The Juvenile Birder

Short Stay Story in Scotland! We set off from home at around 12:30am and arrived in the Scottish Highlands at around 10:00am. As soon as we got out of the car, we were struck by the freezing cold weather. We started scanning the open moors in hopes of finding either White-tailed or Golden Eagle (either would be a lifer), along with other raptors. After stopping in various passing places along the narrow road and scanning the crags, ridgelines and moors, we were unsuccessful in finding any raptors. We did however see around eighty  Greylag Geese (presumably Icelandic birds overwintering) along with around ten Goldeneye . We then decided to try for the eagles at another location. We arrived at our next site at around 1:00pm and straight away got to scanning. We were joined by a few other birders who were also looking for eagles. Suddenly, I noticed a commotion, and one of the birders that was there seemed to be getting his scope onto something. I asked him if he had seen anything, an...

Wading Through the Swamps of Scotland! We set off at around 12.30am with high hopes of seeing a few rare Scottish specialties. We arrived at our first bog in the Abernethy Forest at around 8:30am after dipping Slavonian Grebes earlier in the morning. Our two targets at this bog were White-faced Darters and Northern Emeralds. After around twenty minutes of waiting in the sun, we saw neither! However, I did manage to spot lots of Round-leaved Sundews  in amongst the Sphagnum Mosses , which I was quite pleased with as they were one of my favourite plants. Not yet down trodden, we headed off to RSPB Loch Garten to try and find Ospreys and Crested Tits.  As soon as we arrived at the car park, I noticed a few bumblebees nectaring on a Marsh Thistle . It had a yellow head and a red tail, so I took a picture and it was later identified as a male Early Bumblebee , a new species for me! We also spotted a Large Red Damselfly and a few Coal Tits . We then made our way to the visitor centr...

Dapper Drakes! After a 4 hour drive, we arrived at RSPB Vane Farm at around 9:00am, spotting a Fox when we were stopping for petrol at our local ASDA along the way! We were with Kristian and Carl and our target bird was a rare Bufflehead. We made our way along the Loch Leven Heritage Trail until we arrived at a sandy beach with a fence. We met some other birders, including Brook, who pointed out the Bufflehead , which was quite distant, but clearly distinguishable amongst the  Goldeneye which it was with. It continued to dive while we were there, making it hard to get a record shot, but it was a great bird to see in the UK. Satisfied with our views, we made our way back to the visitor centre to look for the resident Red Squirrels. Once we had arrived at the visitor centre, we saw that a Red Squirrel was on a feeder that was being filmed by a live camera. We asked a warden for directions to the feeder, and immediately set off. As soon as we arrived at the feeder, we spotte...

The King of Garden Birds! We set off at 3:30am in hopes of seeing a mainland Myrtle Warbler in Kilwinning. The last mainland Myrtle Warbler in the UK was ten years ago, so this was quite a special bird.  As soon as we arrived, we met Kristian who pointed out the Myrtle Warbler  straight away feeding on the feeders. We also met Wayne who was there for seconds of the bird.  The Myrtle Warbler  was much bigger than I expected, and its prominent white wingbars stood out when I first saw it. It stayed on the feeders for quite a while, before it started chasing away the Blue Tits  and the Great Tits . There was plenty of food in the bird feeders in the garden, but the Myrtle Warbler was too busy chasing off birds. The only birds it didn't chase were those larger in it, which included the  Song Thrushes and the Blackbirds . Suddenly, as I watched the Myrtle Warbler  through by binoculars in the trees, a female Siskin appeared from behind but it too got chase...

Hiking in the Highlands! We set off at 2:00am in the morning and arrived at a secret site up in the Highlands of Scotland at around 9:00am. Our only target was Ptarmigan. I had dipped this last year, after a hard and long climb up a mountain, in the snow! We were feeling strangely optimistic about this adventure, as lots of the snow had melted, meaning that the Ptarmigan should hopefully stand out. Enroute to the site, I spotted loads of Red Grouse . As soon as we arrived in the car park, the first bird we saw was a Red Grouse  feeding in the grass only a few metres away. After scanning the boulder scree on the mountain from the car park, I couldn't initially spot anything that stood out as Ptarmigan. I then started scanning the few patches of snow. Suddenly, two white specs caught my eye as one of them moved. They were Ptarmigan ! I was ecstatic, and immediately got a digiscoped image of them. The pair were showing well, however they were extremely distant. They were a lifer for m...