Splendid Pallid Harrier in Ayrshire

Successfully twitched a splendid juvenile Pallid Harrier at Garnock Floods near Irvine this afternoon !

I had initially missed it just before 10am and had to wait over 2 hours for it to show again. It was relocated initially perched on a fence in the old munitions site just north of Bogside. On reaching for the camera I found that the battery was completely dead, I had omitted to charge it after Scilly believing there still to be plenty of juice. Obviously not ! In any event it flew off almost immediately and I doubt I would have got anything even if the battery had not been flat.

Anyway my overall impression of the bird was that it was very slim with warm brown tones to the underparts and a very obvious contrasting neck collar. Its flight was light and easy, very akin to what I remember from Monty's Harrier and completely different from Hen that is an altogether much bigger bird.

Whilst waiting for the Harrier to reappear, I had my first Fieldfares of the Autumn, 3 Sparrowhawks and c6 Crossbill.

Photo Review of Scilly 2011

Black Redstart

Bluethroat

Bluethroat







Lesser Yellowlegs

 

Northern Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush

Pec Sand

Red Throated Pipit

Rose Coloured Starling

Sub-Alpine Warbler

Upland Sand

Wilson's Snipe

The Final Day

The boat was not until 4:30 pm and as such there was plenty of time to continue birding.

A Radde's Warbler had been found in the Pine Walk but was not rediscovered again. Whilst supposedly looking for the Radde's my attention was drawn to a Brent Goose viewable in the Roads along with 2 Shelduck and a Spoonbill.

A crowd had gathered by the football pitch where the female Sub-alpine Warbler was showing very well off and on:

View over St Mary's Harbour from the Garrison on the last morning:

1st Winter Med Gull, at least 6 Bonxies and a Minke Whale from the Scillonian were all notable.







.

Bluethroat Day

The day dawned foggy again with continuing Easterly winds. On the Western side of the Garrison a Ring Ouzel "chacked" over head and dropped into the Woolpack Battery. A Black Redstart had also taken up residence in the Battery this one having a particular fondness for a window in one of the turrets:

Black Redstart

2 Turtle Doves were in the Pine Walk and a brief Yellow Browed Warbler was in a Sycamore near the football pitch.

My first Skylark of the week was over the Garrison whilst viewing the Spoonbill distantly on Sampson Flats. Another Black Redstart was at Star Castle:

Black Redstart

After a refuel at the Deli where I can recommend the cappuccino and scones I headed towards Porthellick seeing nothing until another brief Yellow Browed on the Loop Trail. On Porthellick beach the Bluethroat was showing very well:

I spent some time in the Seaward hide hoping for some shots of Water Rail but none ventured close enough. 2 Greenshanks and a Raven were also notable.

Later in the afternoon another Yellow Browed showed a bit better in Carig Dhu gardens.

A Change in the Weather

After a run of South Westerlies, the change to South Easterly winds today accompanied by fog obviously had the effect of bringing in more birds.

On the Garrision there were lots of Pipits, far more than there had been in previous days. There also appeared to be more Chiffchaff and I saw my first Blackcap of the trip. Best however, was the female Sub-alpine Warbler in the Pine Walk. This bird has been around for at least 10 days but had become very elusive over recent days. It was to show incredibly well later in the week.

A Spider's Web on a Foggy Morning on The Garrison



By lunchtime the fog had reduced visibility to less than 100 yards at times but had cleared a bit by the time I entered the ISBG hide on Lower Moors. My timing was absolutely perfect and coincided with a reappearance of the Waterthrush. It is just a pity about the fog spoiling the pictures :

You can clearly see the ring on this one

Water Rails continued to show very well here and at the Shooters Pool. A large Brown Rat also showed well at the latter site, clambering around in the trees ! Another Blackcap and a Garden Warbler provided more evidence of passage migrants.

I also heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a scare bird on Scilly, from trees close to Shooters Pool.

An Opportunity for Photography

I had yet to do Peninnis and so this seemed to be the best plan to start the day. At the headland, 2 Snow Buntings unusually were very flighty and did not allow any sort of approach for a photograph. So I'm going to have to show last year's instead:

The Lighthouse on Peninnis Head - always a good area for Snow Bunting

The light today was vastly improved on the previous days and it allowed me to take this shot of a Northern Wheatear close to the airport:

A very obliging Wheatear

Not so obliging was the Short Toed Lark that was also on the airfield :

Short Toed Lark

A Red Throated Pipit had been pinned down on the golf course and this was my next stop. Again, the views were rather distant but it was heard to call several times to confirm its presence:

I wandered on past the Duck Pond failing to see the Yellow Browed again. By this time it was a glorious day and perfect for a visit to Watermill, which the think is one of the most beautiful spots on St Mary's for some photographs:

Watermill Cove - looking towards the Eastern Isles

Watermill Cove

Watermill Cove



Watermill Lane - Autumn Scene



By the time I got to the top of Holy Vale, the light was not as good but a selection of plantlife common on Scilly was another try out for the new D90:

A Quieter Day !

Now that all of the main birds were under my belt I felt able to take my time and amble round and look for birds rather than chase other peoples.

In truth there was a general scarcity of small birds. Even Chiffchaff appeared thin on the ground this year. I headed towards Porthloo seeing a Raven over Harry's Walls and not much else. Up past the golf course and Telegraph stopping at Newford Duck Pond where a Yellow Browed Warbler had been seen over the past few days. There was no sign in about 45 mins but 2 Firecrests and a Sedge Warbler were of interest.

Carrying on past Borough Farm, the Upland Sandpiper was showing extremely well :

Down through Holy Vale and on to Porthellick a Bluethroat showed briefly close to Camel Rock. It was to show far better later on in the week. Up over Porthellick Down and onward to Pellistry, I was seeing few birds but clocking up the miles. A Black Redstart was on the roof of Pellistry Farm.

From there I headed to the 'German' cafe where I enjoyed coffee and black forest gateau before heading back to Hugh Town.

Stig of the Dump

This is the Dump Pool on St Mary's. As its name suggests it is close to the municipal waste disposal site indeed it looks into it. Waste products no doubt leach into its waters but it has proved to be a magnet for rarities this Autumn. As far as I am aware it has been newly created this year by the IOS Wildlife Trust or at least it is the first Autumn where access has been granted. Its other 'attractions' include a collection of bits of wood that pass for a hide, a breeding ground for Mosquittos and a very muddy path that leads from the Dump Clump. Well this was my home for most of the day as I attempted to connect with a Northern Waterthrush !

I set my alarm for 06:30 and headed for the dump. It was still dark and I struggled to find the correct path that leads through the Dump Clump down to the pool. 'I am bound to be the only idiot here at this time in the morning' I thought. Indeed I was not ! There were already about 50 souls present standing 4 deep looking into the darkness with barely a sound except for the buzzing of the local Mosquittos that were no doubt having a great time with so many pieces of easy prey on offer  Gradually as the light began to come up I began to see. Nothing at first but soon a very obliging Water Rail and soon after the very confiding Lesser Yelowlegs flew in an started to feed. Seven thirty soon became Eight and then Eight Fifteen and given that the B&B served breakfast at 08:30 I felt obliged to leave with still no sign of the target species.

Whilst eating either my first of second sausage my pager bleeped and advised that the Waterthrush was now 'on show' at the Dump Pool. However, by the time I had hurriedly finished breakfast and run round it had departed. I staked it out for a further hour but with no further sign I was already making plans to revisit in the afternoon and to make sure I was at the front.

I returned at about 3pm and indeed was right at the front camera poised and prepared for a long wait, until dusk if required ! The Yellowlegs continued to perform incredibly well right in front of me. By 4:30 pm another crowd was beginning to gather but I remained in pole position should the bird appear. At around 4:45 a small bird flew in to the reed edge at the far end of the pool. I was quickly on to it and confirmed to myself that it was the Waterthrush. It performed admirably for a good 20 minutes and was still being enjoyed by many when I left. Unfortunately, the light was not ideal and the images were not great. This was about the best:

Nothern Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush

Other highlights on a day dominated by the Waterthrush included a Bonxie past Morning Point and an adult Yellow legged Gull on the rocks at Porthcressa.

A juvenile Rose Coloured Starling showed well at Sally Port:

Wilson's Snipe

This species was on Scilly 4 years ago but I missed it because I was dragged kicking & screaming to bloody Magaluf for the October week instead and I have moaned about it ever since.

I had always thought that there was little difference between Wilson's and our own Snipe, something about more tail feathers on the former and different barring on the flanks. As such I was fairly indifferent about seeing the bird even though it would be a lifer. A conversation with a birder on Tresco the previous day however strongly suggested that this individual was quite different being essentially black with cream stripes as opposed to brown with yellow stripes.

The bird quickly showed from the Stephen Sussex hide at Porthellick and despite the indifferent light you can clearly see the difference in this photo:



A Black Striped Ball by comparison to the Common Snipe in the background




























Some better shots:

Next up I caught up with the ubiquitous American Golden Plover on the airfield. As in previous years a Sunday is always good on the airfield due to the cessation of fights. The AGP was accompanied by 5 of its European congers. After Sunday the AGP could only be found at the Daymark on St Martins.

The Lesser Yellowlegs had relocated from the Dump Pool to Lower Moors and was almost within touching distance of the ISBG hide with Greenshank:



Taken with the Nikon D90



Greenshank

As a continuation of the American Wader theme that has characterised Scilly this year an Upland Sand had been found the previous day at Maypole. It was still showing well this afternoon:

Upland Sand - taken later in the week at Borough Farm

By 6 pm I had 'retired' to the Scillonian Club for my dinner blissfully unaware that the Northern Waterthrush was showing at the Dump Pool. By the time I checked my pager it was dark,cursing I vowed to be on site for first light in the morning. 

The Boat Over & First Day

By 9am I was on the boat in Penzance:

Penzance Harbour - one of my 1st attempts with the Nikon D90

The crossing was largely uneventful with only 2 Arctic Skuas and 1 Manx Shearwater being of any note. The Swedish sailing ship 'Alva' crossed our bows:

Alva - Swedish Sailing Ship

The Scillonian docked around midday and after dropping my case off at the B&B it was off to Tresco for the Least Sand that had been present commuting between the South Beach and the South East end of the Great Pool. Boat fares were up again, this time to £ 8. Not that I wish to see St Mary's boatman's families starve but at that price I am extremely reluctant to 'go off island' unless there is a big bird to be had.

The boat went into Old Grimsby that leaves perhaps a mile to the South end of the Great Pool. That distance was covered in quick time barely stopping to admire a Peregrine over the harbour. Sure enough the Least was present 'crouching' in the base of the reeds. The following record short was achieved:



Lots of reeds obscuring a very small wader !


























Its best features are the crouching pose,the supercillium that meet at the base of the bill and the dark lores. The former feature of this the commonest North American Peep is not mentioned in Collins but described in Sibley With only about 2 hours in total on the island everything was done in a bit of a rush. Next target was a juvenile Red Backed Shrike that had been showing well close to the Abbey Pool. There was no show in about 10 minutes so I moved round to the Abbey Pool to photograph a much more obliging Pec Sand:



Pec Sand


























Finally I had a quick dart into the Swarovski Hide and quickly scoped the Lesser Yellowlegs along with some Greenshanks and headed for the boat. With another Yellowlegs on St Mary's there was surely more opportunity for a better look later on.

Back on St Mary's I headed to the Pool at the back of the dump that has hosted 3 American birds ranging from Mega to Scarcity over the past two weeks. The Solitary Sand had disappeared several days ago but the Nothern Waterthrush and Lesser Yellowlegs had been showing on and off on a regular basis. The former being particularly drawn to the site at dusk and dawn but had been showing much less frequently of late. I joined about another 30 hopefuls but we all dipped on the Waterthrush but had marvellous views of the Yellowlegs:

An extremely obliging Lesser Yellowlegs