Cornwall + Scilly - 4-12.10.19

My favourite time of year had arrived but this year my usual companions on the trip to the SW had other plans and so this year Matt and George were joining me on their first autumn visit to Scilly.

4th Oct - 4am and off we went heading for Church Cove on the Lizard. Upon arrival we parked up and wandered into the churchyard and immediately connected with a smart Pied Flycatcher. I wandered off in the hope of finding the rare one but then suddenly Matt came running round the corner saying it was showing in the car park. I legged it round and hey presto my second Red-eyed  Vireo was sat in the open preening. A Firecrest was flitting about in the tree behind it.

 A visit to Porthgwarra provided nothing of note so we headed off to Nanquidno Valley but due to the strength of the wind 7 Chough were the only birds showing.

We finished off the day at Hayle Estuary where I found a distant Curlew Sandpiper.

Red-backed Shrike

5th Oct - The morning brought fog and so we headed to the airport to double check if flights were going. Thankfully it cleared as we were there and our flight left on time. Peninnis was the first place to visit and straight away we saw a Spotted Flycatcher followed by a showy juvenile Red-backed Shrike from the farm trail.

Spotted Crake

6th Oct - News the previous evening of a Spotted Crake at Lower Moors gave us our first place to go in the morning and despite my crappy photo (screen grab from my phone) it showed ridiculously well totally unfazed by our prescence. An adult Yellow-legged Gull on the rocks in Porthcressa Bay was a nice bonus before we headed over to Tresco.

Ortolan Bunting

On the boat we met 2 young lads both of whom were called James and one of them said he'd got the 6 Spoonbill on Green Island as we sailed past. 12 Mediterranean Gull were at New Grimsby and at the old heliport we connected with both the Short-toed Lark and Ortolan Bunting. It was while watching these two that a broken CB message came through with the words American Cuckoo. It turned out one had been seen at Lower Moors and that a unscheduled boat was on its way over and if we could make the quay we could get on it. A 20 minute walk back but only 15 minutes to do it in meant I had to break out into a run which by the time I arrived at the boat I was on my last legs! (I must get fitter next year!)

Yellow Billed Cuckoo (Thanks to Ellis Lucas for use of his photo) He was just to the right of me when he took this.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Thanks to Chris Griffin for use of his photo)

Back at Lower Moors we'd just missed a sighting but it was sounding like an extremely elusive bird and so it proved that after a couple of hours of narrowly missing it and only Matt having had any sort of view of it we took a walk up to Porthloo Beach to clear our heads. A Whimbrel on Taylor's Island was a nice year tick and feeling refreshed we headed back to the mayhem! Again I narrowly missed it only to find George had gone into the woods and had had scope views of the top half of the bird before it flew again after one of the James's had pished it out into view!. I went back onto the road but after another 20 minutes or so I said sod it I'm going into the woods. Matt joined me and suddenly I picked a bird flying into the favoured tree. A nervous minute or so passed before it moved again until eventually it sat out on a dead branch in full view bar a couple of leaves partially obscuring the head but when the wind blew them out the way I finally laid eyes on my first ever YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO! It'd only taken 5 hours but in that moment it was all worth it. It soon vanished again and with that we left to join George in the pub for a celebratory beer! But the day wasn't finished as on the walk back a pale morph juvenile Honey Buzzard soared over Lower Moors viewed from near Porthmellon Beach. What a mad day!

Green-winged Teal

Whinchat

7th Oct - After yesterdays craziness it was a more subdued day. It started with me finding a Firecrest at Sunnyside on the way up to Newford Duckpond. Here we quickly saw the putative female Green-winged Teal which if accepted would be only the 2nd female to be seen in the UK. Next we walked to Porth Hellick where we saw 3 Whinchat in the first field and then by the start of the loop trial the Cetti's Warbler was singing its head off but remained invisible.

EDIT - Photos from early November proved that the teal was in fact a Green-Winged Teal but a male and not a female as expected!!

Red-throated Pipit

One bird that was starting to annoy us was a Wryneck by the lighthouse on Peninnis. 3 times we'd missed it so when it was reported again we headed up to try again. 5 minutes after arriving and again not seeing it the radios told us of a Red-throated Pipit in the pig field on Peninnis. We shot down there and got into position but only a handful of Meadow Pipit were showing. A few minutes later they took off and showed there was over 20 in the field and as they came back down one landed on an electric fence and it was the Red-throated Pipit. But not just any old RTP, this one actually was a lovely red faced adult! We'd all been expecting a stripy 1st winter type. It sat there for about a minute before dropping into the long grass. It showed again briefly at the far end of the field and with that we headed to the Standing Stones field near Old Town and added 2 Yellow-browed Warblers to the trip list.

Blue-winged Teal

Red-eyed Vireo

8th Oct - Late news from yesterday reached us of a 1st winter male Blue-winged Teal on St.Agnes. An early boat was organised for 9am so despite me saying it'll be on Porth Hellick or Tresco we went over anyway and no sooner had we set our scopes up and scanned the Big Pool it was found at Porth Hellick! With that news we decided to stay on aggy to see what was about. As it turned out not a lot with just 2 Spotted Flycatchers and a female Merlin of note. We got the early afternoon boat back and chose to be lazy and got a cab to Porth Hellick as time was running out and there was one more bird to go see. From the hide we had ok views of the Blue-winged Teal as it occasionally swam into view with 2 Eurasian birds. The other bird I mentioned was back on Peninnis so we joined a large group in one of the fields and had my best ever views of the Red-Eyed Vireo that my good friend Jonathan Nasir had found a couple of hours earlier. The bird was obviously fresh in as it looked totally
knackered!

Dotterel

9th Oct - An early start in the hope of catching up with the mega elusive Blue Rock Thrush didn't work but we were handily placed for the Wryneck to eventually give itself up in Old Town Chruch yard. Up at the airfield I finally added Dotterel to my Scilly list with a nice juvenile bird in between the downpours. a stupidly showy Snow Bunting was on Peninnis and at Sandybanks Farm the Turtle Dove finally gave itself up for us. New broke of an American Buff-bellied Pipit on St.Martin's but was elusive. What was probably the same bird was then found at Borough Farm on Mary's so we went to try and see it. Just a Whinchat was seen for our troubles.

10th Oct - We started the day by walking around the Garrison hoping to spot the Blue Rock Thrush but again drew a blank. We were approaching the Star Castle when a broken message on the radio came through. The others turned and said did you get any of that that. I replied "all I'd got was an excited Will Scott and the word thrush!). We carried on down into the high street and we found out that it was a Swainson's Thrush at Carreg Dhu gardens. Off we went and on arrival it was pretty packed in there. Once we were ready Will walked through the shrubs to try and force it back out into view but it had vanished and everyone left empty handed. A Firecrest was seen well though and only 2 other birds made my notebook. A Whinchat at Higher Moors and a nice moulting adult Great Northern Diver in Porthcressa  Bay.

Blue Rock Thrush

Blue-winged Teal (both taken by George Moreton)

11th Oct - Our final full day started at Morning Point at silly o'clock hoping to finally pin down the Blue Rock Thrush. The wind and rain weren't helping much and so after an hour or so we walked back towards Morning Point. We were a quarter of the way along the Lower Broome platform when a radio message said the thrush was showing from morning point! We turned and ran and as I jumped down into position it flew back into the trees above the rocks. George had just seen it but we had missed it. Thankfully a kind Kingfisher obviously took offence to it being there and harassed it enough to push it onto the rocks where I finally got a decent view of my second ever Blue Rock Thrush. Happy with that we had a celebratory cuppa and headed off to try and see the 2 Pink-footed Geese near Salakee. It was then the heavens opened and heavy drizzle started. Our plans changed and we went and hid in the hides at Porth Hellick. This turned out to be a good idea as the Blue-winged Teal flew back into the pool and proceeded to show very well! It then stopped raining so we headed to the Dump Clump in the hope of seeing a Red-breasted Flycatcher. Unfortunately we could only manage 2 of its Spotted cousins before we headed back to the flat to pack to come home.

12th Oct - We got off ok and headed straight to Nanquidno Valley. Within 2 minutes we'd seen the Red-breasted Flycatcher that was present for its 3rd day. Matt's 5th lifer of the trip! After stopping for some Pasties we visited Steart Marshes WWT in the hope of another lifer for the brothers in the shape of an American Golden Plover. It wasn't seen but an adult Spoonbill was noted.

So another trip finished. An excellent one all round. A total of 111 species was seen between us and personally I had 1 lifer (YB Cuckoo), 7 Scilly ticks and 20 year ticks. Thanks to Matt and George for their company and the lift! Hopefully we'll do it all again next year?!

Farlington Marshes - 15.9.19

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

There I was on the 14th hallway through painting my shed when I get news of a mega rare warbler in Hampshire! I looked at the traffic and decided against sitting in it and chose to finish painting. I hope I hadn't made a big mistake!

5am Sunday morning and I joined George and Matt on the trip down south. We arrived at 6.20 and walked over to where it had been showing the previous day. A Kestrel sat atop of a neighbouring bush wasn't exactly the start we wanted but that soon flew off quickly followed by Matt saying he'd got a bird moving in the bushes. I got on it and amazingly it was it. The second bird of the day was my first ever EASTERN OLIVACEOUS WARBLER! The pale, large billed bird flitted around and occasionally disappeared but soon showed again and pumped its tail downwards as if to say hello!

Booby Hunting part 2! - 7.9.19

As expected the day after the dip of the Brown Booby near St.Ives I went back to work and boom the mega alert sounds and sure enough the Brown Booby had been re-found this time at Kynance Cove on the Lizard Peninsular! As the reports came in it transpired that it was a completely new bird due to age and plumage differences. For the next 5 days it was reported showing well sitting on rocks and flying around hunting for fish.

So along with Matt and George we headed down on Saturday morning making great time on our journey. The walk up to where people were positioned nearly killed me but I made it and set up my scope waiting for the time it usually made an appearance. That time came and went and by 10.30 it was obvious it wasn't there. I jokingly said that's probably the only time I've hated Boobies!

7 Chough, Sooty Shearwater and Great Skua made the year list but they didn't really cheer us up and not even a year first Firecrest by the toilet block helped. To make matters worse we were almost home when a report of the Booby came through having flown past the café distantly. Oh well :(

Watford - 3.9.19

Whilst clearing up litter in Radlett Road rec I was suddenly alerted to a familiar call overhead. I looked up and was please to see a Tree Pipit flying over heading SW. What was even more pleasing was the fact there 2 birds! A most unexpected year tick.

Booby Hunting! - 1.9.19

For some reason there was a sudden explosion of Brown Booby sightings in Western Europe with Spain and France having birds on show and then the UK got in on the act. A possible past North Kent was followed by a bird see around St.Ives in Cornwall. It was a bit erratic in its showings but when it did show it really showed well.

Western Bonelli's Warbler (Thanks to Lee Fuller for use of his photo)

So on the Sunday I joined Dave Johnson, Geoff Goater and Brendan Glynn down to Gwithian just east of St.Ives. Almost immediately the shout went up it was flying past but nothing came of it. While we waited we did some seawatching and I added Shag, Arctic Skua, Manx Shearwater and Great Northern Diver to the year list but after about 5 hours we'd had enough and headed SW to Trevescan where after a bit of cat and mouse I had lovely views of my 3rd UK Western Bonelli's Warbler half way up a large Cedar tree. Our decision to leave Gwithian was the correct one as it wasn't seen all day.

Birthday Birding - 30.8.19

Another year older but probably none the wiser! Wilstone was my chosen site for the afternoon and surprisingly there were a few birds to be seen. From the hide I was treated to stunning views of 4 hunting Hobbies and a juvenile Peregrine. A Garganey was asleep on Drayton Bank and round near the orchard I had quick views of a hunting Spotted Flycatcher.

Tyttenhanger - 24.8.19

Due to a long term service award at work I had some money coming to me so I decided to spend it on a battery powered UV moth trap so I could go mobile in my mothing. Ricky had asked if I could bring it to his patch to see what we could catch. In the two hours we were there we caught a few moths including a new one for him and birdwise we heard 2 Tawny Owl and both Common and Green Sandpiper.

Bird Fair - 18.8.19

Ruddy Shelduck

Ospreys

That time of year again where with Brendon and Ricky we visited Rutland Water to look at what we cant afford!

After perusing the stands and meeting up with a few people we went birding and from Dunlin hide we had a two Osprey on the nest and an exotic Ruddy Shelduck. 2 Avocet, 2 Ruff and a Common Sandpiper were also noted.

Wilstone + Ivinghoe - 11.8.19

Turnstone

I spent a couple of hours birding with George locally. A stunning Turnstone was showing well from the hide at Wilstone Reservoir along with a less stunning but still nice Green Sandpiper! The Turnstone was only my 4th in the county.

Male Redstart

Up at Ivinghoe a male and Female/juvenile Redstart were showing nicely on fenceposts.

Slimbridge WWT - 24.6.19

Little Bustard (Thanks to Cliff Smith for his photo)

Almost half way through the year and still no lifer in the book. That all changed when a male Little Bustard was found at Slimbridge. Brendon Fagan and Terry Smith joined me on the trip down and after a couple of hours of staring into long grass all we'd managed in seeing was the birds head, neck, breast and back but it was my first ever LITTLE BUSTARD all the same! Another bird scrubbed off my dip list after dipping the female in Yorkshire a few years ago.

Minsmere - 1.6.19

Just a few weeks after visiting Minsmere myself and George were back. This time in the hunt for a lifer for George. We walked up to Dunwich and after 10 minutes I heard the call of the bird he was after closely followed by it singing its distinctive song. Iberian Chiffchaff in the bag! 23 Little Tern were seen from the public hide and then at the Bittern hide I finally laid eyes at the third attempt on the returning Savi's Warbler which was reeling distantly opposite the hide.

So Near But Yet So Far! - 14.5.19

Black-winged Stilt

Mid morning news broke of a pair of Black-winged Stilts at College Lake so after work I went to have a look and hope they'd take flight into Herts which of course they didn't! A Greenshank was a year tick too. Once home I checked to see where the county boundary was and was dismayed to find it was the road you drive down to turn off into the reserve just 300 yards away.
Next time?!

Watford - 8.5.19

A singing Garden Warbler at Riverside Rec was the first of the year.

Nene Washes - 5.5.19

Baikal Teal (left)

I joined Matt and Kai on my first ever visit to this site in Cambs for a mega rare duck that I'd only seen once before also in Cambs! We nabbed the last spot in the car park and walked up onto the bank and almost froze to death in the wind despite it being May. 29 Avocet greeted us quickly followed by our target bird the drake Baikal Teal. It never showed closely and was asleep for the majority of the time we were there. A Cuckoo tried to remind us it was spring and not winter by singing from trees behind us.

Wilstone Reservoir - 3.5.19

Garganey

A dash up to Tring after work is always worth it when you're going to see a drake Garganey. Just a shame it was asleep for 99% of the time I was there! I also added Hobby and Common Sandpiper to the year list.

Watford - 30.4.19

5 Swift over KGV playing fields were the first of the year.

Suffolk - 20.4.19

Another trip out with the Moreton twins for some year ticks saw us visit Minsmere where we racked up 8 new species for the year including Lesser Whitethroat, Reed and Sedge Warbler, Wheatear and Sandwich Tern.

Green-winged Teal

After we headed for Herringfleet Marshes. After taking the wrong track into a caravan club site which wouldn't have looked out of place in a horror movie we parked up and walked onto the marshes. It suddenly dawned on me that I'd been here before many years earlier for some Tundra Bean Geese! Todays main prize took a lot of searching for until I picked it up on the way back to the car. A nice drake Green-winged Teal showed distantly along with 2 Water Pipit.

Watford + Wilstone - 9.4.19

At Riverside Rec singles of Whitethroat and Willow Warbler were new for the year then a visit to Wilstone after work added 4 more year ticks with House Martin being number 150 for the year followed by, 16 Little Gull, 3 Arctic Tern and a Common Tern. The Great White Egret then flew into roost.

Cassiobury Park - 4.4.19

A day clearing up in the park started off very well when a Cetti's Warbler burst into song just over the river from the miniature railway. Just the 3rd park record. 2 pair of Mandarin were on the river as well as a Little Egret.

Hemel - 2.4.19

A Raven flew over my garden heading SW.

Wilstone, Hilfield + College Lake - 31.3.19

Myself and George had an early start in the hope of connecting with the Great White Egret that had roosted at Wilstone Reservoir the previous evening. No joy with that though I did note 31 Little Egret which is a county record flock for me. 2 Egyptian Geese added something exotic to the day and 50+ Sand Martin and a couple of Swallow made it feel like Spring despite it being a bit chilly.

Osprey (thanks again George!)

I then showed George the delights of Hilfield Reservoir! The walk round went quickly but we did note 10 Black-necked Grebe, 3 Chiffchaff and a singing Blackcap but about 3/4 round I suddenly noticed a gull getting agitated almost directly above the hide so I got it in my bins and as I thought it was mobbing an Osprey! I got George onto it and it headed straight over our heads on its journey. It was then picked up my mate Ricky at Tyttenhanger about 20 minutes later.

We then returned north to College Lake to add Little Ringed Plover to the year list.

Watford - 28.3.19

A Yellow Wagtail few NE over Vicarage Road cemetery mid morning and became my earliest ever by two days.

Sturt Pond - 17.3.19

During a family holiday on Hayling Island I popped into the hide at Sturt Pond and noted a nice adult summer Mediterranean Gull, 230+ Brent Geese, 8 Black-tailed Godwit and a nice showy Sparrowhawk.

Watford - 12.3.19

Whilst litter picking Riverside Rec my first Chiffchaff of the year started singing despite the miserable weather. This was followed 20 minutes later by a nice surprise Waxwing flying over!

The Brecks - 2.3.19

Otters! Thanks to George for his photo.

I again joined George and Matt for a trip up to the Brecks in the hope of some good birds and a couple of overdue Norfolk ticks. First stop was Santon Downham where a nice walk along the river produced the goods with 2 Marsh Tit, Woodlark, 2 Mandarin, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Crossbill and a drumming Lesser-spotted Woodpecker which was one of my 2 wanted Norfolk ticks! The other bonus was 2 Otter that showed down to a few feet at times.

Goshawk

We then headed up to the (un)secret viewing area near Cockley Cley where after a 20 minute wait we connected with a pair of Goshawk chasing each other around. The 2nd of the Norfolk ticks I was hoping for and embarrassingly my first Goshawk since 1992! 3 male Yellowhammer were seen too.

Woodlark (right)

Brandon was our next stop hoping to connect with a Great Grey Shrike in one of the plantations. We failed in our quest although typically it was seen half an hour after we left. We did however see 4 Woodlark, 8 Brambling and a Marsh Tit.

Our final destination was Cavenham Heath where we saw possibly the first 4 Stone Curlews in the country.

Apsley - 22.2.19

Yellow-browed Warbler (thanks George!)

In my post dated 13th January I said that Yellow-browed Warblers are becoming increasingly recorded in Herts and so a report of another one in the county wasn't as unexpected as it once was. The thing with this one was it was in Apsley less than 2 miles from home! As I was off work I popped down to have a look and got onto it briefly thanks to George Moreton pointing it out. I went again the following day and got better views of it and returned the favour for George by pointing it out so he could get it from his flat!

Cassiobury Park - 14.2.19

A quick wander around the park added Kingfisher and Little Owl to the year list.

Norfolk Weekender - 19-20.1.19

I was invited to join George, Matt + his wife and Kai on a weekends birding up in Norfolk to try and build the year list up a bit.

We started at Lynford Arboretum where in bracing temperatures we saw 9 Hawfinch, 2 male Crossbill, Brambling and Marsh Tit around the paddock area and on the lake a smart male Goosander showed briefly.


On the way up to the north coast we spotted a small covey of 9 Grey Partridge next to the road near Ickburgh which was a nice unexpected bonus.

At Thornham we saw 14 Twite, Barn Owl and Spotted Redshank amongst others.

Titchwell was fairly quiet bird wise with the best of the bunch being on the sea including Eider, RB Merganser, Long-tailed Duck and 3 Red-throated Diver. A Great White Egret flew over the reserve on our way back to the car park.

Shorelark

At Holkham we saw another GW Egret, 6 Russian White-fronted Geese from the A149 and out on the freshmarsh a nice surprise was a young Dartford Warbler plus 38 Snow Bunting, Rock Pipit, 6 Shorelark and a fly over Red Kite.

From Cley beach car park a Razorbill was the only bird of note.

We finished the day at Stiffkey Marshes and added a female Hen Harrier, Merlin, 2 Barn Owl and our third GW Egret of the day.

We stayed overnight in Sheringham and first thing we went for a wander along the seafront. A lone Purple Sandpiper was on the rocks and out at sea we had Fulmar and Guillemot.

A walk up the East bank at Cley saw Bearded Tit in the reeds and 21 RT Diver went past over the sea.

1 Lesser + 2 Mealy Redpoll

Our last stop before we headed home was Sculthorpe Moor which was the first time I've visited this reserve. 8 Brambling, Marsh Tit, Lesser Redpoll and 2 Mealy Redpoll were the best birds seen. I finished the day on 130 species for the year .

Tyttenhanger GP's - 13.1.19

Yellow-browed Warbler

A species that seems to be on the increase in Herts is Yellow-browed Warbler. With only 4 records up until fairly recently its now become annual in its appearances in the county. So when one turned up just down the road I thought it would be rude not to go and have a look! I arrived at Tyttenhanger and joined a small group including Mike Illet, Darrel Bryant and young Calum Mckellar by the conveyer belt and quite quickly got onto the bird as it flicked about in the trees. A Peregrine flew overhead while watching the warbler too.

Odds And Sods - 2-12.1.19

Back at work and the year ticks continued to trickle in. Siskin, Mandarin, Lesser Redpoll, Blackcap and Coal Tit amongst others.

Tring And Environs - 1.1.19

Brambling

A new year dawned so I joined George Moreton on a trip up to Tring, College Lake and Ivinghoe Beacon. We finished the day on 70 species with only a handful of notable species seen. These were Green Sandpiper, Red-crested Pochard, Pintail, Bullfinch, Brambling and Bittern. 

End Of Year Review - 2018

2018 ended on 206 species with 4 UK lifers and 3 Herts ticks.

Lifers

1. American Bittern

2. Moltoni's Warbler

3. Grey Catbird

4. Stejneger's Stonechat

Herts Ticks

1. Penduline Tit

2. Spoonbill

3. Pallid Harrier

Norfolk Mega - 27.10.18

At the end of December 2016 a pale looking Stonechat was seen at Dungeness and was DNA tested and reported as a Stejneger's Stonechat so a fair few people went to have a look including myself but into the new year it was revealed that a mix up in the lab had occurred and the bird in Kent was a bog standard Stonechat.

Stejneger's Stonechat

Fast forward nearly 2 years and a bird just east of Salthouse village seemed to fit the picture for the rarer chat and so I joined Matt and George Moreton on a trip up. It was quite windy on arrival so it wasn't a surprise that it took over an hour to finally see the bird. Just after we left some poo samples were taken and a few days later it was confirmed as just the 4th STEJNEGER'S STONECHAT for the UK so the trip was fully justified.

Pomarine Skua

Due to the wild weather we headed to Cley beach car park to do some seawatching. Driving up the beach road a Short-eared Owl flew over the car heading inland and once at the beach shelter we were told to look along the beach as there was a Pomarine Skua sat on top of the shingle ridge. We looked and sure enough we got our best ever view of this species. In the following hour we were treated to one of our best seawatching sessions ever with 2 Great Northern Diver, 3 Red-throated Diver, a Long-eared Owl coming in off from the sea and inland, a Little Auk zooming west close in, 2 Snow Bunting and 2 Long-tailed Duck past!

It then chucked it down with rain so we retreated to the car and went onto Stiffkey for a reported Great Grey Shrike. 9 Little Egret and a juvenile Spoonbill were noted but the highlight was nearly being decapitated by an in-off Woodcock! No sign of the Shrike unfortunately.

2 more Spoonbill flew over Holkham Freshmarsh as we drove past.

Treeve Common (GREY CATBIRD!) - 17.10.18

Grey Catbird

At the end of my long post about my trip to Scilly I mentioned Treeve Common in Cornwall and put in brackets (remember the name). On the Monday we got off Scilly we flew over this common which was about 3 miles away from the airport. I drove all the way back to Hertfordshire, unpacked the car and sat down with a cup of tea. Then the mega alert goes off. It read - Grey Catbird at Treeve Common! So I was 3 miles from the site at 9am and now its 3.20pm and I'm 300 miles away. Bugger!

Fast forward to Wednesday and I'm in the car with George Moreton and Brendan Glynn on my way back to Treeve Common. We were 5 minutes away when I received a call from Cliff Smith to say it was still present. Phew! We parked up and wandered round to view and in under 5 minutes I was laying my eyes on my first UK GREY CATBIRD. I'd seen a few in America back in 2013 but this one was only the 2nd record for UK so a much welcomed tick. Shame I couldn't have seen it on the Monday and saved myself a trip back! A female Ring Ouzel flew over while we were there.

We then headed over into Devon for an Isabelline Shrike but frustratingly it had vanished overnight.

Scilly + The SW - 5-14.10.18

To try and save time on catching up on this blog I'll just give a quick run down on my sightings from my annual trip to Scilly. This year I went with Ricky Flesher, Terry Smith and Brendon Fagan.

5th Oct - We started our trip as usual with a day in the SW of the UK. First stop was Labrador Bay where we again caught up with Cirl Buntings for the year list. Just a pair seen today along with a fly over Siskin.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Next stop was Devoran Quay where after waiting for a couple of hours for the tide to come in we all got brief views of the juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs. Other highlights were Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and 5 Sandwich Tern.

Pectoral Sandpiper

We then headed to Drift Reservoir where we connected with juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper from the hide and the last stop was the Hayle Estuary where I noted a whopping 71 Mediterranean Gulls! I did miss the Wryneck that the others saw around the car park while counting the gulls!

Bar-tailed Godwit

6th Oct - Our first day on Scilly was a quiet one with rain making birding a bit miserable. At Porthcressa I did manage my first Scilly tick of the week with a showy Bar-tailed Godwit on the beach. On the rocks were Kittiwake, 3 Med Gull and a Greenshank was feeding in amongst the rocks.

Tawny Pipit

7th Oct - We were joined today by Steve Blake and the day started off at Lower Moors where 3 Whinchat got onto the year list. We then headed over to Bryher where at Popplestone Bay we eventually saw the Tawny Pipit which was a Scilly tick for myself and only my second ever. At the dump a Spotted Flycatcher showed on occasion along with a Willow Warbler and another Whinchat was at the tennis courts.

Merlin

8th Oct - The long staying female Merlin finally gave us a glimpse of her first thing and just as we were walking past Porthmellon I noted 5 birders staring into the bracken by the path so went to enquire what they were watching. One of them replied Aquatic Warbler! I put the news out on the radio and soon we had been joined by most of the birders on St.Mary's! Over the next hour or so we had brief glimpses and it crept through the bracken and when it flew across the track. At one point I and a few around me had good views and were all happy it was indeed a juvenile Aquatic Warber with its central crown stripe, bold braces on the mantle and sandy yellow colouring and with that we left happy.

At the dump clump my first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year was seen but then news broke of two good birds on St.Agnes so we got the boat over. First stop was Porth Coose/Periglis Beach where unfortunately we'd just missed the Red-throated Pipit by 10-15 minutes but we had better luck at Porth Killier where we had decent views of my first Scilly Greenish Warbler and I found a very brief Firecrest too. Then news broke that the earlier Aquatic Warbler that hadn't shown well all day had suddenly decided to sit up in a bush and get ID'd as a Sedge Warbler! Two bird theory for me and the others who'd had good views first thing. It's down as Aquatic for me :)

Red-backed Shrike

9th Oct - It was back to St.Agnes today and again we saw the Greenish Warbler and nearby a Redstart and Lesser Whitethroat. At Castella Down the juvenile Red-backed Shrike showed well before a Yellow-browed Warbler in the Parsonage became my 100th in the UK! A Willow Warbler was in the Fruitcages and a nice Wryneck showing opposite Grinlington Farm. Back on St.Mary's a Black Redstart was on the beach at Porthmellon along with one of its commoner cousins.

Whooper Swan

Cattle Egret

Wood Sandpiper

Migratory Locust!

10th Oct - Our island of choice today was Tresco to try and bump the trip list up. An adult Whooper Swan was a nice start on Abbey Pool as well as a female Pintail. At Pentle Bay just 4 Sanderling were noted along with 3 Med Gulls. At Middle Down 5 Cattle Egret were in a field with their namesakes and on the Great Pool the Wood Sandpiper was still present from the hide.

Back on Mary's I went and twitched a Migratory Locust on the Garrison campsite and afterwards I saw 3 Manx Shearwater from Morning Point.

11th Oct - A quiet start produced a few usuals but was brightened by the first Redwing of the autumn. At the Standing Stones field a Reed Bunting was a decent record along with a showy Yellow-browed Warbler and 3 Whinchat. Up on Peninnis a brief Richard's Pipit was a welcome year tick followed by a Yellow Wagtail at Porthloo, 2 more Yellow-browed Warblers (Old Town + Holy Vale) and a Barred Warbler at Porth Hellick. My first Hummingbird Hawkmoth in ages was seen whilst enjoying a cuppa at Longstones Café.

12th Oct - Storm Callum was in full effect and had forced Steve, Ricky and Terry to make an enforced early stop to their holiday but myself and Brendon had decided to make the most of our holiday and stick it out! I left Brendon to his breakfast and headed up to Peninnis to do some seawtaching and amazingly I wasn't alone as one other birder had had the same idea! Loads of Gannets and a single Great Northern Diver was all I had for my efforts so I headed back to the flat to dry out. A bit later a few more things were being seen as others had decided to take a chance up there so we both joined them. You could taste the sea water spray 1/2 mile inland and as we got past the last trees the wind was so strong it stopped us in our tracks  a couple of times! A Leach's Petrel halfway between us and St.Agnes was all I managed to note down.

14th Oct - Saturday the 13th was spent in the airport hoping to get a flight off but all bar one arriving helicopter the flights were cancelled due to the wind. Thank god for Netflix for helping me through 9 hours!! As we were stuck there we had to stay at Longstones for the next two nights until we could get off on Monday.

Red-backed Shrike

Our bonus day produced a few decent things most notably a year tick Turtle Dove that I found in a small field near Porthmellon, Yellow Wagtail at Rosehill, 3 Reed Buntings at Standing Stones, Yellow-browed Warbler at Newford Duckpond and then in the Pelistry/Riding Stables area I had Wryneck, 2 Black Redstart, Redstart, Yellow Wagtail, juvenile Red-backed Shrike, male Ring Ouzel and best of the bunch an Eastern Yellow Wagtail which frustratingly I heard only but others did get good views of it.

Silver-striped Hawkmoth

 The non birdy highlight was this 1st for Scilly Silver-striped Hawkmoth that I went to have a look at over at Watermill.


 15th Oct - We managed to get off the islands today and just before landing at St.Just airport we flew over Treeve Common (remember the name!). A Spoonbill was on Hayle Estuary on the way home. Not exactly a classic year but some great birds nonetheless. Roll on next year!