The Juvenile Birder

Another Showy Shrike! We arrived at RSPB Bempton Cliffs at around 8:30am in hopes of seeing yet another mega shrike. We were accompanied by Carl and Kristian, who had given us a lift. We joined the crowd and waited only a few minutes when a large, sandy bird came into view midway up the bush. It was our target bird, the Daurian Shrike ! The bird then decided to reveal itself in all its glory and sat up on top of the bush, giving spectacular views.  Since this bird was a 1st winter, it had been ruled as an Isabelline Shrike sp, meaning it could either be Daurian (which would be a lifer) or a Turkestan (which I had seen two years ago, also at Bempton) Shrike. However, based off of its extremely sandy plumage, it is very likely that it is a Daurian Shrike. Satisfied with our glorious views, we made our way down to Flamborough Head to try and find a bogey bird of mine.  As soon as we arrived at Flamborough Head, we made our way over to Motorway Hedge, where 3 Firecrests (a bi...

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 ...