The Juvenile Birder

The Only Way Was Essex Image by Kristian Wade We set off at 2.00am and took Carl and Kristian with us. We arrived at Heybridge at around 7:00am. We walked towards a silhouette of birders all crowded round the sluice. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and get a front row seat. I waited patiently with the others in absolute silence. Suddenly, the bird came into view. At first, I couldn't spot it, but thankfully a kind man helped me get onto the Northern Waterthrush . I was delighted with my   point blank views of. Unfortunately my camera wasn't choosing to work at this golden moment. I also didn't have my scope on me, so I was unable to get any images of the bird. Nevertheless, I managed to get amazing views of the bird at close range. Satisfied with our views, we then headed off to Abberton Reservoir. We arrived at Abberton at around 9.00aam. We scanned both sides of Layer Breton Causeway first, seeing a few Egyptian Geese , Shoveler & Goldeneye , but not much else....

Dipping Rather Than Ticking! We arrived at Mynydd Mawr at 8:20am (Leaving at 5am!) in hopes of seeing a rare Isabelline Wheatear. We had been told by our mentor that there is also Chough here (which would be another lifer after dipping them last week). We parked in a big, grassy layby and started our trek up to the bird. At first, we were a bit disorientated, but we managed to find the right footpath up to the location where the bird was last seen. Without any effort and with no birder in sight we straight away found the medium-sized bird (much larger than I anticipated). It flew straight in front of us and landed up to 10 metres away. I got many record shots, as it danced around near us. It was very pale, and seemed to be the only wheatear there, leading us to believe that it was indeed our target bird, the Isabelline Wheatear . I was thrilled to see this bird, as I was in Gloucestershire, when it was reported last weekend, I really needed it to stick for me! We then scanned around fo...

Twitch , Eat, Sleep, Repeat! We arrived at Whitley Bay at around 8:00am (after a 3hr drive) in hopes of seeing the recently reported Pied Wheatear. We parked along the side of the road and walked towards the Panama Dip. Upon arrival, we met Phil, who let us look through his scope and directed us to the Pied Wheatear . It was arguably one of the easiest twitches. The beautiful Pied Wheatear was tame and not bothered by the runners or us! It is always great to see a pretty bird without bins and I enjoyed watching this bird, as it flitted around! It sat in plain sight, on the side of a wall, and came closer to us, on his own accord. It was great light too, making for one of my best record shots! We then drove 8 minutes to St Mary's Island in hopes of seeing, what was reported as a showy Water Pipit. When we arrived, we walked down to the promenade and scanned all the rocks and kelp. We met and chatted with a great birder named John, who said the bird was in a single spot, chasing aro...

 Day in Northumberland (& Lincs)! We arrived at Boulmer at 7:00am in hopes of seeing the Red-eyed Vireo reported last night! It took us 3 hours to get there. We trekked along the beach, enjoying the Rock Pipits flying about everywhere. The Turnstones were settled on the rocks and the Sanderlings were doing their iconic run away from the waves. We then went on a track next to some ferns, before then going back to the beach as a 'Private Land' sign popped up ahead. We continued along the beach, with Stonechats and Eider on the coast and bushes. We then saw two birders, meaning we were in the right place! We were taken to the bush where the RE Vireo was last seen, in a caravan park on private land, yet after waiting for around 3 hours, we were unsuccessful. We were then advised by the birders to try Widdrington Moor Lake (25 mins away) where a Red-necked Grebe was reliably showing, so, we set off in hopes of seeing it. At first, we parked in a layby and walked along East Bank,...

 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.