Henry's Wildlife and Nature

 Last weekend we went to Spurn to attend Migfest for the 2nd year in a row. I was full of excitement and couldn't wait to see what we could find! It was a long 4 hour drive from school to Welwick but it was worth it. The air bnb was nice and had a hot tub, which was a bonus!  One of the things we did was go on a Unimog trip to The Point at Spurn. That trip held loads of amazing species like Merlins, Reed Bunting and Pied Wagtails. Also we briefly saw a Roe Deer! On the Sunday morning, I attended 2 Young Birder Activities, which were bird ringing and a youth walk. At the bird ringing, we got lucky! We ringed a Pied Flycatcher (my first ever one to see!), Goldcrest, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Meadow Pipit. What a lovely variety! On the walk we were lucky enough to see a lot of nice species, including Water Rail, Golden Plover, Spoonbill, Little Grebe and Marsh Harrier. It was nice to go for a walk with other keen young birders. I also got a Rare Bird Alert account for free as I was

On our trip to America, our first stop was San Francisco. One place we went whilst we were there was Pier 39. My Mum and Dad said when they went there 15 years ago, every pontoon there was full of Sealions. We headed there and what we saw was a shock! But first a rough history about Pier 39: PIER 39 HISTORY, EARTHQUAKE AND SEALIONS. It opened on October 4th 1977 with shops, restaurants and a diving pool and was a busy place. In 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake happened, this is when the sealions moved in because they lost their home due to the earthquake. Ever since, Pier 39 has famously been their home with lots of tourists visiting to see them. Sealion Specialists believe they moved here after the earthquake as they felt safer inside the bay. We arrived at Pier 39 and we were shocked. There were only about 10 sealions there! Maybe we went at the wrong time of day? Maybe they were hunting? I don't know but the ten that were there were quite comical! One was sat up posing for pictu

 On our America Road trip we also visited Pebble Beach at the 17 Mile Drive, Pacific Grove, made famous by its golf course. It was a lovely costal drive which spanned for 17 miles (its name has a good meaning!). There was a variety of wildlife like Sea Lions, Heermann's Gulls, Black Oystercatchers (get to them in a bit), Seals and Lizards. There are 17 points in total pointed out on the map, but 2 of them aren't places to get out and have a look. My favourite stop was probably Bird Rock and I think you can figure out why, without me explaining! At Bird Rock, I was filming a Black Oystercatcher, as I finished a lady came over to say hello. She asked me if I was a Birder and of course I said yes. She then mentioned she was the person who looks out for the Black Oystercatchers as they are quite rare. Apparently there were chicks on one of the rocks near by and she was out checking. She also mentioned they fledge between 38-40 days and this was the 39th day! So they were due to lea