Today started nice and early from the Riveria , as i needed to pack and get the early boat to St Agnes, Said goodbye to the boys and cycled down to the Quay ( after hiding my bags under the stairs before i moved to Phil and Helen's later )
There was bout 20 of us heading across to St Agnes , it was good to back on the Inter island boats , but £9.00 is getting on the expensive side now !
We docked and headed round to Porth Killier and then up past the Chapel to stand overlooking the fields south of the Chapel - i had a strange sense of deja vu as i stood chatting next to Dick Filby as it was at the exact spot 18 years ago that i saw the Whites Thrush ! Dick was present that day as well !
Anyway, an hour went by , and then another one and then 2 Hawfinches were found behind us ! brilliant - Scillies tick at last ! These birds were seen perched in a Tamerisk and had great views of them both
Then it was back to the vigil - no birds had moved in the hedge , a text came through - Boat cancelled on Monday :-( after 20 minutes changing plans , i have finally got a flight off on Tuesday morning ! Luckily a quick text up the road to Phil means I have somewhere to stay o the Monday night ! More looking at a hedgerow .... Movement - a Female Blackcap .... more movement ... a male Blackcap ...... more people have arrived and must be about 120 people looking now .. then shout goes up ! people have seen it , flying left and finally , the Western Orphean Warbler is finally seen well , watched for over 15 minutes as it fed and moved lazily through the bushes and brambles. Excellent Scillies tick and the first one on here since 1981
I then decided to see what else i could find and started ambling off towards Troy town farm , a Male Peregrine was great to see as it sped past , we were flushing lots of thrushes off the paths and it was evident that birds were in ! a flock of 6 Greenfinch fed in brambles as did 2 Chiffchaffs.
Then had a great piece of luck, stood talking to a lovely couple that i met on the boat on their first trip to Scillies when Graham and Spider came walking down through the bracken of Castella down , Spier shouts did we see the bunting , as they suspect its a Rustic , i start to move down the track but then see a flash of white and a bunting flies up 10 yds from where we were and perches on top of a bracken - Little Bunting I shout ! was great to see it so close and so unexpectedly, even better when i found out that Graham had been trying to track it down for at least an hour after it flew over him calling - incredible skills ! The bird flew off towards the chapel ( it was later seen near Porth Killier and was also seen on Sunday )
Then started a great vis mig Session , with news coming in from Marys of large finch flocks being seen including record breaking flock of 50 Hawfinches heading out towards Garrison saw me standing on the Lighthouse track and looking skywards , my totals for the 45 minutes were
1 Sparrowhawk
32 Chaffinches in flocks of 13, 3 ,4 , 2, 2 and 8
5 Greenfinches high over in tight flock
it was with the flock of 8 that i had a finch that may well have been the Common Rosefinch that was seen later - my only views of it were that it was very dull and nondescript ! but not enough on it !
Then headed to the Parsonage to see if anything down there - Great views of a 1st winter Spotted Flycatcher catching Red Admirals , 15 Swallow , 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 male Blackcap - a flock of 20 Linnet were flying around
the only other birds of note on St Agnes were the 2 Stonechat on Porth Killier
Caught the 15:30 boat back and after waving goodbye to the Turks head , it wasn't long before we were back in Hugh Town
with a Blyths Reed Warbler beckoning, 300 yds from my new accommodation, I decided that i would carry all my stuff on the bike ..... What a huge mistake - its a long way to Bants Carn .... and i was quite sweaty when I turned up ! Quick drop off and said Hi to Helen, Phil and I headed down towards Pendrathan Boat yard - where after 15 mins wait in pleasant company in the late afternoon sunshine a harsh tzaccking heralded the arrival of .... what was re-identified over night as a Reed Warbler , up until that point we all thought we were watching a Blyths Reed - very good learning bird !
I then decided to yomp all the way over to the airfield ( well cycled ! ) and eventually found the Isabelline Wheatear feeding and perching on the numbered signs in front of the terminal , a Peregrine also flew through towards Hugh Town
Cycled back through Old Town ( nothing on the beach ) and then had a look at Lower Moors - no sign of Spotted Crake , but Water Rail showed well in front of Shooters pool as well as 4 Chiffchaff and 3 Goldcrest.
After picking up my "rent" (Red Wine :-) ) in Hugh Town , i then cycled back to Standing Stone where Phil and Helen had prepared a fantastic Quiche and salad , quick glass of red, many old stories with Phil ( whom i have known for over 30 years ) and then to bed , ready for a day of Bird finding on the Sunday .....
( I will illustrate with photos when uploaded )
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