The Juvenile Birder

 Twitching: The Never Ending Story! We arrived at Langdon Beck at 7:15am in hopes of seeing Black Grouse. We drove up a road that our mentor, Rob, told us about and scanned for any moving black blobs. We then continued down the road and over a stream, when we saw a darker bird with two female Pheasants . I thought it could be a female Black Grouse, but when I looked away to examine the photos, I saw a male Black Grouse in a field just further ahead. We drove up and stopped the car with our windows down. We used the car like a hide. I took a record of it, but there were only two (a male and a female) so we continued along the road, to see if there were any more. We then stumbled upon a field with 4, so I took a record shot of  three of them in a row. There were also many Mallards  & Greylag Geese in the fields. We then came to the end of the road where the Black Grouse were at. We had been told by Rob that Red Grouse can sometimes be seen along the B6277. We made our...

 Evening Lifer!! We arrived at 7:00pm in hopes of seeing a lifer Red-footed Falcon (a bird I've been wanting to see for a while). We parked along Lawson's Road and walked up to Marton Mere and arrived at the RBA location. There, we met Phil Rhodes, the same person from the Sabine's Gull twitch. He let me look through his scope to see this stunning falcon. I took a terrible digiscoped image of it through my scope. We then walked further along the path where we met another birder who we were familiar with from the Temminck's Stint twitch. We then saw the bird fly out of a  bush. After a while of chatting, the birders left. Soon after we saw the bird fly around right above our head. It was around 8:40pm and turning dark. Lastly, we went towards the first hide from the entrance and saw a huge honey bees' nest with all the honeycomb covered by the bees, only showing the top honeycomb. It was a site to see and quite still and calm as all the bees went to sleep. Overall, a...

 Rare Pochard and Lifer Pipit! We arrived at North Cave Wetlands at 7:20am in hopes of seeing a rare Red-Crested Pochard. The bird here was a female viewable from South Hide. We walked in and started scanning the waterfowl. We saw Little Grebe, Tufted Duck and a family of Swans. We then saw the Red-Crested Pochard (aka RCP). In the evening, we arrived at a site called Scarborough Harbour in hopes of seeing Rock Pipit and Purple Sandpiper. When we arrived, we went on East Pier and scanned the rock barrier for sandpipers. We didn't see any but did see a Rock Pipit as it flew off. We viewed it again as it defied gravity on a wall. We also saw another one feeding with the House Sparrows on our way back. Overall, a great day with two lifers, RCP and Rock Pipit. 

Winning An Award and Sighting Badgers!                            (image from internet)                        We arrived at the Global Birdfair (location pinned to post) at 9:00am and at first went to the Swallow Marquee to check out some of the stall there. After that, we went to the BTO Bird Ringing Demonstration and as soon as we arrived, the staff who were ringing were showing everyone an adult female Sparrowhawk and soon after that they showed everyone a Goldcrest and I got a really close view of it. We then moved to a different marquee and met Stephen Menzie at the British Birds stall. We had a good conversation and I learned a lot about ageing, observation and patchworking. We then attended a bird ID competition for young birders at 3:00pm which was hosted by three people including Stephen. After that, we checked out a few more stalls, meeting David L...

 Arctic Gulls and Shanks! We arrived at 7:30pm at RSPB Leighton Moss coastal hides (location pinned to post named 'Goosanders and Waders') in hopes of seeing a Sabine's Gull, which unfortunately had a missing right foot and presumably an injured left foot, that was reported earlier. We did go to the saltmarsh in the morning but sadly dipped it. When we arrived at Allen Hide (where the bird was last seen), we asked someone named Phil Rhodes who mentioned to us that he had been here for 20 minutes and didn't see it at all. He then told us about how the bird is being very random. It has sometimes been spotted on Causeway Pool, then it usually hangs out on Allen Pool, and then somewhere it goes somewhere within Morcambe Bay but we are yet to know where that is. After a while, Phil went to go check the Eric Morcambe Hide and soon after, the head of RSPB Leighton Moss, Jarrod, came in. After a while, he pointed out two Greenshanks as they flew in and landed in the only bit of...

 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...

 Spoonbills Finally! We arrived at 7:00pm in hopes of seeing some Spoonbill. We headed straight for the Coal Tips Trail and took two rights two view the flashes. We saw a Green Woodpecker on a post while on the trail. We then viewed The Moat where we saw three Spoonbill fly in and out of the trees with one even landing on the water near the end. They did this quite and, other than them flying, they weren't doing a whole lot. Though, never the less, it was a new tick! Cormorants, Little Egrets and Grey Herons were also present in the heronry as they flew in and put of the trees as they completed their fishing trips. While getting caught up in the moment track of time and had to rush to the car park before it shut at 8:00pm. Overall, a brilliant way to end the day!

  So Many Mammals! We arrived very early at 9:40 in hopes of catching a glimpse of the masters at camouflage, the Eurasian Woodcock​. We also were hoping for some Cattle Egrets but they never showed. We quickly viewed the main scrape where we saw many Dunlin, Black-Tailed Godwit and Redshank. We then headed up the Reed and Fen trail and into the new section which was a hotspot for Eurasian Woodcocks, if you're lucky enough to spot one. We thoroughly searched the area, looking for the slightest dark spot or movement but had no luck. We then went to Burton Viewing Point which was a good spot to see Eurasian Green Woodpeckers in the field. 2 people had seen one fly towards Burton Viewing Point but I never saw it. We then made our way to the newest hide, the Border Hide. Along the trail, I turned a corner and, Lo and Behold, there was a Red Fox snooping around the path menacingly, about 40m apart from us. It was just at the bottom of the ramp that leads up to the new hide. It kept...

 The Last 2021 Has to Offer! We arrived at around midday on the last day of 2021 (aka New Year's Eve). We first came to the Discovery Hide where we saw lots of winter waterfowl like Black-Tailed Godwits, Mallards, Common Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Eurasian Wigeons, Northern Lapwings, Northern Pintails and Whooper Swans. I talked to someone who said they'd seen a Smew on the mere ​earlier this morning. He said it was the first time he'd seen a Smew in this country. We then moved to the Janet Kea Hide and met someone along the way. He said that he'd just seen some Peregrine Falcons, a Merlin and lots of Western Marsh Harriers in the United Utilities Hide and he also said that he'd seen a Slavonian Grebe, around 30 minutes ago, from the screens that overlooked the mere. We took a look at the screens to try and spot the grebe but had no luck. We then came across somebody who pointed it out at the very back near some Northern Shovelers. I looked through my binoculars and, L...

 Winter Thrushes and Elusive Rails! It was our first time visiting Leighton Moss and we were very excited as we had heard a lot of great things about it. ​In the parking lot, we saw a Fieldfare in a bush eating some berries, a stunning winter finch tick to start the day. We then went to the feeding station where we saw Great Tits, Eurasian Blue Tits, Common Chaffinches, European Robins, Common Pheasants and European Goldfinches but my favourite were the Marsh Tits, another lifer. We first went to the Grisedale Hide where somebody had said they had seen four Red Deer earlier on. It was around 12:40pm so it unlikely for us to see the Red Deer but was still possible. We saw Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Eurasian Teals, Northern Pintails and a Great White Egret out on the lake along with around 20 Common Snipe feeding along the edge. After a while, someone pointed out a Water Rail that was just behind all the Common Snipe. I saw it feeding but it wasn't the right lighting to see the pl...

 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.

Mammals, Mammals and Plovers When we arrived, we headed straight down towards the Ron Barker Hide. We were fixed in a certain spot. Out feeding on the lake were many waders including Northern Lapwings, Eurasian Oystercatchers and Pied Avocets. A few waterfowl including, Common Shelduck, Mallards and Eurasian Teals joined them. Presently, a WWT volunteer said he'd just seen a Common Kingfisher dive in the water and fly onto a branch before he lost it. We came over and waited in case it came back. Just then, another gentleman in the hide reported to us of a Roe Deer by the lake. A deer would be a stunning sight to see so I rushed over and there it was! The majestic stag drank along the water's edge though was somewhat hard to view due to the direction of the sun. I continued scanning until the head of a weasel popped up. I alerted everyone and we had our eyes glued to the bridge until it came. The tiny, yet fierce, predator was a Stoat. I ran across the bridge and jumped into som...

  First Sight of a Kingfisher! The first hide we entered was in the reedbed walk. The hide was called the Gordon​ Taylor Hide. A Carrion Crow and a Common Redshank greeted us on the roof of the hide. As we entered, we noticed that the Northern Lapwings were foraging along the bank. Two Pied Avocets were roosting in the muddy banks along the pond as well. Presently, a flock of Black-Headed Gulls got spooked by a Common Raven as it tried to attack their young. The majestic Grey Heron also gave a nice flyover as it landed in the distant pools. We continued our adventure by trekking in the opposite direction to the Ron Barker Hide. When we arrived, I was thrilled to hear that someone had a Common Kingfisher through the scope. I looked through it I couldn't believe my eyes. The blue gem showed brilliantly as it bobbed up and down on a post that was to the  right of the bridge that crossed the ditch in front of the hide. Shortly after, it flew off but was then spotted much closer on...