The Juvenile Birder

 A Rarity In & Out of the UK! We set off at 11:00pm on Friday and arrived at Ruan Lanihorne at 7:00am on Saturday. Once it was light enough to scan the estuary, we immediately started to look. There were many Canada Geese & Wigeon out there, as well as a few Curlew , Shelduck and even a Whimbrel . Suddenly, the first flock of Lapwing  flew in and landed in the estuary. After scanning through them in flight, we couldn't see our target bird. We then watched two more groups of Lapwing fly in, all from different directions, as well as a large group of  Golden Plover , until suddenly one person said our target bird was along the water's edge. He let me look through his scope and there it was! The Sociable Lapwing was showing distantly on the estuary. After getting good looks at it through the man's scope, I then managed to get it in my scope, before everything took off and I enjoyed a good view of its distinctive wing pattern. It then landed much closer, allowing me to...

A First For Britain!! We arrived at 8:00am at Eyebrook Reservoir (Leicestershire) in hopes of seeing a reported White-rumped Sandpiper. We met someone who let me look through his scope to see it. A lifer for me! It was paler that the Dunlin it was feeding with. It was also slightly smaller and longer than the Dunlin. Soon after, a large raptor hovered for a second above the water. It was an Osprey! It flew around and then went away. He told me it was likely the ones nesting at Rutland Water. The White-rumped Sandpiper kept feeding distantly as we viewed it. Not long after the Osprey, two Red Kites soared in the field behind us, as well as three more feeding in the field opposite us. We then went to Willow Tree Fen in hopes if seeing some Cranes but when we arrived (at 10:50am) it was closed. We waited a bit as it mentioned on Facebook that it was open today. Soon after, a report came in on Rare Bird Alert of a Cape Gull. We found out that it was a first for Britain and lucky for us, we...

 A  Quick Morning Lifer! We arrived at Conder Green at 7:20am and parked in a layby on the B5290 that overlooked Conder Pool on one side and a river/creek on the other. Recently, there had been a reported Temminck's Stint present. They are small waders, around half the size of a Dunlin. This bird was an adult and was moving quite a bit. We had come on the 1st August and the 2nd August in the evening but dipped it twice. With it being seen every morning and barely in the evening, we came earlier. We went to the screen and met someone who said they had seen in on the island full of lapwing but it went down a channel. We waited and soon enough the man said it was visible. I looked through with my scope and saw it as it foraged along the rocks. It didn't seem small when looking through a scope but with a naked eye it was tiny, I could barely see it with my binoculars. It then flew to the neighbouring island and foraged along the tip before going out of view. Then, someone who we h...

 Passage Sandpipers, Waders and More! We arrived early morning at 5:00 and headed straight towards the sea wall (overlooking The Wash). Temminck's Stint, Pectoral Sandpiper and Little Stint had been seen there. We went over, seeing some Dunlin in summer plumage, a few Common Terns and a Lapwing as it dive-bombed a Pheasant grazing. As we went on the sea wall, huge flocks of Dunlin and Ringed Plover covered entire masses of islands. High tide had just come in while a Hare ran up on the path, paused, and then continued towards the sea. I scanned the islands when I managed to come across something. Feeding along the rocks was a breath-taking, summer plumage Turnstone- a year tick. It ran along and then flew off towards East Hide. A few more Common Terns were landing on islands while Brown Hares were being consistently seen running through the fields. We then made our way towards East Hide, spotting Sedge Warblers, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks on the way. We went in and I scanned. Presen...

  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...

  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...