The Juvenile Birder

I Sika Here, I Sika There, I Sika Deer Everywhere! We arrived at RSPB Arne at around 9:00am, getting a lift there by Carl, and being accompanied by Kristian. We immediately made our way to Shipstal Point. As soon as we arrived at Shipstal Point, we scanned through the passing Sandwich Terns . Suddenly, Kris and Carl both called out saying they had a pale-headed tern. It was the Forster's Tern. I desperately tried to get on it but was unsuccessful, and soon enough all the terns flew out to sea. We waited for the Forster's Tern a bit longer, before deciding to come back at low tide for it. We then made our way to Shipstal Hide. Once we arrived at Shipstal Hide, I immediately noticed a lot of flying insects around the branches in front of the hide. I took a photo of them and asked an expert who identified them as Green Longhorns . A species of day-flying micro moth that normally flies in May. We also spotted two beautiful  Sandwich Terns in front of the hide, as well as a few Blac...

  Mega Rarity and Passage Waders! We arrived at 5:30am at Wandale Farm to see the Turkestan Shrike, a mega rarity. To get there, we parked in the car park at RSPB Bempton Cliffs- location pinned to post named 'Seabird Galore (and Mega Rarity)'- and walked out past Staple Newk Viewpoint until we got to the end of the clifftop fence. On the way, someone let me get a nice glimpse of the Black-Browed Albatross as it rested on the cliff within the colony of Gannets. Opposite the end of the fenceline is a flattened out path through some crops. Walk through that until you reach the top of the hill. From there, you should see lots of birders and that's where you go. If the birders aren't present yet, then walk along the path on top of the hill. The farmer might have parked his car there and it's opposite that. If the car is also absent, then just go to the other side of the hill and then down towards an old barn. That's where we met up with a ton of other birders. We al...

  Owls and Summer Wildlife! (pic taken from webcam) We first visited RSPB Leighton Moss (for location, click 'Bats and Rare Ducks') at 6:00am with nothing in mind. We went to the Grisedale, Causeway and Lower Hide without seeing much. We then went past Lower Hide where we saw a Tawny Owl (year tick). We also saw some swifts (another year tick) at 7:00am on the Causeway. After a quick stop to the saltmarsh where we saw Bar-Tailed Godwits and Mediterranean Gulls, we headed to Foulshaw Moss CWT (location pinned to blog). We went straight towards the Osprey platform, keeping an eye on the boardwalk for lizards and adders as we walked on. We managed to catch a glimpse of an Osprey through a scope as it popped its head out of the nest from time to time, although it was quite a distance away. We continued along the boardwalk when suddenly I came to a halt. Without noticing, I was standing right besides a Common Lizard. We both stood still until the lizard dropped down. We then scanned...