The Juvenile Birder

 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, ...

 Magic at the Marsh! A bad record shot of a Peregrine We arrived at RSPB Marshside at around 2:30pm, and immediately set off to the sandplant in hopes of seeing some interesting raptors. Once we had arrived at the sandplant, we met two friendly local birders. After a few minutes of searching, I spotted a small, dark raptor with a distinctive white rump. A ringtail Hen Harrier  flew distantly above the marsh, spooking a flock of Lapwing before it dropped down near the estuary. A few minutes later, it was up again. This time, it continued further and further away from us, until it was out of sight. Then, one birder spotted a Peregrine distantly on a log. It was in the exact same place I saw my first Peregrine on my first visit here back in 2021! I managed to get a horrible record shot of it, before it flew off. I then noticed a small raptor close in on a post. A stunning male Sparrowhawk was perched on a fence, allowing for some nice digiscoped record shots.  Another birde...

The Only Way Was Essex Image by Kristian Wade We set off at 2.00am and took Carl and Kristian with us. We arrived at Heybridge at around 7:00am. We walked towards a silhouette of birders all crowded round the sluice. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and get a front row seat. I waited patiently with the others in absolute silence. Suddenly, the bird came into view. At first, I couldn't spot it, but thankfully a kind man helped me get onto the Northern Waterthrush . I was delighted with my   point blank views of. Unfortunately my camera wasn't choosing to work at this golden moment. I also didn't have my scope on me, so I was unable to get any images of the bird. Nevertheless, I managed to get amazing views of the bird at close range. Satisfied with our views, we then headed off to Abberton Reservoir. We arrived at Abberton at around 9.00aam. We scanned both sides of Layer Breton Causeway first, seeing a few Egyptian Geese , Shoveler & Goldeneye , but not much else....

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 ...

Can't See Everything Every Time! We arrived at 6.45am at a private site for Golden Pheasant. We started wandering in the woods, looking for them. After a bit of searching, we saw one in someone's backyard, there was no netting in the yard. We were lingering around the garden to see if it flew or was ringed and we were going to knock on the house when we heard someone talking in the garden we had just seen the Golden Pheasant in. We walked towards the noise and saw a man calling something over. We asked him whether the Golden Pheasant was his pet or a wild bird and he then tells us that it is indeed his pet, who he had raised at put in his garden. He said its name was Cocky and he was trying to call it over to feed it. He also told us about how he had raised many Golden Pheasant in the past, but when he put them in his garden, they just flew off. This was because he didn't ring or clip his birds. After realising we were searching for plastic, we ended up leaving and looking ...

Twitch , Eat, Sleep, Repeat! We arrived at Whitley Bay at around 8:00am (after a 3hr drive) in hopes of seeing the recently reported Pied Wheatear. We parked along the side of the road and walked towards the Panama Dip. Upon arrival, we met Phil, who let us look through his scope and directed us to the Pied Wheatear . It was arguably one of the easiest twitches. The beautiful Pied Wheatear was tame and not bothered by the runners or us! It is always great to see a pretty bird without bins and I enjoyed watching this bird, as it flitted around! It sat in plain sight, on the side of a wall, and came closer to us, on his own accord. It was great light too, making for one of my best record shots! We then drove 8 minutes to St Mary's Island in hopes of seeing, what was reported as a showy Water Pipit. When we arrived, we walked down to the promenade and scanned all the rocks and kelp. We met and chatted with a great birder named John, who said the bird was in a single spot, chasing aro...