autumn birding bliss...........

...... is a jack snipe sat obligingliy in the end of a scope for me to drool over for a quarter of an hour! double dribble! i went to druridge bay (a promise made by my parents in july) at the start of the half term. we were looking at the map and my dad said 'how about Cresswell Ponds?' i thought 'no there wont be anything interesting there' but oh how i was wrong; golden plover, redshank, snipe, little grebe red breasted merganser, goldcrest and pink footed goose to name but a few - and of course jack snipe. i wish i had taken my camera then i could have shown you a picture. (admittedly with more reed than snipe!)
we then carried on down to druridge pools where i added a meagre 2 species at the place i thought would be better. shows how good my judgment is! :) after that disappointment a walk on the beach produced a flock of contraversial common scooters. contraversial because my dad took some persuading that they we scooters. (i pointed out that his bins were nearly 100 years old and goosander-tinted!)
p.s. i would just like to point out that it wasnt my scope but the-nice-man-you-always-seem-to-find-in-the-hide's scope.

Walney Island

we had a day off school for inset on friday so me, my dad, my two friends and their parents went for an excursion to walney island in south cumbria. we set of from workington station an birded from the train. there were masses of oystercatchers and gull so our list soon grew. mistle thrush, shelduck and common gull were some of the highlights on the journey down. at borrow station we got a taxi to the island; the first bird we saw was little egret. then quickly after that curlew, teal and goldfinch. one of the best birds for me was greenshank as (embarrassingly) i'd never seen one before then. :] we saw lots of goosanders: mostly because my dad was looking through 95 year old, goosander-tinted binoculars!

pictures coming soon

It’s officially autumn!

Today I’ve seen a flock of between 50 and 100 redwings/fieldfares; a skein of about 40 greylag geese and many singing robins. (Also i possibly heard a chiffchaff!) So hold on to your hats - its autumn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm ill, but it doesn't stop me birding

Lying convalecant on the sofa, looking out the window has it's benefits (as does a large window!); I've just been looking put the window, as I have nothing else to do, when what turns up but two great spotted woodpeckers eating fruit off the tree! Something to cheer me up.

It's still summer - just

Today, i've seen a flock of  about 10 swallows, so, don't lose hope it's still summer whatever Chris Packham and everyone at AutumnWatch says! But on the other hand the autmn migration is in full swing: Spotted Sandpiper, Glossy Ibis, Wilsons Snipe and Lesser Yellowlegs are scattered about Britain, however the closest thing to me is a Long-Billed Dowitcher! I've been swatting up on Weather Watching so that I can catch more rarities this autumn and winter; I've managed to engineer a trip to Druridge Bay when I go to the dentists - every cloud has a silver lining... I'll keep you posted...

Firstly, I'll Apologise...

I must warn you, dear reader, that I may go off on a tangent occasionally and have a good rant on various subjects surrounding birdwatching (the geographical placing of Ireland catching all the North American Vagrants that otherwise would end up on my doorstep; the interference of school and homework in childhood birding; or the lack of 'good' birds that appear on my patch - so far numbering 1 and even that was probably an escapee... ... ....)

So with that out of the way I shall introduce myself: I am a 13 year old birder. I have been interested in birds since November 2009 and between then and now I have seen a grand total of 148 species. All aspects of birding interest me: conservation to counting; ticking to twitching; ringing to raising money! So join me as I document my birding adventures both the ups and downs...