4th-11th of October 2014 saw the
Stu Crew reunited for its third outing of birding, beer and pasties on the
Isles of Scilly. After a fairly quiet 2013, hopes were high that this year
would deliver... it didn’t, and overall our week was again quiet, both in terms
of rarities/scarcities, and also for other migrants. The good news (for us) was
that the following week was pretty quiet too (if not even quieter); there’s
always that fear that something good will turn up the day after you’ve left.
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| Carl and Stu feeling optimistic on the boat out |
But
here is what we did see:
Blyth’s Pipit
On 6th October news came over the radio of a ‘Richard’s
or Blyth’s Pipit’ on the airfield. Later, this was ‘confirmed’ as a Richard’s
Pipit. Being as we were at the opposite end of St Mary’s, we didn’t rush across
to see it. But that night at the log, there seemed to be some doubt about the
bird’s identity, and the following morning, it was reported as a Blyth’s Pipit,
now in a bulb field at Old Town. This time we decided to check it out, but by
the time we arrived, it had done a bunk. It later transpired that both Blyth’s
and Richard’s Pipits had, apparently, been present the previous day, which had
caused the confusion.
We thought that was that, but the Blyth’s was relocated a
few days later, on the 9th, behind Old Town Bay. After missing the
bird fly on a flush of Standing Stones Field (we weren’t the only ones), we
eventually had flight-only views of it on a flush of the small fields behind
the bay, when it gave a quiet ‘chip-chip’ call; probably not tickable views if
this was a new species for anyone, but luckily all three of us had seen one
before (me, the Languard bird in the ‘90s, the other two the Gringley bird).
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| Blyth's Pipit twitch |
Our only BB rarity of the weekend; and it wasn’t seen
again.
Barred Warbler
Things actually got off to a good start on our first full
day, when, strolling towards Old Town from Hugh Town with Stu, I noticed a pale
Sylvia warbler on the edge of a Pittosporum hedge near the health
centre. It was a bit distant for bins, but looked interesting. Getting the
scope on it, it proved to be a Barred Warbler. It actually showed pretty well,
and we managed to get plenty of people onto it, including Carl who’d had to go to
the Co-op to buy a toothbrush.
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| Barred Warbler |
Still present after we left, this bird was presumably the
one that was seen previously in the allotments, just a few hundred metres away
as the warbler flies. However, on the basis that it hadn’t been seen for six
days, it counts as a self-found bird under Punkbirder rules. Boom.
Rose-coloured
Starling
A juvenile had been hanging out at Green Farm, Pelistry
for a while, and after a failed attempt on the 6th, we tracked it
down on the 7th (after a bit of stringing on my part). Only my
second British bird, it showed well as it fed around some cattle.
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| Rose-coloured Starling |
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| With its buddy |
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| Carl searching hard for the Starling... or is he picking blackberries? |
Red-breasted
Flycatcher
A birthday treat on the 8th, this elusive bird
showed along the bath between Porth Hellick and the Tremelethen Trail - although
the other two almost gripped me off; I had wondered off to look for the bird
elsewhere (after it hadn’t shown for a good 40 minutes), and when I came back,
I thought they were joking when they said it had shown 20 minutes previously.
Luckily I picked it up again a few minutes later...
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| Looking down onto Porth Hellick |
Short-toed Lark
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| Short-toed Lark |
Balearic
Shearwater
Due to pretty choppy conditions on the sailing out of
Penzance, seawatching wasn’t exactly easy, and despite spending most of the
sailing looking for seabirds, we failed to see a definite Balearic Shearwater –
although did have c.10 Manxies and 6
Bonxies. On the sailing back,
however, conditions were much better, and we bagged two nice Balearic Shears, as well as another 4 Bonxies. No Grey Phals unfortunately
though - some had been seen on the morning sailing from Penzance.
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| Balearic Shearwater 1 |
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| Balearic Shearwater 2 |
Other birds
The supporting cast included a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers (in fact, apart
from a regular bird at Newford Duck Pond, the only other one our group encountered
was a bird I had briefly in a hedge near Borough Farm), quite a few Firecrests (we seemed to stumble on these
wherever we went), 3 Snow Buntings
(2 on Peninnis, one on the airfield), up to 3 Whinchats at Higher Moors, the odd Spotted Flycatcher, and a single Redstart. Other warblers etc. were in very short supply.
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| Firecrest |
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| Stu and a Wheatear |
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| Song Thrush - marvelously common on Scilly |
The ones that got
away
On the 9th, a Rustic Bunting turned up on St
Agnes. Carl decided to go and look for this the following day, whilst me and
Stu stayed put on St Mary’s. Unfortunately it wasn’t relocated, although an
Ortolan Bunting was; a would-be tick for Carl, and for me! I’d like to say that
I felt bad for Carl that he didn’t see it... A Tawny Pipit (or was it a
Richard’s..?!) also put in a brief appearance whilst Carl was on Aggie, but he
only had brief tail-end views of it as it flew off.
Non-birding
highlights...
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| Snoozing in Old Town churchyard |
Meeting some birders from the West Midlands, especially
Richard and Kay - some kindred inland-birder spirits; Kay was the first person
we got onto the Barred Warbler, and Richard relocated the Blyth’s Pipit.
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| Snoozing in Holy Vale |
Winning the quiz in the Atlantic - after a traditional
birthday lasagne (can something be traditional when you’ve only done it twice?),
we took part in the quiz, bolstered by a couple from South Yorkshire who we had
met last year. And our team, ‘Happy Birthday Nick Crouch’ (I had no part in choosing
that name, I would like to point out), won, quite comfortably! And beat the West
Midlands birder’s team, ‘Peregrines on Toast’ in the process. But we promised
not to mention that again... Our team of five won... four pints of beer. Hmm.
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| Snoozing on the boat |
Hustling some Irish navvies - one night in the Mermaid,
we were playing pool, and got challenged to a game of doubles by some Irish lads working at the airport (which is currently being redeveloped); having seen us
play a couple of unconvincing games, they obviously thought they could take us,
but they hadn’t banked on Stu pulling off an amazing shot to snatch victory
from the jaws of defeat. They looked a bit deflated at the end...
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| Snoozing in the flat - when we're meant to be going out! |
... and lowlights
Arriving at the wrong Travelodge in Okehampton - we began to
check in, only to find that we were needed to be at the other Travelodge in Okehampton, 10
minutes back the way we had just come. Not a big deal perhaps, but not great
when it’s nearly midnight and you’ve got to get up before 6. I blame Carl.
Next October?
During my three visits to Scilly in the last three
autumns, I have had just two ticks – and one of those was Rose-coloured
Starling; and in the last two years, there have been just single BB rarities
during our week stay. In fact, this must be one of the worst autumns on record
for Scilly. So the question is, is this a good enough return, or should I be
casting my eyes north next year...? Scilly is lovely and I have a great time
there, so it will be a big decision to make!
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| Scilly looking lovely - Old Town Bay from Peninnis |
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