The Juvenile Birder

Second Cornish Delight! We set off at around 1:30am for a mega drive to Cornwall, picking up Dave along the way. We arrived in a layby along the A30 near Crowlas at around 8:00am in hopes of spotting a mega rare Booted Eagle, a bird which we dipped by a day last year in Buckinghamshire. As soon as we got out of the car, we quickly joined the crowd of birders and started waiting. After around two hours, someone called out saying they had the bird. After a quick scramble, Dave managed to get the Booted Eagle in his scope! It was snuggled up in the pines showing well, albeit distantly. Suddenly, it flew through the pines, giving us a quick glimpse of its underwing. Satisfied with our views, we then set off to try and find a rare diver, accompanied by Dave's friend, Leon.  We arrived at Perranuthnoe Beach at around 11:30am and immediately made our way along the beautiful coast path to Boat Cove. Along the way, we spotted two Ravens  flying overhead and a Whimbrel flying past. Once...

Foggy Birding! We arrived at an extremely foggy Flamborough Head at around 7:00am with Carl and Dave, who had given us a lift. Just before we arrived, a Red-breasted Flycatcher was reported in lighthouse bushes, so we decided to try and look for that while waiting in anticipation for our target bird to get reported. As soon as we started looking for the flycatcher, a notification came up saying that our target bird, the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, was back at Old Fall Plantation. In a hurry, we started making our way towards the plantation. Once at the plantation, we noticed a huge crowd of birders, which I thought was a bush at first, all looking towards the hedge. We quickly joined the crowd and after a bit of waiting, someone pointed out the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler sat inside the hedge. Although it was obscured, I was delighted to see it, especially after not being able to go for the one at Long Nab last year.  Suddenly, the bird decided to come out in full view and just...

 Spurn on Point We arrived at around 6:40am and started the day by walking along the canal, hoping to see an Icterine Warbler and any other migrants. Halfway along the canal footpath, I spotted a juvenile Red-backed Shrike , sat in a bush, before it flew on the other side of the canal and landed on a post. We then reached the end of the canal footpath, so we checked the Crown & Anchor car park before entering Churchfield. We didn't see many birds in Churchfield, but I did see a Gatekeeper . We then noticed a warden opening a moth trap. I was looking to see if there were any new moths for me in the trap, so I asked him about all the moths I spotted which looked interesting. The first new moth I saw was a Dusky Sallow as well as a Common Plume  (both pictured). I then saw the only two new underwing moths in the trap, a Copper Underwing  as well as a Pearly Underwing  (a scarce migrant moth). The other new moths I saw in the trap were Dingy Footman , White Point , C...

 Infuriating Wrynecks!! We arrived at Spurn YWT at 6:30am, to search for a Wryneck that was showing well yesterday, (along The Canal). I checked the rocks briefly, to no avail, and then walked along the canal towards the seawatching hide; which was very quiet, except for an Arctic Skua and a few Scoter, Wigeon and Red-throated Divers were also seen. We then ran towards the Canal Scrape Hide when we heard the radio message of a Jack Snipe showing well, yet when we arrived, we got the sad news that it had JUST flown away. We waited for a bit, again no avail, and then rushed back along The Canal to go see a reported Yellow-browed Warbler; in the Crown & Anchor car park. Along the way, we saw a crowd of people staring at the rocks. I asked someone what had been seen, and he replied Wryneck!. My face lit up as I rapidly searched for it, when I finally saw it fly onto a rock and land in view, briefly. Then, the radio said a Yellow-browed Warbler, caught in the mist nets, that was goi...

  Stints, Sandpipers and Yellow Wagtail Subspecies! We arrived at 8:30am at RSPB Marshside (location pinned to Wader Fest blog post). We headed straight to Sandgrounder's Hide where for a Little Stint reported. When we arrived, we had gotten word that it had gone into the vegetation. However, Lesser Scaup and Little Ringed Plover were in abundance. Presently, someone let me use there scope. I scanned the banks until I found a flock of small waders. While at first I thought all three of them were just Dunlin, upon closer examination I managed to spot a Little Stint. It was much smaller and lighter in colour in comparison to the Dunlin. A new tick, and target species! While we were viewing the stint, someone told us about two Curlew Sandpiper he'd seen on Junction Pool before getting here. We walked straight there and met a man who let us look through his scope, pointed at two Curlew Sandpipers as they came in and out of the vegetation. Surprisingly, they were still in winter plu...