The Juvenile Birder

Short Stay Story in Scotland! We set off from home at around 12:30am and arrived in the Scottish Highlands at around 10:00am. As soon as we got out of the car, we were struck by the freezing cold weather. We started scanning the open moors in hopes of finding either White-tailed or Golden Eagle (either would be a lifer), along with other raptors. After stopping in various passing places along the narrow road and scanning the crags, ridgelines and moors, we were unsuccessful in finding any raptors. We did however see around eighty  Greylag Geese (presumably Icelandic birds overwintering) along with around ten Goldeneye . We then decided to try for the eagles at another location. We arrived at our next site at around 1:00pm and straight away got to scanning. We were joined by a few other birders who were also looking for eagles. Suddenly, I noticed a commotion, and one of the birders that was there seemed to be getting his scope onto something. I asked him if he had seen anything, an...

Day 2: You Can Never Have Too Much of a Good Thing! We set off from our Inn at 6:30am and went over to Blagdon Lake for a Ring-necked Duck. We found the lake, which was huge, but at the two different locations that we stopped we were unable to find the duck. We could not get close to the lake; it was always overlooking private land and we were unable to therefore walk the circumference of the lake. We also tried to get to the location of the Bristol Dartford Warbler at Trooper's Hill but there was a lot of road works taking place in Bristol and the old sat nav we have could not navigate us to the right location. We ended then going to WWT Slimbridge. We arrived at 9:30am and rushed straight to the Rushy Hide in hopes of seeing the Bewick's Swans. We entered the hide and the three Bewick's Swan were sat right up front, on the mud, showing very well. I had only seen Whooper Swans at WWT Martin Mere, a site local to me, and had been scanning the flocks at Martin Mere for ages...

 More Rarities and A Wanted Species! (image from internet) We arrived at 1:00pm at Hornsea Mere to see a rare female Ferruginous Duck. When we arrived, we went to the viewing area near Hornsea Sailing Club. We saw a birder who had seen the bird a couple of times before it dived down. It was a female so a hard bird to connect with, especially as it dived a lot. The man lowered his scope, since mine couldn't go that far, and showed me it a couple of times but it had either dived or moved out of view by the time I had looked through it. Suddenly, it stayed up for a long time and was by itself. I looked through and saw it as it swam side on to the right at the end of the raft. Wanting a better view, we went into the fields opposite and met Rob, Chris and some other birders who showed us the bird multiple times through their scope. We then got another decent look at it in the other field with a footpath where we also saw a Black-Necked Grebe. Everyone was struggling to find it, especial...

 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...

  Winter Waterfowl and Finches We arrived at 9:40am in hopes of spotting a rare Green-Winged Teal. We walked in and headed straight for the Ron Barker Hide where it had been seen. We arrived with no luck. We only saw the usual Eurasian Teals, Common Moorhens and Western Marsh Harriers. We then headed to the Discovery Hide where we saw Common Pochard, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Ruff, Black-Tailed Godwits, Northern Pintails, Greylag Geese and Whooper Swans. We then went the opposite direction to the Janet Kea Hide in hopes of seeing Bramblings. At first, the hide was quiet until one Brambling went out to feed on the feeders, then it hopped back into a bush. European Goldfinch & Greenfinches, Eurasian Blue Tits, Great Tits, Common Chaffinches and Eurasian Tree Sparrow where also there. We saw Rooks and a Common Kestrel on our journey home.

 Christmas Rarity! We arrived at midday on Christmas Eve. We were hoping for some festive sighting and we got what we wanted. We first went in the Discovery Hide where we saw Common Pochards, Mallards, Common Shelducks, Northern Pintails, Ruffs, Tufted Ducks, Eurasian Wigeons, Whooper Swans, Greylag Geese and Northern Lapwings all over the mere in their hundreds . We then made our way to the Janet Kea Hide in hopes of spotting some Bramblings. We didn't see any Bramblings but we did see European Goldfinches, Eurasian Blue Tits, Great Tits, European Greenfinches, Common Chaffinches, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The highlight though was a rare Willow Tit that hopped onto the feeders a few times. We then went to the Gordon Taylor Hide where we saw lots of Eurasian Teals and one Northern Shoveler resting on a muddy island. We also saw Western Marsh Harriers hunting some huge flocks of waders to end the Christmasy Day.

  Falcons and Even More Mammals! ​It was my first time visiting an RSPB site. It was called Marshside and we arrived at midday. It is mainly a saltmarsh and coast but with a few freshwater marshes too. We went along a route called Redshank Road where many people walk their dogs. If you follow it, you'll end up at the coast. The further ahead we got on the path, the muddier it got. Huge puddles of saltwater were along the path. Very slippery mud and quicksand was also there. Lots of Little Egrets and Pink-Footed Geese were around. When we arrived at the coast, we made sure that the tide was right before we ventured further. A Great Black-Backed Gull was sitting in a deep puddle as Common Redshank zipped around the rocks. We examined the tide pools but nothing was there. We then headed back. We went to a viewing point and saw Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Mallard, Eurasian Teal and Black-Tailed Godwits. We walked further ahead and ended up at Sandgrounder's Hide (the visi...

  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 ...