The Juvenile Birder

Fast & Furious Ticks! We started the day at Easington at 7:00am (no light yet!) in hopes of seeing a Red-flanked Bluetail and an Olive-backed Pipit. We met up with Phil and searched behind The White Horse for the Olive-backed Pipit (OBP) that roosted yesterday. There, we also met Dave, who said the RFB along Vicars Lane was easier to see than the one at the Playing Fields. So we walked down there with Phil and waited. A few minutes later, we got a brief glimpse of it hovering before it dashed out of view.  The Red-flanked Bluetail showed again, but this time it was out in the open on a patch of seeds. Satisfied with getting good views, and a record shot, of the RFB on the driveway, we turned our attention back to the OBP, as Phil's friend rang up saying that the OBP had been seen. We walked back to The White Horse, but when we showed up, no birders were there. I was a bit confused until an RBA message popped up, saying something about the OBP being on a rooftop, south of the ...

 All Spurnt Out!! We arrived at Spurn YWT at 6:25am and did a morning seawatch. It was fairly quiet, except for a few Meadow Pipits flying overhead. We then went over to Syke's Field, as soon as we got word that a Mealy Redpoll was sighted there, yesterday evening. On the way, we met Harry (a volunteer at Spurn), and we walked with him to the site via Corner's Field. We waited for a bit, while two other birders were also searching for it. With no luck still, we decided to go for the Barred Warbler at Kilnsea in the Listening Dish Hedge. At 9.05 we found the flock of birders and waited for a few minutes when it suddenly flew out of the bush. We then waited ages before we managed a second look at it, which was it flying straight into another bush. We then waited again until I spotted it flying out of a bush, as everyone got distracted by a Sparrowhawk. I then waited impatiently, for another long and tiring time, before it finally came out of the bush and was feeding right in the ...

 Knot in May and Nesting Arctic Terns! We first visited RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands at 12:00 in hopes of seeing some Spoonbills. We arrived only to hear that half an hour ago, the Spoonbill were chased of by some gulls at Border Hide, flying towards Wales. So, with our target Spoonbills gone, we then turned our attention to some Knot seen recently, also at Border Hide. We went straight there, meeting a birder who had written a book on the way. When we arrived at Centenary Pool, we spotted two Great White Egrets out on the pools outside the hide. When we walked in, we asked a man who let me look through his scope pointed at a Knot (a life tick). It was behind a huge flock of Black-Tailed Godwits along with three others. It was only in winter plumage, though the man said that the other day there was one in full breeding plumage. It at first was sleeping, then came woke up and waddled closer to the shore, and then finally went back to sleep. We also saw a female Marsh Harrier from Marsh...