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....

Mammals, Mammals and Plovers When we arrived, we headed straight down towards the Ron Barker Hide. We were fixed in a certain spot. Out feeding on the lake were many waders including Northern Lapwings, Eurasian Oystercatchers and Pied Avocets. A few waterfowl including, Common Shelduck, Mallards and Eurasian Teals joined them. Presently, a WWT volunteer said he'd just seen a Common Kingfisher dive in the water and fly onto a branch before he lost it. We came over and waited in case it came back. Just then, another gentleman in the hide reported to us of a Roe Deer by the lake. A deer would be a stunning sight to see so I rushed over and there it was! The majestic stag drank along the water's edge though was somewhat hard to view due to the direction of the sun. I continued scanning until the head of a weasel popped up. I alerted everyone and we had our eyes glued to the bridge until it came. The tiny, yet fierce, predator was a Stoat. I ran across the bridge and jumped into som...