Isle's of Scilly - 22nd- 28th September

Okay, this is quite a late post and, looking back, I feel quite underwhelmed by the birds seen during my time on Scilly. This is especially so when one looks at what has been happening on the East Coast and Northern Islands of late with Siberian Accentor, Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Siberian Thrush, White's Thrush, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Red-flanked Bluetail's and Orphean Warbler to name but a few. But, my time on Scilly this September was as enjoyable as ever even though it did not deliver on the bird front. Sarah, Tobias and I spent a few days with my Dad and Step Mum and we had a great relaxing time. I squeezed in some birding and the weather was largely okay.

22nd September - St. Mary's

We stayed in our cottage at Trowan overnight and were up bright and early for a 09:30 flight to St. Mary's. All was on time and we were on the island by 09:50. After a little wait for Spider at the airport while watching a few Wheatear on the runway we were off to our usual haunt of the Star Castle. After a coffee we headed for a short walk around the Garrison and to Juliet's for a much needed lunch and then back through Lower Moor's, over Peninnis and back to the Star. We saw little, a fly-by Turtle Dove while at Juliet's - my first of the year,  Chiffchaff in small numbers, a Pied Flycatcher, Willow Warbler and a couple of Whinchat at Lower Moors and a Black-necked Grebe at Porthcressa, a Scilly tick, and that was about it.

Chiffchaff - Lower Moors

Song Thrush - Garrison

Whinchat - Lower Moors

23rd September - St. Agnes

I was up early this morning and birded the Garrison before breakfast but there was little to show for it in a strong south-west wind. A few Swallow and a Spotted Flycatcher near the tennis court was the sum of it. A breakfast of bacon, sausage, hash brown and eggs at the Star Castle was most welcome.

Gannet - Garrison

We opted to head for one of my favourite islands today and after a massive tantrum from Tobias I left the family playing on the beach at Periglis Cove. I spent a little while looking for a Red-breasted Flycatcher at the back of Porth Killer and it showed incredibly well in the shadows of a pine tree. Such fantastic little birds, rather drab, but with a very attractive, almost friendly appearance. I then wandered over to Big Pool where a Lesser Yellowlegs had been present for a few days and it was not to disappoint showing well around the edge of the pool. A wryneck had been present at Browarth Point for a week or so but despite a good bash around I failed to find it, highlight here were nothing more than a few Wheatear.

Red-breasted Flycatcher - Port Killier

Red-breasted Flycatcher - Port Killier

Red-breasted Flycatcher - Port Killier

Red-breasted Flycatcher - Port Killier

Lesser Yellowlegs - Big Pool

We walked back past the Community Hall, Parsonage and the Lighthouse seeing little in the very sunny conditions. So we planted at the Turk's Head and enjoyed the view and a couple of pints before wandering along Barnaby Lane and over Wingletang Down again with little of note seen.

The Scillonian against the Garrison, St. Mary's

Shag - St. Mary's Quay

24th September - St. Mary's

Today dawned with a howling gale and with rain forecast from around 13:00 we decided to stay on St. Mary's. I had a wander around the Garrison before breakfast but saw little but for a Blackcap and two Spotted Flycatcher. After breakfast I spent a little time hiring golf buggies, my Dad these days is not so good on his feet due to osteoarthritis and so we thought this would be a nice way to see the island with minimal effort and a bit of shelter from the rain. They were £50 for the day which was okay but there really is only about 1.5 hours charge in them. We started with a walk at Halangy Down and up past the mast. A Wryneck had been present for some time but we had no luck. Next we stopped at Newford Duck pond and Tobias was entertained by the ducks jumping on the golf buggies for bread - we saw a Pied Flycatcher here but nothing else. And then as the rain started we headed for Juliet's for lunch and a few beers. Drunk in charge of a golf buggy, we headed up around the top of the island and stopped at Porth Hellick as the rain began to fall. We wandered to the bird hides, a Yellow-browed Warbler called and on the pool were four Snipe, two Water Rail, a Dunlin and a Greenshank plus around 20 House Martin and 15 Swallow. Tobias was shattered and fell a sleep on the buggy so we headed back for a bit of relaxation via the Atlantic for a few beers - it was now hammering it down.

Snipe - Porth Hellick Pool

Snipe - Porth Hellick Pool

Snipe - Porth Hellick Pool

Greenshank - Porth Hellick Pool

Greenshank - Porth Hellick Pool

Greenshank - Porth Hellick Pool

Greenshank - Porth Hellick Pool

Greenshank - Porth Hellick Pool

Greenshank - Porth Hellick Pool

Water Rail - Porth Hellick Pool

Water Rail - Porth Hellick Pool

25th September - Tresco
It was my Birthday, 45 this year, and so I wanted to find a rare, I don't want much just something to get the adrenalin going, a Red-flanked Bluetail would do, any sort of BB rare would be fine so my birding intensity was up a notch. I was up and birding the Garrison pre-breakfast in bright, sunny and still conditions. Two Spotted Flycatcher, Black-necked Grebe, Pied Flycatcher and a self found Yellow-browed Warbler was a fair start. After breakfast we headed to Tresco and walked from New Grimsby quay south to Abbey Drive and cut inland.  It was slow going, a Blackcap at the east end of Abbey Drive and a group of 40 Greenshank on the pool plus around 60 Swallow and 40 House Martin. We wandered up Borough Road and I dropped back a bit to bird, at Borough Farm I caught up with Dad and heard a familiar 'swee-wee', Yellow-browed Warbler. I stayed back and tried to see it but no luck. Wandering on, a short way past the farm a pale blob on the edge of a field that I initially thought was going to be a Song Thrush turned out to be a nice Wryneck, another self-found. A little further along the same a hedgerow was a Redstart. Wandering on the family were keen to head for lunch while I just wanted to bird so I said to them to wander on and I would catch up. I stopped at Green Porth where I was convinced that a flock of around 125 Linnet would contain something good, maybe a Little Bunting but I scanned and scanned but there was nothing. Time to head for lunch, we had a fantastic seafood platter followed by Hake and a few beers and then a little birthday cake, all very nice. I was itching to go birding so headed south back along Borough Road and along the north side of Great Pool. I had okay views of the Yellow-browed Warbler at Borough Farm that I had heard calling earlier, two Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard and that was about it.

Back on St. Mary's I had a short wander onto the Garrison but saw nothing and then ordered a bottle of Champagne that Sarah and I enjoyed on the veranda celebrating my 45th birthday and our 6th wedding anniversary while Tobias played with his cars. Maybe next year I will find a rare but maybe after at least six years on Scilly at this time of year with no major find this is not the place.

Small Copper - Abbey Pool, Tresco

Wryneck - Borough Farm, Tresco

A yacht against St. Martin's

Stonechat - Tresco

Cromwell's Castle, Tresco - I proposed to Sarah at the top right of the castle on this day in 2010 and hence the draw of Scilly at this time

26th September - St. Mary's

I awoke early today as Tobias has taken to sleeping in our bed this holiday which is fine as long as it doesn't continue when we get home. So, in a strong wind and semi-dark I headed out over the Garrison, it was not only windy but there was a thick fog and drizzle. I loitered around in the dark realising that I had got up far to early, as the sun began to rise I recognised the shapes of Dunnock, Blackbird and Song Thrush but it was almost an hour before I could make out the first noteworthy bird, the now familiar Spotted Flycatcher at the tennis courts. I wandered on and saw another Spotted Flycatcher near the football club house. There was a certain rare feel about the weather conditions but other than a Pied Flycatcher and a Yellow-browed Warbler on Lower Broome Platform I saw little so I headed for breakfast. The plan for the day was to head to St. Martin's but due to the poor weather we stayed on St. Mary's. Sarah and I wandered over Peninnis Head, through Old Town Church Yard and through Lower Moors to Juliet's for lunch. It was slow going, a Redstart on Peninnis  two Chiffchaff in Old Town Church Yard, a Snipe, Greenshank, Kingfisher and a couple of Chiffchaff at Lower Moors and that was about it. The rains started to hammer down so after lunch we made a dash to the Atlantic to meet my Dad and Step Mum and that was about it for the day.

Herring Gull - Juvenile Porthcressa

Black-necked Grebe - Porthcressa, a Scilly tick for me

27th September - St. Mary's and Flight 

Again I was up early wandering the Garrison in thick fog seeing very little but for the usual two Spotted Flycatcher and little else but for a Pied Flycatcher on Lower Broome Platform. We were due to fly at 13:10 today and so after breakfast I checked on the flights at the hotel, all flights cancelled due to the fog. So, we met with my Dad and had a stroll around Hugh Town and out to Porthcressa where I had my now daily sighting of the Black-necked Grebe in the bay. Before long we had a call for the airport and after a bit of waiting around we were off at around 14:30 in now bright and sunny conditions. After a bit of food shopping we headed to Perranuthnoe where Sarah had a bite to eat in the car and I went to Boat Cove look for the Hudsonian Whimbrel for the fourth time after a single distant view on 5th March 2016. But the tide was very high and the beaches largely covered and other than three Bar-tailed Godwit, eight Ringed Plover, four Dunlin, six Turnstone and a Little Egret I saw nothing. It was time to head for the comfort of the cottage at Trowan.

Bar-tailed Godwit (juvenile) - Boat Cove, Perranuthnoe

Bar-tailed Godwit (juveniles) - Boat Cove, Perranuthnoe

Bar-tailed Godwit (juvenile) - Boat Cove, Perranuthnoe

Little Egret (1st winter) - Boat Cove, Perranuthnoe

28th September
We got up late and had a leisurely breakfast before loading the car and heading back to Hampshire.

Norway Birding - 22nd March (Day 4 of 6)

Today was to be our main day birding the north shore of the Varangerfjord and we had a target list to play for. We were up at 05:00 and headed back west towards Nesseby where a Hawk Owl had been seen of late. As we drove the thermometer dropped to -15c and hoar-frost clad the trees the scenery was stunning and the weather was amazing. The Hawk Owl here perch atop pylons as there are few larger trees so as we drove our attention was focused on man-made structures. What looked like a Wood Lark flying across the road turned out to be a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker which was a bit of a surprise in a landscape lacking woodlands, it was accompanied by a female Bullfinch which showed upon landing but unfortunately the woodpecker was far more elusive and with the exception of a brief glimpse we did not see it again. We drove on, enjoying the stunning winter scenery and just past Nesseby, atop telegraph pole we eventually struck lucky, a stunning Hawk Owl at Nyborg. Trev’s emergency stop sent us skidding along the ice covered roads for tens of metres, we stopped, emergency parked in the snow drift and stumbled out of the car, bins, tripods, mono-pods and cameras flailing. However, the bird flew presumably a bit shocked by the Laurel and Hardy act and perched in a dense Silver Birch before flying again and after a bit of searching we found the bird perched atop a fir tree where it began to show well despite Trev floundering round up to his knees in the snow - perhaps the bird wanted to stop to see the spectacle. After a while watching the bird it flew back away from the road it was time to head back to the hotel for breakfast, a couple of Snow Bunting seen en-route were new for the trip.

We then headed north towards Vardo, the landscape was a great deal flatter being dominated by flat shingle and sandy plains covered by gently undulating snow. We stopped at the bay between Kommagnes and Kvalnes where there was supposedly a White-billed Diver wintering in the bay but with the exception of Steller’s, King and Common Eider there was little to be seen. It was bitterly cold on this exposed part of the coastline and the car thermometer read -11c. We pushed on and passed through the tunnel to Vardo we intended to head across to the island of Hornoya so we checked the ferry times and fortunately there was a ferry going as we arrived taking a photographic expedition to the island at that moment (11:30) so we quickly grabbed our stuff and jumped on the boat. It was a short 10 minute crossing to the island and as we neared the shore a flock of 100’s of auk was present off the jetty and as we passed through them we picked out mainly Common Guillemot, with possibly around 50% being bridled, Razorbill and smaller numbers of Puffin and Brunnich’s Guillemot. The landing was a little dodgy with a moving boat, moving jetty and a moving metal ramp to the cliff top all covered in ice making things particularly treacherous.

We were greeted on the island by lines of Shag beginning to take up territory on the rocks, many were nest building and beginning their pair formation rituals. We walked around the west shore of the island along a shallow ledge with a towering cliff above where 1000’s of Kittiwake were present, again these birds were clearly starting to rebuild nests and form their pairs, we noticed a large number were colour ringed. The site and smell of these birds was awe-inspiring particularly as the birds were restlessly flying, the auks rising in flocks and circling the cliff face and the Kittiwake exploding from the cliffs and wheeling in and out from the cliff face in noisy flocks. We headed around the south coast and then back up the east coast of the island to the lighthouse and then back along the top of the west cliffs below which we originally landed. The west coast gave us a fantastic view of the coast of the island and across the sound to the neighbouring island of Reinoya. Small numbers of Twite buzzed back and forth overhead. A scan offshore revealed 1000’s of auks presumably awaiting for the snow to melt so they can move ashore to breed. As we scanned the scenery the gulls went up from the sound below and I picked up a Gyrfalcon flying directly towards us at just above eye level. The bird passed very close by and appeared to be checking us out and giving us great views. We spent the rest of our time here along the lower cliff ledge on the west coat on the path back to the landing area photographing Kittiwakes, auks and Shag and enjoying the spectacle of hundreds of birds, the auk numbers offshore now swollen to several thousand birds. We headed back to Vardo at 14:00 and spent a little time birding within a short visit to the radar station to scan to sea to see if we could see a report ‘mega-flock’ of Long-tailed Duck, Common and King Eider that had been reported and while the flock was still present it was way out to sea and not as spectacular as was hoped.

Brunnich's Guillemot - Numbers of this species were far lower than those of Common Guillemot

Shag - Check out that eye

Raven - A common species on Hornoya

Shag on their nest

Shag with Kittiwake in the background

1000's of Auk were present offshore

Guillemot

Kittiwake were formation flying back and forth from their nest sites

Kittiwake were establishing their nests

Kittiwake showing their lurid red mouths which form an important part of their display

We headed back off the island and decided to bird the harbour at Svartnesbukta just to the west of the mainland entrance to the tunnel, there were evidently quite a number of gulls present. We parked up in the south-east corner of the harbour and scanned along the seawall groynes towards the fish and crab processing plant. There were many argentatus Herring Gull, maybe 20 or so Glaucous Gull and a good number of Kittiwake and then I spotted a pure white gull - adult Ivory Gull!! I shouted it to Trev and the bird promptly swam out of view to the seawall but it was only a matter of a few seconds before the bird swam into view, a tick for Trev. I did question as to whether this bird could be an albinistic Kittiwake but as we approached it was evident that the bird was a tad bulkier than a Kittiwake and had the diagnostic tri-coloured bill of an Ivory Gull. We settled down to take some snaps slowly getting closer and closer views until we were within four metres of the bird and too close for the camera to focus on. The bird spent a great deal of time feeding daintily on food items from the waters surface but eventually flew a short distance to the seawall where it settled to clean on a drift of snow atop the seawall. Trev and I again approached very close and the bird seemed quite at ease with our presence - we even managed a couple of ‘selfie’ shots with the gull!! i checked the status of the bird with Simon Rix and he confirmed that this was a National rarity so I sent a couple of off camera-back shots on my iPhone and he broadcast the news. We were very chuffed with our find to say the least!! The news was quickly published on the Biotope website here and Twitter and Facebook came alive with the news.

Adult summer Ivory Gull one of the highlights of our trip

We headed back south and stopped again at the bay between Kommagnes and Kvalhes to scan for White-billed Diver but again no luck so we headed back to Vadso. A fishing boat had just come ashore with a catch so we had a quick look at the gathered gull flock, the flock consisted mainly of argentatus Herring Gulls, around six Glaucous Gull and a gull that we initially suspected of being a Thayer’s Gull but after a little text communication with Simon Rix felt that it was likely to contain Herring Gull genes on account of its inner primary pattern and its course tail pattern.

Chuffed with our day a couple of beers were downed before we had to brave the Arctic blast as we crossed the bridge to get diner in town at the Scandic Hotel where a bottle of red wine went down a treat!

We first thought the gull in the three images above was a good candidate for Thayer's Gull however the barring on the tail was too course and with dark subterminal band, paler inner and dark main area of the tail. The inner primary pattern is also not quite correct lacking the 'venetian blind' effect seen in Thayers Gull.

See also:
Day 1 here;
Day 2 here;
Day 3 here; and
Days 5 and 6 here.