The Juvenile Birder

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 ...

 From Despair to Delight! Image from Levi Gravett (same bird, but take n on different date) We arrived at Llanddulas Beach car park at 8.00am and started scanning towards the left of the car park. We started scanning for over an hour scanning through hundreds of Common Scoters which   were moving about everywhere. There were no other birders to help and I started doubting any success.  Suddenly, a Velvet Scoter came into view, flying low and eventually landing. Knowing that the Surf Scoters had been hanging around with Velvet Scoters, I scanned the scoters nearby and saw a smaller scoter with a funny shaped bill. I tried to keep on the bird but it was difficult with the choppy water and the distance they were at. Then, as it was preening, I saw some white on the back of its head. It was a Surf Scoter ! I stayed on it for a good few minutes before all four Velvet Scoters flew off; as well as the two Surf Scoters. There were also a few drake Red-breasted Mergansers and Gr...

 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...