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.