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...

 Day in Northumberland (& Lincs)! We arrived at Boulmer at 7:00am in hopes of seeing the Red-eyed Vireo reported last night! It took us 3 hours to get there. We trekked along the beach, enjoying the Rock Pipits flying about everywhere. The Turnstones were settled on the rocks and the Sanderlings were doing their iconic run away from the waves. We then went on a track next to some ferns, before then going back to the beach as a 'Private Land' sign popped up ahead. We continued along the beach, with Stonechats and Eider on the coast and bushes. We then saw two birders, meaning we were in the right place! We were taken to the bush where the RE Vireo was last seen, in a caravan park on private land, yet after waiting for around 3 hours, we were unsuccessful. We were then advised by the birders to try Widdrington Moor Lake (25 mins away) where a Red-necked Grebe was reliably showing, so, we set off in hopes of seeing it. At first, we parked in a layby and walked along East Bank,...