St Agnes - Hawfinch!!

Scilly didn't miss out on the UK Hawfinch invasion! Far and away, the best views were of two individuals on St Agnes, rather than roaming too far, these were constantly dropping in to feed on a Whitebeam down Barnaby Lane...

Sometimes foraging in the grass for berries!

 

But more often than not, amid the berries!

Mesmerising habitat, which one shall I pick?

Once in a while feeding on open branches :-)

This was the most productive sequence!

Just need a turn of the head?

Yep that will do nicely :-)

 Steve Young thought so too and a Birdguides POTW soon followed :-)

Scilly mini pelagic - Men o' war!!

A gloomy afternoon session on the waters of the Isles was blighted by (often quite dense) FOG!
There's always something of interest however and I managed to get my first ever images of Portuguese Man O' War...

It has a fearsome reputation! The tentacles can typically dangle down 10 metres where stingling cells paralyse small fish and anything that comes into contact with it!

Despite the gelatinous gas filled bladder which, driven by wind, gives it propulsion, it's not a 'jellyfish'. Its a siphonophore!

And outrageously attractive in shades of pink, blue and purple as the floating surface 'pneumatophore' catches the light...

There was a decent number of birds seen: Shelduck (4), Guillemot, Yellow-legged Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Scoter, Great Skua (2), Sooty Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Purple Sandpiper (2) and...

 this Spoonbill - looking like it has the hots for a Great Black-backed Gull??! Any idea what the offspring might be??  Or do....

Answer...  Spoon-billed Gull - Not only will they steal your chips and sandwiches, but they will scoop away your ice cream!

St Mary's - Vagrant Emperor

There wasn't a mega bird on offer today, I'd decided to stay on St. Marys and nothing of note had turned up! But there's always something of interest on these islands and my odonata pulse started racing when Will Scott put out "Vagrant Emperor" on the radio! Two had been seen the previous day but one will do nicely and I made my way towards Telegraph... fingers crossed...

As I entered the enclosed field, Will was walking the set aside with another birder and yes, one of the Vagrants was still there! Even better, it only flew a short distance and dropped down low but in a spot it could be easily viewed... and photographed!!

Despite the overall brown coloration, that amazing bright blue saddle was shining out like a beacon!

 It's a male, the blue saddle is bisected with a black line in females.

And it was going nowhere in a hurry with mid teens temperature allowing some amazing close up views!

Amazing to realise, just like the incredible journeys that birds make, this large insect has flown all the way from Africa (South West Asia is another possibility). It's an out and out mega - on a par with some of the birds already seen!

St Agnes - Cedar Waxwing take 2!!

Always go back... I wasn't confident that my original views could be beaten but the Cedar Waxing was clearly enjoying the Coprosma berries down in the cove below Coastguards...

Eventually it relocated another 60m or so down the track, seeming to favour the dark shady interior of yet another Coprosma! A Yellow-browed Warbler was also briefly present in the same bush!

Amazing how far that neck can stretch?!

 But for those out of reach berries, when all else fails, simply hovering does the trick!

Gotcha...

 A couple of poses...

Followed by a brief show in the open!

And then time to celebrate with a tub of Troytown ice cream :-)

Lower Moors - Spotted Crake

I mus have rattled off 30 odd shots in the 15 secs this little blighter was visible... And on show for about 1/50 of a second?

And despite a couple more vigils, the best I was destined to come away withg!

St Agnes - Cedar Waxwing!!!

Here we go again... Another aborted session up at the airfield... This time a madcap dash by taxi to the harbour... To a hastily arranged 12.15 boat... destination St Agnes... Reason - CEDAR WAXWING!!! Where is everyone?? Well, most birders were on Tresco and somewhat trapped, chasing Cliff Swallow (which I no longer needed) and Bee-eaters?

We needn't have rushed, it hadn't been seen since Will Wagstaff had found it mid morning whilst leading a group around and it clearly wasn't still handing about the field enclosures where first seen!
Al reaching for his hip flask, having trouble standing up...

So the hunt was on... It was lurking somewhere up by Coastguards Cottage,  unbeknown to us where  this other stoned birder was keeping an eye on it!

The news echoed over the radios! Seen in flight by the Lighthouse!! By now the Tresco contingent was there and quite a scrum as it gave itself up in a Pittosporum hedge some 60m away!

Strictly come record shot distance!

And after five minutes of sitting motionless, off again!

A few dashes up and down the lanes to no avail and a late (6.00) boat was put on! I wasn't planning on going anywhere else! Eventually, it was relocated in another cottage garden... And this time, blimey, showing amazingly well, if a little grumpy?

A turn of the head is all you need?

And a shuffle to reveal the blue grey of the upperwing...

But this all too brief tail fan was the moment worth waiting for!

What an amazing 24 hours - and TWO more lifers...

Tresco - Cliff Swallow!!

It was one of those amazingly silly Scilly days... It started with a dip then Pigs and Turtles. Finally, catching the early afternoon boat back from St Agnes after it became clear the Grosbeak had 'done one' or become cat fodder?

As we neared St Mary's Ian Grant received a message from his dad Martin.. he'd found a ? Red-rumped Swallow on the Big Pool, Tresco! The plot thickened however when Ian Grant asked if it had streamers? "Square-ended" came the reply! Cue lots of expletives... OMG this was potentially turning into (at least) an American Cliff Swallow!!

There was no boat to get over there so, planning for the following day, we ended up at the airfield,  watching the Isabelline Wheatear feeding near the terminal building...

Meanwhile, interest was reaching fever pitch and Will Scott took the initiative and booked a jet boat... £12 or £15 a head return if I remember? No-one was counting pennies and first 15 to radio first on! I'd radioed an interest with the rest of the crew and booked  a seat! BUT when everyone assembled, it was oversubscribed and to cut a long story short, had this gut wrenching view of the boat leaving... minus another birder and me! It doesn't get worse than this...

There was to be a happy ended however, the jet boat company supplied another boat (well done Will) and four of us were soon skimming the waves over to Tresco for the same price! Where was anyone else?? (I should point out it was now 5pm, torrential rain falling, light nearly gone and a mile + walk each way in prospect to the Abbey Pool!)

I limped along the  harbour with Terry Doman, between us we could probably assemble a half fit human being? Then, having the cheek of the devil, I thumbed down a golf buggy and asked the elderly couple (hmmm pot calling kettle methinks!) if we could cadge a lift to the Abbey Pool? Taking pity on us, the answer was yes and we were off... nearly beating some of the first boat crew to the lawn behind the Abbey lol...

It was serious camera wrecking rain but I had a go at getting a record shot or two in flight? As you can see, never managed it!

Spot the Cliff Swallow! He's got a fly on part in the next a Count Dracula movie...

The Abbey must have anticipated this twitch! We all dutifully stayed behind the ropes (was that a keep off the grass sign??) Terry, second from the left collapsed on his scope!

Eventually with light dropping, Cliff was clinging to the wall quite nicely, orange rump shining out like a beacon! (that's the swallow of course, not Cliff Smith!!) 

There was to be an even happier ending! The buggy owner was a birder staying on Tresco and he had stayed for the duration and was now offering a lift back to the boat for the three unfittest crocks there? I had to swallow my pride and hobble as badly as I could to join Rocky Robin and (incredibly) the allegedly infirm Scilly Spider (who's he kidding) for a ride back! Guess that rain sodden beard was dragging him down? Crocks anonymous...

what a madcap day and second lifer of the trip! Soaked to the skin but hardly any walking involved - only 15,370 steps for the day!