Watford - 16.10.24

Back at work after my trip to Scilly and whilst in Callowland Rec I heard then saw a singing Firecrest. This was the 3rd I’d found at work this year and is probably the same bird I had here in 2023? One species that’s definitely expanding its range locally. 

Scilly - 11.10.24

Black Redstart

Our final day on the islands had already arrived and so after breakfast we were walking past Porthcressa just as a Black Redstart was found and it showed well in front of the laundrette. 2 Whooper Swan headed out into the bay past Morning Point then had second thoughts and flew back.

Whinchat

As we hadn’t been over to the east side of St.Mary’s all week that’s where we headed hearing a Yellow-browed Warbler calling from Lower Moors area on the way. Another was heard at Higher Moors. By Porthellick Pool a Reed Warbler was seen briefly and a Yellow Wagtail was heard from neighbouring fields. Up at Carn Friars a Whinchat showed well along the edge of the horse paddock. 

As we walked past Normandy I picked up a goose in with a couple of Pheasant. It was a Pink-footed Goose and presumably the same bird that favoured the same area last year. 

Great Northern Diver

Watermill Cove was the next stop where despite it not having been reported for 2 days I quickly re found the winter plumaged Great Northern Diver just to the north off of Innisidgen. As we were there a message came through of an Osprey over the western end of St.Martin’s. I started scanning over the area of Lower Town and managed to find it as it flew off west. 

As our tummies were grumbling we thought we’d go and get something to eat at Juliet’s Garden and whilst walking down Porthloo Lane the radios burst into life with the news of a Black Kite heading towards Telegraph. Typically we’d only just been there but we found a gap in the hedge and looked back towards the tower and we were rewarded with distant views of it as it circled around before it dropped behind the trees. My 3rd in the UK, 4th if you include the Lincs Black-eared Kite. 

Isabelline Wheatear

After some food we stopped off at Porthloo beach and had 4 Bar-tailed Godwit in amongst the other waders then it was off up to Star Castle. Here we eventually had crippling views of my 3rd ever Isabelline Wheatear as it fed on the hotel lawn before it flew up and over the castle.

A Great end to the day with the Wheatear being my 200th species for the year. 

So the trip ended with 118 species seen including 5 Scilly ticks and 23 year ticks. Sadly no mega/lifer to get the adrenaline flowing but still a great week. Roll on 2025.

Scilly - 10.10.24

The morning was a quiet one with nothing of note seen. That was until news popped up on the WhatsApp group of an Olive-backed Pipit on St.Agnes. Needing this for my Scilly list we jumped on the boat and were some of the first on site at the bulb dump. Within 30 seconds it popped out onto the short grass and started feeding and showing well. It was also my first anywhere for 21 years and just my 3rd ever so a great bird all round. 

Olive-backed Pipit

In the last field at Browarth was a lone Pink-footed Goose and this was followed by another 28 Barnacle Geese over on Annet.

A Spotted Flycatcher was just down the road past The Parsonage and even evaded a Sparrowhawk attack.

Snow Bunting

After a spot of lunch we took a wander down to the Troy Town maze area where a Snow Bunting was showing very well. It was just after leaving this bird we heard that the Olive-backed Pipit had amazingly been joined by another one so off to the bulb dump we went. They had gone into a patch of tall dense weeds no bigger than a pool table but were tricky to see. I did managed to see both in the same scope view a couple of times and they did fly out and perched in nearby hedges a couple of times. With these two birds I’d doubled the number I’d seen in the UK! 

As I was watching the pipits the radio crackled with the news of a Marsh Harrier over Annet so I clambered up the bank around Porth Killier and scoped the island and thankfully got on it straight away and that was my number 1 Scilly ‘tarts’ tick finally seen.

Aurora!

After dinner I went along to the Scillonian club for the auction of artwork of the late Scilly regular Wayne Collingham who sadly passed away earlier in the year but it was interrupted by news of the Northern Lights showing outside! The auction raised just shy of £2000 for the ISBG so a great success and it was on the way home from the log that the aurora became bright enough to be seen by the naked eye. I headed up to the health centre where it was a bit darker and took the above photos. Sadly there was just a bit too much cloud for clear pics but to have seen it twice in the same year is one of the highlights of the year for me. 

Scilly - 9.10.24

Having dried out from yesterday’s deluge we headed up to Peninnis again to try and see the elusive Wryneck. Again we failed and to make matters worse when I was down looking for it both Brendon and Ian Williams had had 3 geese fly over. They shouted at me but due to the wind I didn’t hear them and so I missed a Scilly tick of 3 Barnacle Geese. 

With that disappointment myself and Brendon headed over to Bryher to try for another potential Scilly tick. 2 Great White Egret were in Tresco channel and as we arrived on Bryher another one flew off to join them. Before I’d even left the quay the radio burst into life with news of an Osprey nearby and sure enough there it was heading towards Tresco. 

Every time I go to Bryher I managed to take a wrong turn or get lost and today was no difference and we ended up walking around the south side of Samson Hill instead of heading straight to Popplestone Beach  but it did pay off with a Firecrest by the boatyard. 

Eventually we arrived at Heathy Hill and after a short wait a group of tourists walked down a path and flushed out the Hoopoe that’d been present for a couple of days. Sadly it took flight and headed around the back of the hill and was then seen over the boatyard heading towards Tresco. Not the best views I’ve ever had of one but a Scilly tick all the same and considering some people on site missed it completely we were lucky. My luck then improved when a Barnacle Goose flew past just offshore. 2 Scilly ticks in 30 seconds!

Dave Hall then mentioned a Grey Plover on a small island off of Stony Porth. We saw that and for me it was an embarrassing year tick!

Whooper Swan

Happy with the morning so far we said let’s go celebrate with a cuppa at the Hell Bay hotel (don’t do it unless you want to pay £9 for two teas!) but before we got there on the neighbouring Great Pool was a Whooper Swan with its Mute cousins.

Barnacle Geese

And on Gweal Island were 16 more Barnacle Geese! The northerly winds were obviously helping with their arrival.

Mauve Stinger Jellyfish 

As the boat was arriving soon we decided to to try and see if we could spot the Spoonbill on Green Island. Thankfully we were successful albeit it was distant. From the jetty I spotted my first ever Mauve Stinger jellyfish. 

An Arctic Tern was spotted just off of Tresco on the way back and being glutton for punishment we popped back to Peninnis for another crack at the Wryneck. This time though we had more luck as I managed to pick it out perched up. It then decided to show on and off for the next 20 minutes. 

Goose Barnacles

Our last stop of the day was at Porth Thomas where a 30ft long log had been washed up and it was covered in Goose Barnacles. This was the first time I’d seen these but sadly there were no Columbus Crabs seen with them.

I wonder how many people have seen Barnacle Goose and Goose Barnacles on the same day before?!

Scilly - 8.10.24

As I stepped out of our accommodation I could hear my first Redwings of the autumn closely followed by a Merlin zooming low and catching a House Sparrow. 

The Short-toed Lark was still in its favoured field on Peninnis. This bird is my 8th on Scilly and I’m still yet to see one away from the isles.

Ortolan Bunting

Up near the airport a small field held numerous Linnets and in with them was a juvenile Ortolan Bunting which showed well on occasion but often vanished in the weeds.  

Dotterel

A long walk up to Telegraph produced a Whinchat at the back of one of the fields and from the edge of the golf course a distant juvenile Dotterel and 3 Wheatear. 

A Great White Egret was at Porthloo and my final stop was Standing Stones field where I had decent views of a Sedge Warbler. 

Golden twin-spot

At the evening log Jacob Everitt brought in Scilly’s 3rd and my 1st ever Golden twin-spot moth.

Scilly - 7.10.24

5 Mediterranean Gulls were at Porthcressa beach and just out at sea 10+ Cory’s Shearwaters flew past. St.Agnes was the island of choice today and as we were sat on the boat waiting to leave a Golden Plover flew over. Once on Aggy we failed to see the reported Red-breasted Flycatcher or Barred Warbler but Spotted Flycatcher and Yellow-browed Warbler were had by the Fruitcages. 

Fly over Snipe were seen at Coastguards and Big Pool and a Black Redstart was on Pericles beach. 

The heavens opened on the boat back and we were soaked quite literally to the skin. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Scilly - 6.10.24

Little Tern taken by Brendon

We awoke to news of a Scilly mega on Porthcressa so we quickly got dressed and power walked down there and thankfully the bird was still present feeding just offshore. The bird in question was a 1st winter Little Tern! Apparently at one point it’d almost flown out of the bay but returned and even sat on the beach a couple of times. It was my first Scilly tick of the week and a nice bonus before breakfast!

Great White Egret

We returned after breakfast to find the tern had vanished but present were Sandwich Tern, 2 Mediterranean Gulls and a Great White Egret. We then walked up the Garrison noting nothing along the Lower Brooke platform but as I arrived at Morning Point I inadvertently flushed a Whimbrel off the rocks below. At the dead pines walk we had not 1 but 4 Spotted Flycatchers. 

In Old Town bay we had another Great White Egret and the Little Tern again.

Tawny Pipit

We then wandered up to the airport and as it was a Sunday we could walk onto the airfield where we eventually had great views of just my 3rd ever Tawny Pipit.

Red-backed Shrike

After our fill of that we visited Porth Minick where our second juvenile Red-backed Shrike of the week showed well at the back of the field. News then reached us of a Jack Snipe at Lower Moors so off we went  and after a while it crept out from the sedges in the bottom corner and started bobbing. 

Porthloo beach held a number of Ringed Plover and one of them I picked out was colour ringed. Thanks to Bob Dawson it was identified as having been ringed in Holland in 2019 and had visited Scilly numerous times but this was the first sighting there for nearly 2 years.

Cattle Egret

Our final stop was Sandy Lane where in with a field containing a few cows were 4 of their namesake Cattle Egret. A Firecrest was the last bird of the day to enter my notebook. 

 

Scilly - 5.10.24

Short-toed Lark

We started the day at Porthcressa where 2 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding just off the beach before we headed back up to Peninnis to try and see a Wryneck. We had great views of the Short-toed Lark again along with 2 Wheatear by the lighthouse. The Wryneck wasn’t seen so I had a quick sea watch where  4 Cory’s Shearwaters were seen. 

In Old Town churchyard a Pied Flycatcher made its way onto my year list before we headed off to Carreg Dhu gardens. 2 Raven showed well in a field near Parting Carn before we entered the gardens rear entrance. It was here that Will Scott’s voice boomed over the CB radio saying he had an unusual hirundine pretty much over where we were standing. We got onto it and it was a very tatty looking thing but eventually it was ID’d as a House Martin with strange wing moult. Just my second Scilly Great White Egret flew over the gardens too looking somewhat out of place.

Wheatear

 

Cornwall + Scilly 4.10.24

Red-backed Shrike

Another year has passed and so it was that time of year to head down to the SW for a day in Cornwall and a week on Scilly. This plan didn’t happen as the bad weather had caused the Scillonian III to be cancelled on the Saturday and as that’s usually the last mode of transport to be cancelled I decided that rather than risk being stuck in Cornwall until Monday I cancelled my flight and booked onto Fridays sailing instead. I was this year joined by Brendon Fagan and so at midnight we set off and arrived at the Hayle Estuary about 6.30am and had a quick scan of Ryan’s Field. Here I year ticked Bar-tailed Godwit and also noted 2 Kingfisher and 3 Raven. 

We then headed to Penzance and parked up and wandered round to get on the boat. Some familiar faces were on board and as we waited to set sail I thought I could hear Chough calling and sure enough I wasn’t hearing things as heading south right over the boat was a flock of 27 Chough! This was by far the biggest flock of this species I’d ever seen.

The sailing was a good one both sea state and birdwise. 3 more year ticks were seen with 35+ Cory’s, 14+ Great and 2 Balearic Shearwaters noted. 

Once on Scilly we headed straight up to Peninnis where after a few minutes we saw the Short-toed Lark in a bulb field. Just after we’d seen this a Merlin flew over. Standing Stones field was our next stop where we immediately got onto the juvenile Red-backed Shrike. 2 Yellow-browed Warbler were heard in the NE corner of the field but not seen. A Wheatear at Porthloo beach was just my 4th of the year. It was good to be back albeit a day earlier than planned.

 

East Yorkshire- 29.9.24

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. Photo courtesy of Damian Money

The winds had been blowing from far to the east and so birders were hoping for something stupidly rare being blown to our shores. On the 25th Andy Hood found a wing barred warbler at Bempton Cliffs RSPB that he couldn’t put a name to even with a strange call. On the 27th it was sound recorded and identified as Britain’s 2nd Pale-legged Leaf Warbler! The first had been found dead on St.Agnes,Scilly in 2016 after it’d flown into a window and identified from DNA. Back in 2012 a bird was seen in a garden on Portland,Dorset but wasn’t identified to species as Sakhalin Leaf Warbler couldn’t be ruled out. 

I couldn’t go Saturday which was probably just as well as the crowds looked horrendous even tho everyone got acceptable views in the end so plans were hatched to team up with the Moreton brothers. 

We left early and despite me coming off a junction early and adding 20 minutes to the journey we arrived just after 7.30am and met Dave Woodhouse who had seen it the previous day and told us it’s favoured areas. The bird could be heard giving a strange Bullfinch like call and every so often would sit in full view briefly. George and Matt both had these good views but I managed to miss them. Eventually after an hour or so I finally laid eyes on my first ever PALE-LEGGED LEAF WARBLER deep in a Hawthorn bush and despite the dark conditions you could see all its salient features. As soon as it moved on eyes moved upwards as my first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year showed well in the tree above. Tree Sparrows were also nice to see seeing as they’re now pretty much extinct in Herts.

Siberian Stonechat

Happy with seeing the mega we then walked south along the coast path for about 30 minutes where we searched for George’s second lifer of the morning. We scanned the area it’d been in the previous day to no avail so decided to head back only for us to spot 2 birds the other side of the large mound. The first bird was a year tick Whinchat and the second a nice Siberian Stonechat that started preening showing off its peach coloured rump. 2 ticks down for George with 1 more to go. 

Icterine Warbler

We then headed to Flamborough Head. We parked up opposite the Viking Pub and walked to the nearby sewage works. Here we immediately got onto the Icterine Warbler in the nearest shrubs. George’s third tick of the day to which I said it was disgraceful to tick that after the Pale-legged! Another Yellow-browed Warbler was heard calling in nearby trees and the my first Red-breasted Flycatcher since 2020 flew into the same shrubs as the Icky. 

Another great days birding in East Yorkshire. Just a shame it’s not a bit closer to home!