A Mega Twitch - Citril Finch, Norfolk - 10 May 2015

A Young Birders twitch for Citril Finch

Citril Finch, Norfolk
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

The weekend of 9th and 10th May was going to be risky.  I had decided to go away on a scout survival camp near Frome.  It was the whole weekend, leaving home at 5 pm on Friday and not returning until 1 pm on Sunday.  We were going to make our own bivy's and cook our own food. Luckily the weather was good as I wouldn't have held out much hope for our shelter being water proof.

I had a great weekend, but by the time Mum was picking up my friend Issy and me, we were exhausted from lack of sleep.

I should have know something was up, when Mum appeared to pick us up right on time.  Mum is never on time.

On the way home, Mum cursed every time she took a wrong turning and drove unusually fast for her.  As soon as we had dropped Issy, she told me that there was a Citril Finch in Norfolk and we needed to leave straight away.  I was sleep deprived and the thought of 8 hours in a car was not a happy one.  What about my homework? You can do it in the car and use my phone for research.  Mum's always seem to have an answer for everything.

At home, I packed my bag for the day with homework, kindle and ipad.  I did have a little moment, but Dad cheered me up as actually I didn't have any home work for the next day.

Citril Finch was a second for Britain and I felt worried that the bird would fly around and not be seen.  It was at Burnham Overy Dunes and I haven't had much luck birding in that area, as there are millions of trees.   Though the good news was that it had been seen on an off all day.

I slept all the way to Norfolk feeling much better by the time we arrived.  We had a twenty minute walk ahead of us but the bird was there and I felt really excited.  Mum and I tried to walk fast, with lots of people we knew walking in the opposite direction, looking happy including our good friend and big twitcher John Pegdon.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Citril Finch twitch, Norfolk
Photograph taken by Helena Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Citril Finch twitch, Norfolk
Photograph taken by Helena Craig

The Finch was sitting on the ground when we arrived and managed to get amazing views within a few minutes.  Luck was with us.  We watched it for sometime, until it flew high into trees.  I felt bad for people still arriving, as after that it was not seen again that day.  Though for me, only 2 more to go to get to 450.

Citril Finch twitch, Norfolk
Photograph taken by Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

On the way back, we stopped for an hour at our good friends Digby and Aga Munns.  We just couldn't drive past without stopping for a tea.

I again slept all the way home, arriving back at a very late 1 am.  Poor Dad.  But at least he doesn't have to twitch on his own like most birders.

Citril Finch, Norfolk
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

About the writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly

Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol, UK and blogs about birding and conservation from around the world. Wader conservation is important to her and she is Ambassador to the global wader initiative World Shorebird Day. She is looking forward to Mountain Gorilla trekking this summer in East Africa and to watching penguins in Antarctica in December, her 7th continent. She has recently been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter.