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

Long Journey South

It's that time of year again ! Something I have done almost religiously since 1999. Its got to be Scilly !

Downside is the long journey South that this year was broken first of all at Southport for a visit to the RSPB Reserve at Marshside.

Lots of Pink Feet were already in but most impressive were the hundreds of Black Tailed Godwits including this flock in front of Nell's hide:

Black Tailed Godwit

Other birds of interest included Little Egret, 2 Ruff and at least 4 Curlew Sands:

Curlew Sandpiper

Heatwave ? What Heatwave ?

Whilst most if not all of the Southern part of the UK has been basking in temperatures close to 30 degrees, we in Glasgow have endured a day of non stop rain. As I look out of the window this evening at 6pm it is almost dark and it wasn't a lot lighter when I arrived at Baron's Haugh around 2pm.

The Dowitcher has now been present for 2 weeks and is still actively feeding in the channel that runs left of the Marsh hide:

Long-billed Dowitcher - now into its 3rd week

Up to 15 Common Snipe, 9 Dunlin, 1 Green Sand, 1 Redshank & 1 Greenshank today. I could not however locate the reported juvenile Garganey that has also been present for up to 3 weeks now.

Good numbers of Lapwings building up with at least 100 present today. The flock is always mindful of predators such as this fox that appeared in front of the Marsh hide mid afternoon:

Hunting Fox

The low water with lots of shallow pools and margins was also attracting lots of Herons including this obliging individual: