site, we scanned the crop cover at the far end of the field. The first thing that stood out to me was the large flock of Lesser Redpolls  feeding in the crop cover, as well as the numerous Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in the surrounding fields. We also noticed many Red-legged Partridges  in the fields. In the crop cover were a few beautiful male  Yellowhammers . There were also a few Bramblings . I was very happy to see them after only getting brief views of them in the past. Suddenly, someone spotted the Arctic Redpoll in their scope, and they let me have a look. The Coues's Arctic Redpoll was sat on a branch, ...

Flamborough At Its Best! Image from Flamborough Bird Observatory website We arrived at Flamborough Head at 7:40am, and immediately started the one mile walk from the lighthouse car park to Northcliff Marsh for the mega rare Red-headed Bunting. Someone pointed out the Red-headed Bunting almost immediately after we stationed ourselves for the mega. Unfortunately, I only managed dull, brief views as it flew back into the field shortly after. There were many Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings in the bushes, as well as a very tame Robin  which wandered around our feet. We waited in the cold rain for around an hour hoping for better views yet to no avail. News of the Two-barred Warbler then came out, so we decided to head off to go see it.  As soon as we got to Motorway Hedge (where the warbler had been seen), all the birders started rushing over to a different section of the hedge, so I ran with them. Then, one birder pointed out a small, green, flighty bird in the hedge and low down ...

 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...

Birding: A Waiting Game! We started our trip by going to Brierdine (2hrs 45 mins away, we set off at 4.30am). We arrived there at 7:30am and immediately started scanning every tree and bush.  I was very worried about distinguishing between the Yellow-browed Warbler and the Hume's Warbler; Phil told me if you get a good view of a warbler, look at the wingbar. He said Yellow Browed Warber has two obvious wingbars while Hume's Warbler only has one obvious wingbar and a fainter one above. After searching in that area and listening out for the call, we were unsuccessful. We then met a birder who said he had seen this bird in the same place seven years ago. We followed him and other birders began arriving, they went to a patch of greenery that hosted a tit flock that kept doing circuits. Long-tailed Tits  were the most abundant, but a few Goldcrests  and one Chiffchaff  were present, as well as a few Willow Tits  which are a special species that breed here. We continu...

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 ...

Winning An Award and Sighting Badgers!                            (image from internet)                        We arrived at the Global Birdfair (location pinned to post) at 9:00am and at first went to the Swallow Marquee to check out some of the stall there. After that, we went to the BTO Bird Ringing Demonstration and as soon as we arrived, the staff who were ringing were showing everyone an adult female Sparrowhawk and soon after that they showed everyone a Goldcrest and I got a really close view of it. We then moved to a different marquee and met Stephen Menzie at the British Birds stall. We had a good conversation and I learned a lot about ageing, observation and patchworking. We then attended a bird ID competition for young birders at 3:00pm which was hosted by three people including Stephen. After that, we checked out a few more stalls, meeting David L...

 Bearded Tits and Winter Migrants! It was our second time visiting Leighton Moss. We arrived at around 10:00am as everyone we saw said to get here early, and it was well worth it. We were told that the Bearded Tits were out and active. We rushed towards the Causeway where the grit feeders were​ and along the way, I hand fed a hungry European Robin some seeds. We stopped at the grit feeders where two male Bearded Tits and one female Bearded Tit were feeding. We were also told that it was the perfect time and weather to see Great Bitterns from the Lower Hide. We made our way towards the Lower Hide, hand feeding a Eurasian Blue Tit and some Great Tits some seeds. We then arrived at the Lower Hide where we saw Mute Swans, Gadwalls, Eurasian Wigeons, Western Marsh Harriers, Eurasian Teals and Northern Shovelers. On our way back, we saw a huge flock of Eurasian Siskins along with two Eurasian Jays feeding on some seeds somebody had left on the armrest of a bench. We also saw a Goldcrest ...