While returning from the pelagic on 22nd August the remarkable news of a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin on the Lizard Peninsula just west of Coverack broke. I was heading off from Scilly on 23rd and so I decided that if it was still present we would make the diversion to see the bird during our return drive from Lands End airport to Romsey.
On 23rd we landed at Land's End at 12:30 and after a quick stop to buy some lunch, following positive news, we were at Treleaver Farm near to Coverack for 14:30. The bird showed quickly and very well down to around 7m and content with our views we were back on the road by 15:45. My eBird list for the site can be seen here and my blogpost of the 2020 bird here.
This is a remarkable record as while there was another at Stiffkey in October 2020 the previous mainland record was from Prawle Point in August 1980 and so, after a gap of 40 years, birds have occurred in consecutive years - I have been fortunate enough to have seen both birds. I have provided a summary of previous UK records on my eBird checklist here and a blogpost here.
