The Juvenile Birder

Ancient Woodland Adventure! We arrived at a small woodland at around 5:30am targeting Wood Warblers. We went up a steep yet short trail yet to no avail. We then went down the trail back into the woods, but still nothing. Just as we were about to leave, we heard their unique song. Excitedly, we scanned the trees and managed to spot at least four Wood Warblers  singing and chasing each other around. We waited around for a few more hours, trying to get a record shot, but we ended up leaving empty handed. We then went to a private reserve to try and find more woodland birds. This reserve has two halves, the woodland and the mosses. We first walked onto the mosses, spotting an  Osprey  along with multiple House Martins , a few Swallows  and a pair of Ravens . I then found a black and white bird singing on a wire. It was a Pied Flycatcher !  While photographing the Pied Flycatcher, I noticed some movement in the tree next to me. Upon closer inspection, I realized it w...

Scoring Close to Home! Day 1 I managed to find a new patch which had a more diverse habitat and more accessibility than my last one. We arrived at our new and improved patch (Carr House Green Common) at 6:00am. Looking at the Fylde Bird Club website, we saw recent sightings of Grasshopper Warbler, along with Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat. As soon as we arrived, I spotted a Whitethroat singing in a tree right next to the layby which we had parked at. We then continued along one of the footpaths, spotting a singing  Sedge Warbler  and a flyover Shelduck . Suddenly, I heard a loud, reeling sound. It was the distinctive call of a Grasshopper Warbler. We searched for it and within a few seconds, I spotted a small, brown bird with a yellowy chest perched up on a bush. It was indeed a Grasshopper Warbler . The bird was incredibly showy and was only a few metres away. We enjoyed watching it for ages, and it was relentlessly singing. Satisfied with our views, we moved on. We walked jus...

Duel at Dawn! We arrived at a moorland site in North Wales at around 5:30am. Our target was Black Grouse, and we were hoping to see them lek. We parked in a layby at dawn, and waited for it to get lighter. We could just make out their white tails in the dark. After around 20 minutes, we were finally able to see the lekking Black Grouse clearly. Their blood red "eyes" stood out at first, as well as their iconic shape created by their fan tail as they lek front-on.  While the  Black Grouse  were lekking, they made an amazing and iconic bubbling sound. They would also occasionally call. We could also hear a singing  Cuckoo  distantly, but we were unable to locate it. We then continued along the moorland, spotting multiple Red Grouse  as they flew across the road and landed right besides our car. Happy with our morning, we set off to try and find my bogey bird, and a bird I've wanted for 3+ years! We arrived at Pensychnant Conservation Centre at around 8:30am i...

 Found Myself a Patch! I have always intended to find a patch and have recently explored some potential sites. After browsing google maps looking for a place to patch, we found a place called Grimsargh Wetlands. We also saw that a Garganey was reported there yesterday. With it being quite local to us, and there being nothing to twitch, we decided to give it a try. We arrived at Grimsargh Wetlands at 10:30am and as soon as we got to the main viewing screen, we managed to spot the drake Gargane y straight away, fairly close on Island Lake. We also saw two Avocets  which were also reported on RBA yesterday. We then spotted two Great Crested Grebes doing their courtship display on The Mere and while we were watching them, I spotted a medium-sized bird with a striking blue wing fly across the lake and land in a tree. I had a look through my binoculars and saw that it was a Jay ! We watched it for a bit and then observed the species on both lakes. We spotted an Oystercatcher , a few...

SPURN MIGRATION FESTIVAL!! (adult female Pallid Harrier flyover)  ( Black Redstart ) (Common Redstart) (Willow Warbler) (juvenile female Eurasian Sparrowhawk) (Pale-bellied Brent Goose) (about a dozen distant Common Scoter)  We arrived at Spurn YWT at 6:00am and parked in North Field, for Spurn Migration Festival (aka Migfest). We got a lift to the Seawatching Hide and did a seawatch. It was fairly quiet with a few Red-throated Diver flying north. Then a flock of around a dozen Common Scoter landed close in on the sea, making for some brilliant digiscoped images of them and incredible views, before heading north. Soon after, a huge flock of  Little Gulls landed on the sea and fed over the sea, like butterflies erratically flying up and down. We then got word that the ringing team had caught a female Sparrowhawk so we rushed down to see it. It was very similar to what happened at Global Birdfair, when their ringing team also caught a female Sparrowhawk, with the only diffe...