St Agnes 23rd September - 28th October 2017

The Scillonian

It was a bit of a trial travelling straight down from Orkney to Scilly in two days but it was a bit of madness that saw us in the mediterranean temperatures of St Agnes just after midday on the 23rd. Things had been quiet - the best bird for a while having been only a Common Rosefinch. Almost immediately though things began to happen when a  a Bee-eater was found by Lee Amery, it struggled with the local Starlings which chased it up and down for a while but it did hang around for a day or two and meanwhile three turned up elsewhere on Scilly, eventually settling down around the Abbey Gardens on Tresco

Then things really kicked off with a Red-eyed Vireo, found by John Swallow, which proved very elusive over the next couple of days - only Lee of the St Agnes crew saw it, near the Bulb Dump. So some excitement but mixed with disappointment at least at first - though all was soon forgotten when this second bird turned up and showed a little better in the big Elm in the Parsonage drive.

photo Neil Wright

It was a start, however, and as it turned out the beginning of a classic Scilly season.  This Turtle Dove was hanging around for the first week, occasionally showing well, before heading to St Mary's.

It's impossible to visit St Agnes without being amazed by the incredibly tame and common Song Thrushes. We're also used to seeing Pied and Spotted Flycatchers when we arrive and we weren't disappointed.

Then Jamie Partridge turned up something a bit special, a lifer for me, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Initially on a rocky outcrop near Per Askin, This amazing, bulky bird moved inland to Barnaby Lane then the Post Office where we managed to get some good photos. Paul Wright managed to drive off a predatory cat that time but it seems it may have got it a day or two later.

Firecrests are always a feature of autumn on Scilly, along with Yellow-browed Warblers, and this autumn was superb for both. We saw double figures of Firecrests on a number of days, including six, together, in a small bush one morning. It all added to an amazing Scilly season - a classic.

Of course the 'shall we leave St Agnes and twitch something on another island?' arose a couple of times but we only gave in once when we went for the Cliff Swallow which had been found on Tresco. Of course it was the St Agnes crew that relocated it - the twins - and we were just 50 metres away at the church so we were onto it quickly, not a tick for me as I saw the 1983 bird but it was for Kathy and most of the others I think.

photo Neil Wright

It was great to catch up with the Swallow but then we heard that Will Wagstaff and his group (of non-birders would you believe) had turned up a Cedar Waxwing in the Island Fields, back on St Agnes. Nightmare. We really moved to get back on an earlier boat and were soon chasing reports that it had been seen with Starlings or chased by Starlings over Coastguards Cafe. It took a while but it was then found resting from time to time on Elms nearby and we all had good views (2nd lifer for me). We got a call next morning that it was at Rosevean so we hurriedly joined Lee, Graham, Jamie and Lawrence watching it close-up as it sat around in their garden - one of those magic St Agnes moments. It hung around the south coast of the Island  feeding on Coprosma bushes for about a week subsequently, attracting lots of interest, though you could easily bump into it on your own where you could practically touch it.

Cedar Waxwing twitch

The Gugh Bar

We had seen a Common Rosefinch, found by Neil, on Gugh and later found a couple ourselves, one on Browarth and then another on Gugh which soon moved to Aggie.

Gugh is a strange place, in birding terms, most people either love it or hate it. Kathy and I love and hate it in equal measure and we popped over when the bar was clear one morning. We were really excited to find a male Hawfinch in the garden there, a find tick for me, it caused a bit of a stir in general and I was made up. But little did we know! The next was found later the same day at Hellweathers by Lee and then next day in Barnaby Cottage garden, which was joined by another etc etc etc. The biggest single flock on St Agnes was 7 eventually but I believe it was 54 on St Mary's. And of course the story of the invasion of thousands of hawfinches into Britain from (southern?) Europe is now history. Still great birds, though messy eaters.

photo Neil Wright

Moths were scarce initially but things picked up and some excellent rarities were found, including this Crimson Speckled - they don't come much better really.

The storms which punctuated our trip were pretty spectacular; maybe a little bit disappointing in terms of the hoped-for american vagrants but they brought a few seabirds including a Leach's Petrel which tried (surprisingly successfully) to hide in the grass near the Cricket Pitch. It was expertly cared for by Paul Heaton and succesfully released that evening. And everyone still made it to the Pub.

Horse Point

Kathy looking towards the south of Gugh

After the storms, the weather returned to normal but thousands of Crimson Stingers and tens of Portuguese Men-of-War from southern waters were left washed up on the beaches.

Portuguese Man-o War

Covean Bay

One special bird turned up as a result of the wild winds. On Martin Finch's last day, on the way to the boat, he looked over into the garden at Grinlinton and there was a Yellow-billed cuckoo. Thank goodness he's six feet plus. Unfortunately the bird was exhausted and was eventually taken into care by Paul Dukes but died overnight. My third lifer! A sad kind of thrill.

Then, unbelievably, came a first for Britain. Neil Wright has already done an excellent job of telling the story of the finding of the Eastern Orphean Warbler in Birdwatch magazine and on the Web. It's strange reading it after the event when you're so closely involved in all the excitement on the day. From Kathy's and my perspective a few things stand out. I remember the twins, Neil and his brother Paul going off to sort out our milk bills at Troytown Farm and then wondering why they hadn't caught up with us as we expected. Little did we know they had found a first for Britain in the meantime. I can't remember if Neil said they and Martin Finch were playing with a dung beetle on a post when the bird first appeared - I think I've got that right. Then Neil's persistence in hunting for it for a couple of hours really paid dividends and eventually some of us saw it, badly, in the dense pittosporum at Troytown. I suppose the rest is history and the hordes took over somewhat although it was due to the 'Mary's' crowd that a feeding site along New Lane was located and better views and all important (for specific confirmation) decent photos were obtained. A third lifer for me and an amazing find by the Twins and Martin.

photographer unknown

There was only one Short-eared Owl recorded  this year  and it was nice to get a photo of it roosting out on Wingletang. This is one of the best of times on St Agnes when you can stand around and observe and chat when visitors have gone and it's just a bunch of friends watching the bird, This happened on this occasion as well as with the Grosbeak, the Waxwing, Hawfinches etc. Special times, usually marked by Richard Thewlis drawing or painting.

The Short-eared Owl was nice but somewhat eclipsed by this Long-eared Owl which Kathy and I found roosting in the Fruit Cage. Mind you it was hard to miss! St Agnes resident and top birder, Doug Page, said it was his favourite bird of the autumn which is difficult to get your head around if you don't live on one of the best bird islands in Britain.

'Fire on Gugh!' was the call one day and sure enough the gorse and heather was on fire, the locals who are the part-time firemen did a great job over the next several days damping it down and protecting the two houses on the Island. The north-east quarter was pretty much burned entirely but still it will be interesting to see what effect it has on the seabirds and others over coming years. I suspect it may well be largely positive though we'll have to see.

As the autumn moved on, the usual Black Redstarts arrived, replacing the Common variety and a Pallas's Warbler was seen briefly in the Parsonage (but not by us unfortunately).

A Little Bunting had taken up residence around Porth killier and Browarth (one usually turns up here) and became a fixture. It was incredibly tame, you had to watch out not to step on it at times. It was brilliant to see at will, though there were times you had to remind yourself how unusual this was.

Marrick did well to find another late autumn speciality, a Dusky Warbler, and we all had an enjoyable, if frantic, time hunting it down at the Tennis Court and Chapel Fields, following its distinctive ticking calls; it did eventually show well. It was later caught and photographed on release. It was an odd situation though, - to be honest I'd have preferred it not to have been trapped, it seemed like cheating somehow and, for me, diminished the original experience.

And then a wonderful autumn came to a close. A brilliant Scilly Season but next year's accommodation is already booked. Can't wait to see everyone again and spend another autumn working hard at what really matters - being on the best island in Britain looking for birds.

Periglis

Papa Westray September 7th - 21st September

Our second visit to Papa Westray and a good time was had by all. It's a bit early for the real goodies maybe but we had a lot of fun in mixed weather conditions and a few good birds. We stayed at historic Holland Farm and were really comfortable in the quaint but spacious surroundings. There were waders everywhere as usual on beaches and rough-grazing. In the bushes were just a couple of Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs which were joined by two Lesser Whitethroats. Then, on the 10th, following one the day before on Shetland, a Yellow-browed Warbler appeared in the School sycamores. Obviously an amazingly early date and the first of four over our stay.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Yellow-browed Warbler

The School sycamores are one of the best sites on the Island for migrant passerines, Papay is an Island with few trees.

The School sycamores

A Greenish Warbler soon followed, at Hundland, found by David Roche. It eventually showed well on the edges of low willows which is actually recreated native Orcadian woodland apparently. I haven't seen one for ages and Kathy never so we really enjoyed this one.

Greenish Warbler

Greenish Warbler

Next up was a Warbler flashing up onto a wall behind the beach at South Wick, it was instantly recognisable as a Barred Warbler even with poor, brief views in the blustery murk. Then it showed well in the roses at The Greens, sunning itself as a little patch of sunlight appeared. It stayed for ages, often showing well in the Creeping Sow Thistle, a tall yellow flower which grows along the beach edge.

Barred Warbler

Barred Warbler

There were usually Twite with the Linnets and Sparrows along the beach fringes and occasionally Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff or Lesser Whitethroat. There were always plenty of Eider and sometimes a few Red-breasted Mergansers just off the beach and rocks.

Twite

Chiffchaff

Eider

As always Papay was wader heaven and included quite a few Ruff at times but always the commoner grassland waders as well as plenty along the sands at The Wicks and up on the fine sward of the Wick Head end of North Hill where there were up to 3 Lapland Buntings present for much of the time. This is also the home of the exceedingly rare Scottish Primrose, a number of which were still flowering.

Scottish Primrose

Knot

Sanderling

North-east coast

We stayed at historic Holland Farm in the centre of the Island and the gardens here were some of the best places, along with the School and Hundland for migrant passerines but overall there were very few and some hung around a long while, long enough to be given names including Short-tail here.

The Quarry Garden at Holland

The highlight of the trip was probably the strangest moment. We were walking along South Wick beach when I just saw a Hoopoe perched at the back of Shore House. It was a bit surreal really but there it was and showed well for us and then all the Islanders who were interested to come and see it - quite a few as it turned out. It was the second for the Island at least, there having been one in 2011 I think.

And that was it, another couple of weeks on Papa Westray and quite productive, certainly more so than last year but still a bit quiet. A great, and thriving,  island though and great people - especially the two resident birders Julian Branscombe and David Roche who work incredibly hard there and found some great birds.

Melodious Warbler Whitesands 1st Sept 2017

Not long after we'd started our circuit of St Davids Head both Kathy and I were drawn to a Warbler which popped up on brambles at the corner of the Woodchat Field. It was big and yellow in the bright sunlight, with an open-faced expression. Kathy started to say it had no supercilium, realising it was something different and I recognised it as a Melodious Warbler. An expected scarce migrant for the early autumn but still pretty amazing. I rushed back to get my camera while Kathy stayed on it, noting its clumsy, bouncing actions and large size when it was briefly joined by a Willow Warbler. By the time I returned it was being difficult so we decided to carry on and see if it would settle so we could catch up with it again later.

When we returned it had been re-located by a visitor from Carmarthen but was skulking in the backs of some Long-leaved Willows along the roadside and though they were thin it still managed to remain obscured most of the time. In the shady conditions the wing panel suddenly seemed more pronounced and the legs were clearly charcoal-grey, both of which made me consider Icterine but then it popped out into the open and the wing panel was properly subdued again. For the first time the primary projection showed clearly as no more than half tertial length. So, as expected, a Melodious. But we had a lot of fun chasing it around and it remained till next morning so a few people saw it.

Galera Summer 2017

A couple of months in Galera was, as always, good fun and very relaxing but we were a bit handicapped by just having an old camera with us while the new one was being repaired. So just a brief post for a few pictures. There was one pressing issue though - would the Trumpeter Finches have returned? I found them in the summer of 2015, breeding around the village, and last summer there were at least 50 present. However they disappeared last winter which was a bit more turbulent than recent times, and I was concerned to see if they had returned. The good news is that they had, though I only ever saw between 6 and 10. 

Juvenile Trumpeter Finch

Juvenile Trumpeter Finches

Trumpeter Finch

The majority were juveniles so they had bred successfully. We couldn't find them in the last couple of days we were there, in late August but they could still have been present, it was hard in 40c. Now to see if they're there in December and maybe try to work out what they're up to.

The Lesser Kestrels were present in Maria at the abandoned hamlet and there were, again, good numbers of juveniles. The other birds were highlights from the same area.

Little Owl

Little Owl

Hoopoe

Male Lesser Kestrel

Male Lesser Kestrel

Bonelli's Warbler

Juvenile Lesser Kestrel

These Spanish Ibex were in Castril Gorge and apparently invisible to the groups on the suspended walkway. They were pretty unconcerned and we had great views.

Back to Maria for this Red Fox which hung round the Area Recreativa bar, being fed by the Barman . The Stone Curlew landed on the road before heading off and a couple of smart insects - Cardinal Fritillary and Thread-winged Antlion.

Red Fox

Stone Curlew

Cardinal Fritillary

Thread-winged Antlion

The last few pictures are from our usual drop-in site at The Hoya de Baza, which always seems just about to be swallowed up by the agricultural conglomorates but just about survives for the moment though the Lesser Short-toed Larks seem to have gone. A gathering of about a hundred Red-rumped Swallows was very impressive as was a juvenile Squacco Heron the first we've seen in these parts.

Red-rumped Swallows

Red-rumped Swallows

Red-rumped Swallows

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron