The Juvenile Birder

 Birds Soaring & Sailing! Image from James B, (same bird, but taken on different date) We arrived at Duncombe Park at 12:30pm in hopes of seeing a Black Kite. When we arrived, someone mentioned that the bird hadn't been seen for a bit, last being seen dropping down behind some trees. However, Steve (the person we were talking to) mentioned that he wasn't ticking it with the views he got, as with the views he had he couldn't confirm it, but the guys who got in on the scope said it was it. After waiting for a few minutes, we saw a few Red Kites , Buzzards  and Kestrels when suddenly (at around 1:00am) someone shouted that they had the Black Kite above the treeline, in front of a cloud. I scanned in the direction he was describing and saw it. It was quite distant so I couldn't get it in my camera, however you were able to see the dark shape in the sky with a naked eye. A kind birder got it in their scope and let me take a look at the majestic raptor. I watched as it so...

 Twitch On & Carry On! image from Toby Carter Our targets for the day were King Eider, Iceland Gull, Little Auk & Smew. The weather throughout was freezing, with strong winds and lots of heavy rain. It was stormy weather, making me hopeful for Little Auk. We arrived at Redcar at 8:00am and parked opposite Zetland Cafe. We immediately scanned the beach for an Iceland Gull reported yesterday afternoon. But, upon scanning, there was no sign of it. We then walked towards the Palace Hub in hopes of seeing our target bird, the King Eider. It was reported as being far out and difficult  to see, but it was worth a shot. It was windy, hammering with rain and cold; exactly what I wanted  today. We scanned from multiple shelters until we met 3 other birders all looking for the King Eider. One of them had even seen a Little Auk! We kept scanning until someone found the bird, and they gave directions for where the bird was. To my despair, I wasn't able to pick it up. Gary ...

Day 2: You Can Never Have Too Much of a Good Thing! We set off from our Inn at 6:30am and went over to Blagdon Lake for a Ring-necked Duck. We found the lake, which was huge, but at the two different locations that we stopped we were unable to find the duck. We could not get close to the lake; it was always overlooking private land and we were unable to therefore walk the circumference of the lake. We also tried to get to the location of the Bristol Dartford Warbler at Trooper's Hill but there was a lot of road works taking place in Bristol and the old sat nav we have could not navigate us to the right location. We ended then going to WWT Slimbridge. We arrived at 9:30am and rushed straight to the Rushy Hide in hopes of seeing the Bewick's Swans. We entered the hide and the three Bewick's Swan were sat right up front, on the mud, showing very well. I had only seen Whooper Swans at WWT Martin Mere, a site local to me, and had been scanning the flocks at Martin Mere for ages...

 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. 

 Rare Scaup in Spring and Summer Wagtails! We arrived at around 2:00pm in hopes of seeing a rare duck Rob had reported to us. It was called a Lesser Scaup, much rarer than our native Greater Scaup. It was seen at RSPB Marshside (go to Wader Fest blog post to see location pin). We headed straight towards Sandgrounder's Hide and right outside were flocks of birders. I asked one of them where the bird was and almost immediately after, I managed to spot it. It looked similar to a Tufted Duck, yet lacked the tuft. Then, a drake Garganey flew in. There were also a pair of Little Ringed Plovers on an island. We then came back to the car, and I was thrilled I had just seen my first Lesser Scaup. Many people I met said it was highly unlikely this was an escaped bird as it had nothing wrong with it's feathers, hangs out mainly with the Tufted Ducks and hasn't got a ring on its leg. We then ended the day by driving down Curlew Lane (location pinned to post). After a bit, we saw a Yell...

  Winter Waterfowl and Finches We arrived at 9:40am in hopes of spotting a rare Green-Winged Teal. We walked in and headed straight for the Ron Barker Hide where it had been seen. We arrived with no luck. We only saw the usual Eurasian Teals, Common Moorhens and Western Marsh Harriers. We then headed to the Discovery Hide where we saw Common Pochard, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Ruff, Black-Tailed Godwits, Northern Pintails, Greylag Geese and Whooper Swans. We then went the opposite direction to the Janet Kea Hide in hopes of seeing Bramblings. At first, the hide was quiet until one Brambling went out to feed on the feeders, then it hopped back into a bush. European Goldfinch & Greenfinches, Eurasian Blue Tits, Great Tits, Common Chaffinches and Eurasian Tree Sparrow where also there. We saw Rooks and a Common Kestrel on our journey home.

 The Last 2021 Has to Offer! We arrived at around midday on the last day of 2021 (aka New Year's Eve). We first came to the Discovery Hide where we saw lots of winter waterfowl like Black-Tailed Godwits, Mallards, Common Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Eurasian Wigeons, Northern Lapwings, Northern Pintails and Whooper Swans. I talked to someone who said they'd seen a Smew on the mere ​earlier this morning. He said it was the first time he'd seen a Smew in this country. We then moved to the Janet Kea Hide and met someone along the way. He said that he'd just seen some Peregrine Falcons, a Merlin and lots of Western Marsh Harriers in the United Utilities Hide and he also said that he'd seen a Slavonian Grebe, around 30 minutes ago, from the screens that overlooked the mere. We took a look at the screens to try and spot the grebe but had no luck. We then came across somebody who pointed it out at the very back near some Northern Shovelers. I looked through my binoculars and, L...

 Christmas Rarity! We arrived at midday on Christmas Eve. We were hoping for some festive sighting and we got what we wanted. We first went in the Discovery Hide where we saw Common Pochards, Mallards, Common Shelducks, Northern Pintails, Ruffs, Tufted Ducks, Eurasian Wigeons, Whooper Swans, Greylag Geese and Northern Lapwings all over the mere in their hundreds . We then made our way to the Janet Kea Hide in hopes of spotting some Bramblings. We didn't see any Bramblings but we did see European Goldfinches, Eurasian Blue Tits, Great Tits, European Greenfinches, Common Chaffinches, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The highlight though was a rare Willow Tit that hopped onto the feeders a few times. We then went to the Gordon Taylor Hide where we saw lots of Eurasian Teals and one Northern Shoveler resting on a muddy island. We also saw Western Marsh Harriers hunting some huge flocks of waders to end the Christmasy Day.