ISLES OF SCILLY

ISLES OF SCILLY

October 2008

by Mike King

Fri 10th October 2008 Quedgeley, GLOS to St Mary’s, ISLES OF SCILLY via Nanjizal, CORNWALL with Andy Lodge, Colin Oram and Paul Taylor

Weather: Cloudy with sunshine and strong SE winds

Finally our annual holiday to Scilly had arrived after weeks of anticipation. Colin and Andy picked me up at 3am and we headed off south down the motorway, stopping to pick up Paul at Stone. Many thanks to Colin for going out of his way to get us once again. Our first stop was to be at Nanjizal where we had hoped to see an Alder Flycatcher that had been there for the two previous days. However following it being ringed on the Thursday coupled with clear skies overnight meant that it had long gone. This was followed by the shocking revelation that Tesco in Penzance had closed it's café so a full English breakfast was off the menu. A terrible start then, which we hoped could only get better, and of course it did. This year however the unfortunate fact that Ireland and the Azores are both on the flight paths to Scilly meant that they got the lions share of Yankee vagrants. Proposals for sinking or moving one or both of these island groups before next October will be gratefully received.

Our chopper left on time and for the first time the view from the skies was totally obscured by low clouds which did not clear until we were off of Lands End and then it was sunshine all the way to St Mary's. We took the bus into Hugh Town and haphazardly dumped our bags in our flat retaining only our birding gear. Below the view from our window.

Our plan was to go up on to the Garrison first where there was a Red-eyed Vireo (one which had amazingly avoided the aforementioned islands). After standing around for the best part of an hour it became apparent it wasn't going to be easy and so Paul and I left do the shopping. When this was done and we had settled in Andy and Colin came back and we all headed for Peninnis together. A Peregrine was over Buzza whilst we were on our way. Finally on the Old Town bay side of Peninnis our luck finally began to change. We found the very showy Wryneck being admired by a small crowd of birders. I took a few pics throughout the week but only with a small digital Nikon, I couldn't be bothered to lug all my heavier camera kit around, so the results are not as good.

It was now 4pm and we decided to up to the Airfield where we knew there was a Dotterel. It took more effort to walk up there than it did to find the Dotterel, which was feeding alongside the runway. There was a very stiff SE wind up here making us put fleeces back on after the hot climb. There was no sign of any larks or buntings though.

There was one more rarity to go for before the day was done but it would need a longish walk up onto Porth Hellick Down to see it. As we crossed Porth Hellick beach we saw three Greenshanks, two Redshanks, a Little Egret, heard a Water Rail calling and a Merlin swished over our heads. Arriving up on the down it took us no time at all to find the American Golden Plover with six Golden Plovers. Because of the stiff breeze it was huddled into a dip between heather clumps and was not interested in moving despite several birders getting close.

Sat 11^th October 2008

St Mary’s, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Sunny and warm with SE winds

Our gentle waking up process was shattered when the CB announced "There's a Sabine's Gull at Porthcressa". It took us under two minutes to grab clothes, boots, bins and scopes and fall down the stairs and across the road onto the beach. Sure enough an immature Sabine's Gull was flying around the bay, often close, sometimes perching and also being harassed by resident larger gulls. We were lucky that our flat is so well-placed because shortly it flew off to sea, if we'd been any further away we would have probably missed it.

When we were properly organised we headed up to the Garrison. Our initial wanderings was notable for a single Chiffchaff and three Stonechats as well as Red Admiral and Peacock. With great timing we arrived at the Triangle by the football field just as the Red-eyed Vireo was showing well. It was a stunning bird and much appreciated by all-comers although it soon reverted to being elusive again. Also in the bushes was a Garden Warbler, which caused one or two flutters initially. Then a call went up from the campsite that a Radde's or Dusky Warbler had just been seen. We were there in minutes and despite an hour and a half wait it didn't show again. We heard a flyover Siskin here. We would try again later.

The lure of the newly reopened Kavorna and its excellent pasties governed our next move. Fully replete we walked on towards Lower Moors where a juvenile Red-backed Shrike had been seen. When we arrived it wasn't showing but within a few hundred yards Paul relocated it and we had nice views. Also at Lower Moors we had a Yellow-browed Warbler, a Whinchat, a Chiffchaff and two Water Rails were calling.

We returned to the Garrison at 4pm where the now identified Radde’s Warbler in the Campsite. After a few initial difficulties, not least the fact that non-campers were not allowed into the site, we had good views of the Radde’s Warbler, feeding through brambles and rough scrub, and visible from a parallel public footpath. The Red-eyed Vireo also showed again whilst we were there. We retired to The Mermaid where we watched England beat Kazakhstan 5-1. A couple of Grey Seals were in the bay in front of the pub.

Sun 12th October 2008 St Mary’s, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Sunny and warm with SE winds

It was a long slog today around St Mary’s with the highlights few and far between until late afternoon when it all kicked off. We started with our, almost customary, wander around the Garrison. We saw a Garden Warbler, a female Blackcap, three Goldcrests, including a male displaying, three Stonechats, a flock of 16 tits, ten Great Tits and six Blue Tits and 45 Shags were offshore.

Returning to the town a Black-throated Diver showed well off of the Lifeboat Station, until flushed by Frazer’s boat! Also here were two Sandwich Terns. At Porthloo a nice sized gathering of commoner waders included a Curlew Sandpiper, 14 Dunlin, a Ringed Plover, a Curlew, 21 Oystercatchers and 14 Turnstones. A Rock Pipit and a Wheatear were on the beach also.

We continued on up to Pungies Lane where we saw the first Clouded Yellow of the holiday. Agimore Pool (Newford duckpond) held a female Gadwall. We descended past Maypole and down through Holy Vale where there were a couple of Goldcrests, but no Firecrests (I didn’t see one all week) and a very grey Chiffchaff, possibly of an Eastern race, a hint of what was to come. Then on to Porth Hellick where the only birds of note were four Greenshanks, three Snipe and a Redshank. We walked on up to Giant’s Castle where a jingling flight song alerted us to a circling Snow Bunting. Also here a male Merlin zipped through. On down to Porth Minnick where there was a Wheatear and past Old Town Bay where a Black Redstart and a Peregrine were notable.

Then grumbling stomachs got the better of us and we took a late al fresco lunch at the Old Town Inn. An hour later suitably refreshed and somewhat more sluggish we hauled ourselves up onto Peninnis and headed towards the Wryneck. As we neared the top the CB crackled into life “Olive-backed Pipit at the Incinerator”; we descended the slope at helter-skelter pace and arrived at the Incinerator, sweating and breathless, to find we had missed the OBP by just two minutes. It had flown away over the houses. We figured that Peninnis would still be a good call, so we went back up and stopped halfway along, where we met Richard Baatsen, and had a flyover female Merlin as we talked. Richard left and the four of us rested up in a gateway in the sunshine. After half an hour the message “OBP in a paddock by the Health Centre” on the radio had us up and running again. We ran the short distance to where it was and arrived to find it had dropped into the long grass. We waited and waited and there was no sign. Permission was sought to enter the paddock and four birders walked the field from end to end – nothing, it had slipped away through the thick hedgerow where its call was heard once. All very frustrating! Then a birder came on the CB to say he had a wader with unusually patterned wings flying over Porth Hellick Down towards the Airfield. Initially it was brushed off as being a Dotterel, but he was insistent and politely indicated that this was no Dotterel and suggested it was a Sociable Plover. Then another birder came on and said that a Sociable Plover had just landed on the Airfield! Cue mass exodus, as this was (a) very rare and (b) a first for Scilly. The other boys were off and running but I hesitated because I needed OBP but had seen Sociable Plover. After a short search the OBP was not relocated so I too was heading for the Airfield on another lung-bursting climb. Once there I met up with the other lads and had nice views of the Sociable Plover although the light was poor. A bonus as we left was very close views of a Lapland Bunting. A sea mist was rolling in quite fast as we descended but birders were still streaming up to the plover. We saw our only Hummingbird Hawk Moth of the week at Porthmellon on the way home.

Mon 13th October 2008 St Mary’s, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Cloudy with light rain in the morning and sunny and warm in the afternoon with a S wind

Early morning I checked out the OBP field and although I had a silent pipit fly from the hedge at dawn it was impossible to i/d it. I went back and met the boys and we worked St Mary’s hard yet again. A Peregrine was over Buzza Hill as we moved out, but then the call came on to say that the Sociable Plover was now in the Standing Stones field between the school and Lower Moors. We wandered down there with less haste than yesterday and had much better views of the plover. We could now see that it was an adult.

Next stop was a breakfast pasty at Porthmellon. We sat on the beach to enjoy them and a Common Sandpiper there started a mini-twitch, with birders just checking we had eliminated Spotted and others who were just into Scilly listing, Common Sandpiper being uncommon. As we sat there a Spoonbill flew over and headed for Porthcressa. We walked on around to Porthcressa and found that the Spoonbill was roosting on an island. Then we headed for Peninnis again where we saw the showy Wryneck again feeding on the path and watched 30+ Common Dolphins a short distance out to sea. We went on down into Old Town where Black Redstarts were on both sides of the bay. In Old Town bay there was a Kingfisher and a Greenshank.

We passed through Lower Moors again seeing only a Chiffchaff and a Sparrowhawk. We headed for Longstones café where we had lunch. A flock of 50 Meadow Pipits were here. Whilst we were sat there news broke of a Dendroica warbler (North American Wood Warbler) seen and heard briefly by Spider Webb at Trenoweth. We rang for a taxi and it was Spider who picked us up. A large crowd had gathered on little information. The bird had been found last night as news of the plover broke. It was not seen well enough to i/d but was calling regularly and was thought to be Yellow-rumped Warbler. It had been heard calling early this morning but not seen and in a private area.

We spent the rest of the afternoon there but all went away without seeing the warbler. It wasn’t seen or heard again. There was a Hawfinch here, which is a good Scilly bird; I hadn’t even seen one in Glos this year yet. Also of note was a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher.

Tue 14th October 2008 St Mary’s, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Cloudy with sunny periods and showers with a SW wind

We remained on Mary’s in the hope that the Trenoweth warbler would be found. Colin and Andy went straight to Trenoweth leaving me to my own devices. I decided to encircle the island slowly moving in the general direction of Trenoweth and ready to run for it if need be. I started off around Porthcressa where a Peregrine and a Wheatear were the best birds. Next I walked around the allotments up on to Peninnis. Here I had excellent close views of a Snow Bunting until it was flushed by an idiotic photographer who felt the need to push a zoom lens in its face. Six Snipe flew over and 200+ Shags were on the sea between here and Aggie. I walked down through Old Town with a couple of northern birders, one of whom was a Sale fan, so we talked about rugby as we walked.

Song Thrush in Old Town Churchyard below.

Then on through Lower Moors where I found a Yellow-browed Warbler, also a Chiffchaff and another four Snipe. Then I headed off on my own up through Sunnyside Farm Trail where I heard a Siskin. I met Andy and Colin at Maypole and we decided it was pasty time so we went to Carn Vean Tearooms. As we left a flyover Red-throated Pipit was called close to here but we didn’t catch up with it and nor did anyone else, despite spending a long time watching a pipit flock at Maypole.

We headed for Watermill where we met up with Richard’s crew and saw some better birds at last. A summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver was on the sea off of the Eastern Isles. We walked on around to Innisidgen where we saw two Pale-bellied Brent Geese off of Higher Town Bay, St Martins and a Common Scoter was also seen. A Spotted Flycatcher was in the pines here. We walked down to Bar Point and checked out the waders for the Hudsonian Whimbrel that had been here earlier in the month, but there were just two Whimbrels and four Curlews. Also here was a Black Redstart, a Little Egret and a Rock Pipit.

We carried on to Telegraph where the adult Sociable Plover had now relocated to and ticked it off for the day. It started to rain hard so when we reached Juliet’s we sheltered in the flower shop and called a taxi back to town.

As we started to dry out in the flat news came on of a funny dark Wheatear on an island just off of Porthloo, and not wanting to take the risk that it was something good, we kitted up and went back out. A crowd had gathered but it soon became apparent that it was an oiled Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe castrol) and another clean one was with it. Five Sandwich Terns were off of Town Beach on the way.

I decided to wander home via the Dump Clump to see if I could turn up anything but it was quiet and damp so I went home.

Wed 15th October 2008 St Martins, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Cloudy with showers with a NW wind

Today we went to St Martins with half of Richard’s crew. It was good to get off island even though there was little to go for, although a White-rumped Sandpiper had been reported, and I hadn’t been to St Martins before. In the Roads there was a Great Northern Diver, a Sandwich Tern, five Sanderlings flew by and two Little Egrets were seen.

On landing some of us went to the flats to scour the wader flocks. There was no sign of the White-rumped, the best bird being a Little Stint amongst 108 Sanderlings, 22 Dunlins, 115 Ringed Plovers and 10+ Oystercatchers. Then we wandered around Lower Town seeing only common species before walking up through Middle Town and just before the Seven Stones pub we had a Yellow-browed Warbler, four Chiffchaffs and three Goldcrests. Moving on past the crop fields, one field had a flock of 50 Goldfinches, 10+ Linnets and three Greenfinches. It started to rain fairly persistently and we arrived at the village shop where we bought some food. I headed down towards the quay alone and wandered around the Cricket Pitch, where a Snipe flew over. A fellow birder had been tracking an unusual pipit, which I managed to see and although it was an unusual buffy coloured bird I was sure it was just an aberrant Meadow Pipit. The rain was becoming heavy so the rest of the guys appeared and we decided to catch the early boat back. Naturally before we even got back to Mary’s the White-rumped Sandpiper was found.

We decided we couldn’t give in to the rain, so after a cuppa we walked out again. The weather didn’t improve and the only notable bird we saw was the Sociable Plover still at Telegraph.

In the evening we went to the Scillonian Club and watched England beat Belarus 3-1.

Thu 16th October 2008 St Agnes, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Sunny and warm

Today I awoke feeling pretty rough as Andy had kindly passed his germs on to me. We decided to go to St Agnes today as a Blyth’s Reed Warbler had been found late yesterday in Chapel Fields. We took an early stroll along the Lower Broome Platform, prior to the boat leaving, where a Yellow-browed Warbler was the only notable bird.

Such was the demand for the trip to Aggie we ended up on a second boat, but it didn’t matter, as the Blyth’s Reed Warbler was the showiest bird of all time. It sat in the sun preening and then for several minutes with its wings raised showing every feather. This was the first BRW I had really got to grips with because the two I had seen in Finland were flight views and I didn’t tick them and last year’s Bryher bird was incredibly elusive but this one was a showstopper. A Willow Warbler was here too with a Chiffchaff.

We met Tony and Clive, Aggie regulars, and checked Porth Killier, where we had two Grey Wagtails before heading out to Gugh. There had been an elusive Red-eyed Vireo on Gugh and an invisible Blackpoll on Aggie, but we didn’t see either. Gugh was very quiet, but at least it was a lovely day for a walk.

After lunch at a tearoom we walked around St Warna’s Cove where a Hooded Crow was with nine Carrion Crows and a Redstart was on the beach. Then on towards Big Pool where there was a Little Grebe and another elusive silent pipit gave us the run-around before disappearing.

As soon as we got back to Mary’s we headed straight up onto the Garrison where a Red-breasted Flycatcher eventually gave itself up. In the evening we met Martin McGill and some of his guests for a beer and some pool in the Wolf and Bishop. However I left quite early as I was now in the grip of man-flu.

Fri 17th October 2008 St Mary’s, ISLES OF SCILLY

Weather: Sunny and warm

Today was our last day so we started with a walk around the Garrison (pic below). A Red-throated Diver and six Common Scoters were in the Roads off of Samson. Colin found a new Yellow-browed Warbler and I saw my only Lesser Black-backed Gull of the week. A first-winter Mediterranean Gull was off of Morning Point as was a Grey Seal and there was another Yellow-browed Warbler along the Lower Broome Platform and the Spoonbill flew over. On the return journey to town several Great Northern Divers were in the Roads, but I only saw one, and 4+ Shelducks were off of Samson. Four Sandwich Terns were still at Town Beach and eight Siskins flew over Porthmellon.

Then we went to Lower Moors where a Jack Snipe showed well along with at least 18 Snipe. Also another Siskin flew over and a Water Rail squealed loudly. We went on to Porthloo Lane where a Whitethroat was causing some confusion with its finders, although we couldn’t see why. A White Wagtail was at Porthcressa beach. Then we went up onto Peninnis and had amazingly close views of both Lapland and Snow Bunting.

News broke of a Grey-cheeked Thrush on Aggie but it was too late for us as we were off to the Airport for the flight back. It was here that we had the only Mega of the week; Martin Clunes of Men Behaving Badly fame shared our flight back. On landing at Penzance Paul suggested we should take in the probable Azorean Yellow-legged Gull at Sennen. We duly found it on a ploughed field and had good insurance views, as it could possibly be accepted as the first for Britain.

It was an uneventful journey north broken by excellent fish and chips at Port and Starboard at Indian Queens. Another week on Scilly was over and it was very enjoyable despite the lack of ticks this year. I know I’m already looking forward to 2009.

Below Old Town Bay and the Airfield viewed from Peninnis.

The Gloster Birder www.birder.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk