Scillies - 5.10.11

The Solitary Sandpiper and the Snipe sp.

The previous nights log had mentioned an interesting Snipe down at Porthellick Pool that could well be a Wilson's Snipe from America. With that in mind we headed off in that general direction. A walk around Penninis head, Old Town and round the end of the airport runway produced nothing of note other than 1 Swallow! I decided to have a quick check of a field next to Porthellick Beach where I found 2 more Whinchats and a Stonechat. Thankfully I managed to remember where the 2 hides next to the pool were and upon entering I was shown the odd Snipe just to the left. It certainly did look different with very little brown tones to it. It looked more black and white. I managed 1 good shot before it walked out of view. More walking followed around Normandy then towards Newford. 2 Ravens flew over the riding stables and the Black Kite was seen again and 2 Kestrels were near Lower Newford. We then popped into Carreg Dhu garden for a sit down and a look for the Firecrest that had been present. There was only 2 Goldcrests and a House Martin to be seen so we decided to carry on back to the hotel but just as we approached the exit the Firecrest popped out into view. We reached the hotel but I left Barbara there to chill out and read her book while I returned to Higgo's Pool in the hope of another yankee wader. I met up with Dave Hall and together we walked down to find nobody there so we grabbed the best vantage point and waited. Thats when it started to drizzle. The drizzle then turned into heavy rain but i'd got wet enough to think i'll stay and thankfully I did as the Lesser Yellowlegs flew in followed 5 minutes later by my 2nd Solitary Sandpiper in the UK. I watched as these to American waders fed side by side on a small pool in the rain and managed 1 half decent photo whilst trying to cover my camera and scope from the rain! No sooner had I started to walk back to the hotel it stopped raining!