Scilly - Part 2

Wednesday 17th

A very windy (although otherwise fine) day which made birding difficult, and nothing of significance was found. Highlights were a few Brambling, the Solitary Sand still in Old Town, a Great Spotted Woodpecker (a Scilly rarity!), a Firecrest which eventually showed well in Holy Vale, and a 1^st W Med Gull on Porthloo Beach.

Firecrest in Holy Vale

I also had a look at the Ring-necked Ducks which had relocated to Porth Hellick Pool – a 1^st W drake and 2 1^st W females.



Ring-necked Ducks on Porth Hellick Pool (1st W drake on left)



Thursday 18th

 

A much calmer day dawned on Thursday, although things were still fairly quiet on the bird front. Me and Stuart located a Spotted Fly en route to a Red-breasted Fly in the Dump Clump (Tuesday’s bird relocated?), and elsewhere I found a Firecrest at the top of Lower Moors, and Stuart found one at Newford Duckpond.

 

Firecrest at Newford

We also finally caught up with a Yellow-browed Warbler towards the bottom of Holy Vale; it called for about 10 minutes, but remained well hidden, and then went silent for half-an-hour. I eventually tried some pishing to coax it out, and it popped out at the front of some sallows for a few moments, before disappearing into cover again.
 

Yellow-browed Warbler in Holy Vale

Friday 19th

We went our separate ways for a few hours on Friday morning, and I did a loop round Peninnis, Old Town Cemetery and back through Dump Clump, having another look at the Red-breasted Fly, although there was no sign of the Hume’s Warbler.

Red-breasted Flycatcher in the Dump Clump

We met up again for the afternoon, and were joined by Mark Speck (staying on the island with Lynn and Andy Victor). We had decent views of the female Great Spotted Woodpecker,  a Whinchat on Salakee Down, the 3 Ring-necked Ducks at Porth Hellick Pond, heard yesterday’s Yellow-brow in Holy Vale (elusive once again...), and saw the Holy Vale Firecrest.

Great Spotted Woodpecker near the school

Perhaps best was a fly-over Woodlark as we walked back towards Hugh Town along the Sunnyside Trail, which flew south calling just before 5pm, before returning north a few minutes later. One had been reported from the northern end of the island in the morning, so this may have been the same bird – although two were seen over the Garrison the following day. It transpired that this is quite a rare bird on Scilly – I have a rarity description form to fill in!

Mark, Stuart and Carl in action on Salakee Down

Saturday 20th

Our last day, but with a mid-afternoon flight we had some time to do some more birding. I headed to Lower Moors to look for a ‘grey’ snipe reported yesterday (but failed to see anything except standard Common Snipe). After breakfast, we strolled through Dump Clump, having a Lesser Redpoll near the incinerator, and hearing a Yellow-brow which moved rapidly through, but there was no sign of the Red-breasted Fly.

 

Common Snipe at Lower Moors

Heading to the Old Town Cemetery, we found a Pied Fly in exactly the same spot where the Red-breasted Fly had been earlier in the week. It was extremely elusive and difficult to view, hiding in the ivy high up in the elms. Heading for Lower Moors, we arrived just after a Spotted Crake had been found next to the board walk. It was very skulking but allowed a few brief sightings.

Spotted Crake at Lower Moors

We finished with a little flurry at Porthloo Beach, locating a Snow Bunting on the beach itself, and then a Black Redstart on the houses behind; the latter was presumably a bird which had been seen earlier on the old school in Hugh Town, working its way along the coast.

Black Redstart at Porthloo

We arrived at the airfield at our allotted time, to find that we had been bumped onto another flight, which was delayed as our plane needed a new starter motor. We finally got away 45 minutes late, which was particularly frustrating, as this meant we could have had time to twitch the Booted Warbler that had had been found on St Agnes that morning..!

All in all, this was a really good holiday. We could have done with another big bird (i.e. a Yankee passerine), but I can’t complain with two ticks, and several other rarities, semi-rarities and scarcities. The Scillies are beautiful, and to a certain degree must be what England was like in the fifties – friendly and crime-free with quiet roads and hedges and woods full of elm trees. It was also fun to visit all the places I knew of by name, and go to the bird log in the Scillonian Club. Roll on next year!

 

Old Town Bay