Scilly 14.10.14

Wryneck

Possibly the best days birding of the week coincided with the other 3 deciding to go on the mini pelagic with Paul! After last years trip where I felt ill for 90% of the it which concluded in me getting thrown up on I chose it give it a miss this year! As Chris wasn't too keen on boats either I made arrangements to meet him at Rosehill where after a few minutes we connected with a lovely Red-Breasted Flycatcher. We then moved onto Lower Moors to look for a Yellow-Browed Warbler but the only warbler we saw was a Reed Warbler foraging at the top of a 20 foot ivy covered tree! As we walked on towards Old Town the CB crackled into life with news of a Merlin heading over Lower Moors and sure enough 5 seconds later it flew past and onto the trip list. We had a quick scan over Old Town Bay and were just deciding where to go next when the CB told us of a Wryneck on the Garrison so off we headed. We arrived and got into position and quickly got onto it and watched it as it probed for ants on the track. I obtained a few photos of it but only the one above was any good! Onwards we then walked up to the campsite where we connected with not 1 but 2 Yellow-Browed Warbler in a Sycamore tree. We then decided to head towards Carreg Dhu gardens for a Firecrest. We did see 2 Peregrine circling high over the island but in the gardens it wasn't to be a lucky day as trying to listen out for a Firecrest while 2 women laughed like mad Hyenas was impossible. Infact these 2 women became a problem as we seemed to bump into them wherever we went! A few Clouded Yellow butterflies were noted which is always nice. What I didn't realise is that I was almost killing Chris with the amount of walking we were doing so walking round the SE tip of the island probably wasn't a good idea and it was only later when we saw Paul at the log that I found out just how knackered he was! Sorry Chris. 6 Redwing were noted at Maypole before a final visit to Lower Moors where we immediately struck lucky with the Yellow-Browed Warbler as it showed well low down for us. Back at the flat I met up with the others and told them what I'd seen as did they. News then broke of 4 Ring Ouzel up on the Garrison so seeing as it would be a Scilly tick for Ricky we popped up to have a look. They gave us a merry dance but we finally pinned one day in a field below the football pitch. These 4 were small fry compared to the number that passed through Dungeness. An amazing 800+ were seen there with many hundreds all along the east coast!