Autumn birding Part 1. Shetland 8th - 10th October 2020

Having cancelled the Texel leg of my trip, owing to the Covid-19 quarantine rules, I had originally planned a few days at Spurn, followed by a short break on Scilly. However, with the Northern Isles looking good, I made a last minute change to my plans and booked on the ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick, departing at 7.30pm on 7th October.

I had a new camera, and was looking forward to putting it through its paces. I had obtained satisfying results with my Sony bridge camera, but had never felt the need to jump to DSLR. However, after some research on what was on the market and impressed with Sony's technology, I decided to buy an A9 full frame mirorless camera, coupled with a 200-600mm zoom. Although the A7Rii boasted the 42MP sensor, I was lured by the A9 with its 20 FPS burst speed and larger number of focus points. 

I disembarked in Lerwick on the Thursday morning with a little rain the air, and explored the old harbour, where Black Guillemots were remarkably confiding, but with the sun barely risen, I didn't attempt any photos. I checked into my B&B, dropping off my suitcase before being met my Stanley Manson, who would provide my wheels for the three days. 

The Shetland scare and rare bird apps would be my source of news, and the idea was that I would just go for whatever was around. A Tennessee Warbler on Unst had not been since a brief sighting the previous morning, while Red-flanked Bluetail and Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler on Whalsay had both appeared to have cleared out the previous day, leaving me with somewhat leaner pickings. However, this was Shetland and it was exciting to be birding there.

We headed south, first in search of two Hawfinches, but these appeared to have moved on and then a Bluethroat, which was equally elusive. A stop at Gulberwick was no better, as a Long-eared Owl from the previous day had departed. However, I was buoyed by a Common Swift, which shot through, wheeling over the rolling landscape, and I managed a record shot, of what is my latest record of the species in the UK.

Common Swift

Continuing on to Sumburgh, where a Great Grey Shrike had been reported - on the farm there, there was no sign of the bird, so we continued to the head, passing the Fulmar colony and then onto the car park, where good birds can often turn up. I got out of the car and a light brown bird flew out of a field at the lower end of the car park and alighted on a grassy slope to the north. It was a Shorelark and I got reasonably close views and a couple of nice shots.

Fulmar

Shorelark

Returning north, the app alerted me to a Red-breasted Flycatcher that was apparently showing well near the Croft Museum at Boddam. I turned up to hear that the bird was showing intermittently but hadn't been seen for 20 minutes. The two birders there left me to refind the bird and I wandered up the path to a garden with lumps of wood and pretty flowers. Just as I was thinking how nice it looked for Red-breasted Flycatcher, the bird flew in and perched up in the open for a full minute. I reeled off a load of photos and then it moved to a wall where it continued to show at quite close range and I had the bird all to myself.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Stanley dropped me off at Lerwick, and I caught the ferry to Bressay, a small island that sits just off Lerwick.  There were a couple of Shags sitting on a buoy just off shore and a Kittiwake was perched on some gantry by the docking point on Bressay.

Shags

Kittiwake

Bressay itself provided a few bits of interest, including a Yellow-browed Warbler, a single Brambling and a little fall of Blackcaps.

Dinner was at No.88 in Lerwick, which is a bistro type restaurant, serving a modern menu. I had a starter of pork belly with puffed spun rice cages. Main was baked Sea Bream and so far so very good. The meal was let down a little by the dessert, Tiramisu - which was 'deconstructed' and while not unpleasant would have gone down better had it been of the traditional variety.

The next morning, we headed south again and I looked around the garden at the Sumburgh hotel but there was nothing doing. I decided to have another go for the Great Grey Shrike at the farm, although a group of Scottish birders had said they had looked for it without success. Undeterred, I continued past the outbuildings there and surveyed the first field and saw the bird sitting on a fence at the far end. Unfortunately, two photographers turned up and despite my efforts to convince them to work slowly along the wall, in order to get closer to the bird, they insisted on marching across the field, stating - oddly - that the bird would fly before they got close enough to get good shots #noshitsherlock.

I managed to reel off one or two record shots before they flushed the bird. It's a shame because I could have got so much closer on my own.

Great Grey Shrike

Walking back to the hotel, a herd of Whooper Swans flew over and a little party of Redpolls, alighted briefly in the garden. I think one was leaning towards Mealy.

Whooper Swan

Redpoll

News of a Blyth's Reed Warbler at Spiggie below the hotel was conveniently up the road, and I and another birder located the bird quickly in a clump of Stinging Nettles and thistles. After a few tantalising views the bird showed very well and displayed the classic 'banana posture' and short primary projection. I was still getting used to the camera settings, which I had now had a full week. I think the photos of the warbler were slightly off, but still acceptable.

Blyth's Reed Warbler

Satisfied with these views, we tried for a Dusky Warbler, but looked like it would be a tricky bird in a dense crop where even sheep were hiding, so we pressed on to Quendale. There was nothing rare here, but I did get ultra close views of Siskin feeding on the seeds of weed heads, and obtained a nice shot or two.

      Siskins

Heading north, I had Stanley stop at Cunningsburgh, which had a promising look about it. I had a walk round here and saw a few Twite and Linnets feeding among the weedy crops. Then a bird caught my eye, as it flew up from the edge of a crop and landed in a nearby garden. It was an eastern type Lesser Whitethroat and I got some really nice photos of the bird, much to the consternation of the schoolboy, whose garden it was in.

Twite

Lesser Whitethroat

Stanley dropped me off at Lerwick around 3pm, with the light crisp in the afternoon sun, perfect for photographing Black Guillemot. Can there be anywhere better to see the species than here? I plan to come back next June, so hopefully will get them in the summer garb.

Black Guillemot

Since the new restrictions had come in to force, restaurants were forced to close at 6pm and as I was birding till dusk, I headed for the Thai Takeaway in Town, which had been recommended on the rare bird group. The lady who runs the B&B Auld Harbour Guest House said I could use all the facilities in the kitchen, so I gave my meal a quick blitz in the microwave (take aways are never hot enough) and ate my meal of Thai fried beef, noodles and crispy pancakes in the dining room. 

It seemed a bit odd that Shetland had to be drawn into these regulations, when there had only been about 60 confirmed cases throughout the islands. While the tiered approach has been criticised as missing the big picture, genuine exceptions should also be taken into account, surely? Does a restaurant being open till 9pm rather than 6pm really represent an increased risk of spreading the disease? Anyway,  I was joined by Chris, Mike and Marek, who had just come off two weeks on Foula and they shared their beer with me and we talked birds till 10pm. All very convivial.

The next morning, I was up early and headed to the harbour and found some confiding Ravens, although I never had one on the ground, which would have been ideal, they perched up on nearby buildings quite close to.

Ravens

It was my last day on Shetland and I was determined to make the most of it. News from Unst of Arctic Redpoll and Red-flanked Bluetail seemed to provide the best chance of good birding, with hopefully more goodies available on the day.

With all the ferries booked, we set off north and arrived on Unst at 1pm after being admonished by a ferry employee for getting out of the car and going on deck, which was reserved for foot passengers only.

As we headed to Norwick, almost on the northernmost point of the island, a bird flew up from the beach at Haroldswick and seeing a flash of rufous I asked Stanley to stop. Closer inspection revealed the bird as a Bluethroat and an adult to boot with a bit of blue on the breast. As I was watching the bird, Mya Rose Craig and her parents turned up and although the bird had flown around the corner, I understand it came back and they got good views. The Craigs are a lovely family and I wish Mya well with her efforts in encouraging ethnic minorities to access our hobby. 

At the same site, a Red-throated Diver was fishing off shore, although it had swum a little further out by the time I got a photo.

Bluethroat

Red-throated Diver

After getting an update from Mya on the birds at Norwick, Stanley drove me to the car park there and I walked up the hill to the garden. After a bit of a wait, I managed to see the Coues's Arctic Redpoll, albeit with the sun behind the bird, but the Red-flanked Bluetail eluded me. However, also here was a Siberian Chiffchaff, Bramblings, Twite and Lesser Redpoll.

Cous's Arctic Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Brambling

The Most northerly shop in the British Isles

Stanley dropped me off at the ferry terminal at 6.15pm, after a beer and nibbles stop at the Co-op, seeing as the ferry was now dry!

I had the Orkney Pie for dinner on the ship, in the company of Chris, Helena and Mya and Chris Turner. The crossing was smooth, unlike the way out, which had been bumpy enough to wake me in the early hours. However, thanks go to the good folk of Northlink Ferries for their care in social distancing and a hassle free journey.

In Aberdeen, Chris offered me a lift back to Nottingham. Although Marek was driving, but there was no problem and they squeezed me in. We had breakfast near Lanark at the excellent Cairn Lodge, a kind of up market motorway services.

Travelling via the Yorkshire Dales, and then going south on the M1 I noticed that we were passing within 2 miles of Collingham near Wetherby, where a Hoopoe was 'showing well' on a cricket pitch in the village.  Showing well didn't even come close and the bird fed on leather jackets at close quarters, unphased by its admirers. A Red Kite overhead was an added bonus.

Marek dropped me off at Trowell Services near Nottingham at tea time and I thank him and Chris for their company and what was a lot easier journey than bus and train from Aberdeen.

Hoopoe

Red Kite

Andy Hall - October 2020

Sutton Park Shrike

 

It was the last day of my early autumn holiday, which had seen me visit the Isles of Scilly, the Lincolnshire coast and my local site, Attenborough Nature Reserve.

I wanted to conclude my break productively, so my friend picked me up at 7am and we headed to the West Midlands or Birminghamshire, as I call it.

First stop was Alvecote Pools, a series of lakes set amid a quaint pastoral landscape, nestling among Miss Marple villages in the county of Warwickshire. My quarry was a Garganey, which had been there for a couple of days, but checking Mill Pool and another water, drew a blank. Lots of Shovelers though.

With my sights set on the next location, I gave up after what I thought was a decent crack at the duck and we continued south west to Sutton Coldfield, a leafy satellite town of the big city and much nicer than I had imagined. The destination was Sutton Park, an area of woodland and heathland of over 2000 acres. It was easy to forget that one was a stone's throw from the country's second largest conurbation.

I headed for the area of crab apple trees and scrub where a male Red-backed Shrike had been frequenting for about a week. When I arrived the bird was immediately on show and I walked slowly to get as close as I dare without flushing the bird and I got stunning views.

The bird had attracted a good number of photographers (no binoculars) and there was the expected pursuit of the bird with their superior equipment. I stayed put, which was a good move, as the bird alighted on a Silver Birch sapling at very close range and I got some nice photos.

Red-backed Shrike

I spent over an hour with the bird and it was a treat to see the species so well, particularly an adult male.

I fished around among the locals, for advice on any decent local birding sites. One guy advised of Middleton Lakes RSPB Reserve. This was 20 minutes drive away near Tamworth. We headed in that direction and found the site. Initially, we found the wrong car park, which was full of top of the range Mercedes and Audis, and din't look like the cars of the average birder. This is because we were in the car park of Aston Villa's training ground. 

The RSPB car park was a further 50 metres down the track and we parked up among the Mini Coopers and Vauxhall Corsas. 

Middleton Lakes is pretty well what it says on the tin. A load of lakes in the middle of farmland with patches of woodland. There were a lot of Chiffchaffs in the woods, Nuthatch on the feeders and a Treecreeper along the path to the car park.

Around the actual lakes was very little. Although there was some wader habitat, shorebirds there were none, unless you count Lapwing.

However, the day list was lifted by a Great White Egret, Little Egret and a Hobby hawking dragonflies.

Great White Egret

Hobby

Nuthatch

Back at the car park, I had some lunch and I considered going for a Wryneck in Leicestershire but it wasn't nailed on, so we called in at Attenborough Nature Reserve as we almost had to go past it on the way home.  Being a sunny Sunday afternoon it was a mass of Joe Public enjoying the weather. However along Barton Lane was a Common Snipe. This was joined by a second bird and I managed a record shot before both birds walked out of sight. A 4th calendar year Herring Gull flew through and headed into Derbyshire. This was the second of the day after a juvenile flew over just as we had left my house.

Common Snipe

Herring Gull

Dodging the Pectoral Sandpiper at Frampton Marsh - 5 September

 

With two full days left of my early autumn holiday, I wanted to make the most of it and got my friend to pick me up on the Saturday morning with the aim of seeing some waders in Lincolnshire and whatever else might be about.

First stop was Freiston Shore. I made my way to the hide and as it was bang on high tide there were heaps of Common Redshanks in the shallows of the lagoon right in front of the hide.  I went through the flock and located just a single Spotted Redshank. However, it was the best views of the species on the day, so quality trumped quantity in this instance.

                                                      Spotted Redshank with Common Redshanks

Satisfied with these views, I headed for the sea wall. There was a lot of migration going on with Meadow Pipits streaming through as well as a steady passage of hirrundines - mainly Sand Martins and House Martins. I heard a Yellow Wagtail and by the 'beach hut' there was a male Northern Wheatear.

It was very birdy, but there was nothing in the bushes, just stuff moving through in the almost clear blue skies. 

I checked the hide again, but all the Redshanks had flown off, although there were still a few at the back of the lagoon along with good numbers of Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover.

I had a coffee before we drove the 10  miles or so to Frampton Marsh.

Flashing my membership card, I had a look at the area to the left of the visitor centre and there were good numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, with two birds particularly close in.

Black-tailed Godwits

I took a few photos and returned past the centre and along the path past the main lagoon. There were a few Spotted Redshanks and Ruff, but nothing especially close. The 360 hide was limited to 10 people and with nine already there, I entered with my conscience clear. There were a few Spoonbill and a smattering of waders but everything was silhouette, given the position of the sun.

I didn't linger long and passed the Reedbed hide, where the water was high. Turning the corner, I reached the east scrape, where the muddy edge comes close to the path. I noticed an elegant wader quite close to, which even with the naked eye I could identify as a Wood Sandpiper. Feeling pleased with myself, I watched the bird and got a nice photo. I turned to see county colleague, Tom Malarkey who gazumping my Wood Sandpiper, informed me that he had just found a Pectoral Sandpiper. Assuring me it was showing well, I got another couple of shots of the Wood Sand and made my way to where a small group of people were looking on to the scrape. 

I lifted my bins but couldn't see a Pec. Asking the others, I was informed that the bird had just flown off.  I walked round to the hide, in case it had flown to the north end of the scrape - but nothing.  I returned to the car for my packed lunch, assuming that the Pectoral Sandpiper had gone and then walked along the main public path to check out the pools along there.

Wood Sandpiper

There were 12 Curlew Sandpipers, along with 2 Little Stints and a few Dunlin in one group on a 'closish' bit of mud, and I got a record shot of the three species. I pointed out the birds and I was surprised when two birdwatchers questioned the identification of the Curlew Sandpipers on the basis that their bills weren't curved enough. It seemed they were under the impression that the species sported a bill like their much larger and eponymous relative. I put them right and pointed out their white rumps as they flew but they didn't seem to get it.

Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint and Dunlin

Turning back with the intention of checking out the 360 hide again with the light now in a better quarter, I asked a passing birder if there was anything about and he said that the Pectoral Sandpiper had gone back to its original spot.

Not wanting to miss a good bird and with a second bit of the cherry, I headed back to the east scrape where another group of birders were standing around. I asked if the Pectoral Sandpiper was around, but in a case of deja vu, they said it had just flown off. One guy thought he had it, on the far side of the lagoon, but all I could see was a Ruff. I walked round to the hide for a second time and still there were only Ruff, including a small reeve, which was probably the bird that guy had been looking at, but no Pec.

I walked back feeling frustrated, even after what was a decent day. Another guy informed me, confidently that he was watching the bird, but it was a Dunlin. Somehow I had walked around the reserve twice and managed to miss the Pectoral Sandpiper. It's still there at the time of writing.

Scilly Pelagics and other goodies - 29 August - 1 September

Great Skua - Scilly Pelagic 31-08-20

 

It was the second year in succession that I had enrolled on the pelagic trips run by Robert Flood on the Sapphire, expertly skippered by Joe Pender. Having missed Wilson's Storm Petrel the previous year and having not seen one since 1999, I was keen to reconnect with one of these legendary sea birds.

I stayed overnight in Penzance, after spending a few hours on the Hayle. It was fairly quiet apart from a smattering of commoner waders and a couple of Northern Wheatears. I also took the opportunity to snap the nearly tame Turnstones in Penzance harbour and other easy pickings.

Juvenile Great Black-backed Gull

Ringed Plovers

Turnstone

On the Saturday, I took the mid morning Scillonian in a cold northerly wind and light rain. This precipitation cleared half way out and Scilly was bathed in sunshine.  Hearing that the Citrine Wagtail was still on Tresco, I grabbed a sausage roll from Kavorna and joined the queue for the boat. I had a ticket left over from October, so put it to good use. Arriving at New Grimsby, I hot footed it to the Swarovski hide and immediately located the wagtail, which was on the near corner of mud but close to the reeds. 

It called a few times, which was nice - somewhere between Yellow Wagtail and Red-throated Pipit to my ears. It walked closer and I had amazing views, and would have got some fine shots, but just as I focused, two Green Sandpipers flushed the bird, and it flew to the back of the mud. On the plus side, I got a half decent shot of a Green Sandpiper.

Juvenile Citrine Wagtail

Green Sandpiper

I caught the last boat back to St. Mary's and checked in with Lisa at the Bylet. This is the guest house that I originally stayed at, back in 1985 and 1986 before settling on the Lyonnesse, where I have spent many happy hours over the years.

Hearing about a Curlew Sandpiper on Porthloo Beach, I walked via Porthmellon and found a small group of people watching the bird at some distance, as it fed among the seaweed. When the others had gone, I made my way very carefully along the slip way, until I was at a safe enough distance from the birds as not to disturb them, but close enough to give myself half a chance of a decent photo. For me, part of the enjoyment of bird photography is not getting the closest possible photo at all costs but the physical challenge of outwitting the bird by using whatever cover is available along with some old fashioned field craft.

I ended up getting the Curlew Sandpiper down to three metres, albeit in failing light. A Dunlin walked around my feet. 

Curlew Sandpiper

Dunlin

With an early start the next morning, I grabbed some snacks from the Co-op when the queue had gone down and had an early night.

I was on the quay at 7.40am and met up with Alan Hannington. We reminisced over the hours of fun we had had compiling quizzes for a Facebook group during the peak of lock down, back in March and April. Facebook feels like a fridge freezer - in the sense of how did we ever manage without it in the 1970s?  But it really proved its worth in the dark days of the early lock down.

Anyway, we set sail at 8am and with Alan on bread duty, we were soon attracting a nice group of gulls.

The first proper bird was a skua, which was quickly identified as an intermediate morph juvenile Long-tailed Skua, which made several passes of the boat. Watching birds on the boat was one thing, and you do get amazing views. However, taking photographs seems to require an extra level of hand-eye-feet co-ordination.  I often thought I had got a stunning photo, only to find it was slightly out of focus, spoiled by camera shake or disappearing into the corner of the frame. Even so, the experience of seeing these birds at close quarters is thrilling and I love it. I could go on a pelagic every day!

The rest of the trip probably didn't live up to the initial expectations, although we did see a Great Shearwater, which was good in northerly winds, a nice group of European Storm Petrels and we got some amazingly close views of Fulmars. 

Juvenile Long-tailed Skua

European Storm Petrel

Fulmar

Arriving back at St. Mary's in the afternoon, I headed up to Juliet's Tea Rooms. Last year, their cakes were easily out done by Longstone's but they have raised their game and the coffee & walnut cake is totally awesome. So often, cafés seem to skimp on the coffee in 'coffee' and walnut cakes but this was a high octane caffeine fix. 

Dropping down to Porthloo beach, I could see Martin Goodey focused on something on the seashore. Lifting my bins, I could see a Greenshank feeding on the tideline. I had now what could only be described as a challenge. Virtually any movement by me in that direction would flush the bird. Also, my position meant that any attempts at a photo were pointless as the bird was virtually in silhouette. I saw no alternative (apart from going back for more cake) but to lie on the beach and inch along the sand until I was at least level with the bird or even between it and MPG. This took five minutes of discomfort and I'm still finding sand in odd places now.

The result was a few nice shots, and a video.

Greenshank

Video of a Greenshank - Porthloo Beach

On the Monday, there was an evening pelagic going at 5pm from the quay, so I had the day to explore St. Mary's. I checked out Porthloo first thing, but the tide was out and all the birds were spread out, so I walked to Old Town via Rosehill and Lower Moors, adding Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler to the trip list. Walking around the coastal path, there was a smattering of Northern Wheatears between Giant's Castle and the airport, but my attempts to sneak up on a Wheatear were thwarted by a family who flushed the bird before I could get a photo. 

I continued through Higher Moors and Holy Vale, by which time it was lunch and I paused at Longstones for refreshments. The Banoffee pie cake (to my mind more cake than pie - but I would have to defer to Mary Berry on that) looked tempting and as I tucked in, the unmistakable 'gyp gyp' of a Common Crossbill could be heard flying over. Cake and birds. That probably should have been the name of this Blog. 

Banoffee Pie Cake

Walking back up to the main road, I had a plan to work Penninis before heading back to town for my rucksack and pick up rations from the supermarket. I went via the dump clump and had a pang of nostalgia over the Yellow-billed Cuckoo from October. 

It was relatively quiet bird-wise but it's a lovely walk via the bottom of Old Town church yard. There seemed to be a lot of Linnets about along the coastal path, and I was well into three figures before I hit Peninnis head, where there seemed to be a Northern Wheatear on every rock. I had the headland to myself it seemed and with a bit of patience I managed to get a decent photo.

Northern Wheatear

I made my way along King Edward's Road and more Linnets were gathering in the hedgerow, and a few were flying down to the puddles that had formed in the potholes there.  Walking tentatively forward I got to within a decent distance and then sat down on the grass verge, and waited for some birds to come down to drink.  However, I had not factored in the gentleman who decided to stop in the middle of the track and strike up a conversation, thereby preventing my Linnets from slaking their thirst. I was minded to tell him to go away, but he was of an age to whom I tend show a bit more respect, so waited for him to finish his talk and move on.

Now undisturbed the birds began to come and go, mostly in one and twos, and I was quite pleased with the eye level photos I got of drinking Linnets. Lovely birds even in their autumn streakiness.

                                

Linnets

With the pelagic just two hours away, I dropped in on friends and was supplied with some scrumptious Banana Loaf, and then went to the Co-op to get some supplies. While in the queue, Whatsapp beeped - reporting a couple of Black Kites over Salakee or some other far flung part of the island. Wondering how to react, I stood fast and got as far as third from the front when they came up as over the golf course. The cogs whirled and I realised I might be able to get them from the quay. In fact I didn't have to go that far and scanned the golf course from the little gap in the buildings adjacent to The Atlantic. 

A few seconds of adrenaline and I picked them up, soaring over the Club House. Okay, quite distant but definitely Black Kites! They were only ever going to be a record shot without a television camera or something. @recordshotmyars would be proud of the photo.

Black Kites

I rejoined the queue, got some bits for the sea trip and met other birders down at the quay. 

The winds were now southerly, which bode well for the evening pelagic. Indeed we were not far off from St. Mary's when the first good bird - a Black Tern was seen, although it didn't hang around. 

This was shortly followed by a Great Shearwater - great views but no photos.

After another 20 minutes, we ploughed into a nice feed, with a hundred or more Manx Sheawaters and at least three Sooty Shearwaters, although in my enjoyment of the moment, I never managed any decent photos of the Sootys.  

We steamed further out and 'dropped anchor' and chucked some chum over the side. This produced a steady trickle of European Storm Petrels feeding in the slick. However, it was just after sunset when it all kicked off - firstly with a really close Great Shearwater and then a Wilson's Storm Petrel. Bob picked it up in the slick and I was able to pick it out by following his description of the bird's behaviour, which is entirely different to the Stormies. Where as the Alamooties are all over the place - dancing over the water, the Wilson's seem to bounce up and down on the spot.

The bird was way too far out to even consider a photo, so I just enjoyed watching it. However as the clock approached 8.25 and with light seriously failing the bird flew round the bow and made a very close pass to port side and I just pointed the camera and hoped for the best. In the circumstances, I think it's a passable record shot. An hour earlier and it would have been a belter!

                                              Great Shearwater

Wilson's Storm Petrel

My final day and I had two options - follow up a Spotted Sandpiper at Porth Hellick or go for a Temminck's Stint on the Tresco Great Pool. I opted for the latter as it was a Scilly tick. I had seen a summer plumaged Spotted Sandpiper on Tresco way back in 1985 and watched it through Bryan Bland's Questar.

I caught the first boat out on a beautifully sunny day.  As we headed towards Carn Near, I scanned the horizon and picked up a large raptor way over the starboard side being mobbed by a Herring Gull to the north east of the island. Looking at bird's jizz, its behaviour and the movement of its tail and the pale shoulder bars, it was undoubtedly a Black Kite and presumably one of the birds from the previous day. I put the news out and headed straight for the Swarovski hide with the aim of being the first birder on the Stint. I arrived at the hide and as luck would have it - it was as far away as it could be but identifiable as a Temminck's Stint, especially with the assistance of an older gentleman's Swarovski binoscope.  I watched the bird for an hour but it never came close enough for a decent photo while I was there. The stint also had two Curlew Sandpipers and two Dunlin for company.

Wanting to make the most of my last day, I struck out into the island with the hope of finding a Pied Flycatcher, on hearing that there was a mini fall of birds on St. Mary's. I wasn't disappointed, and had one bird by the sewage plant and then later, a relatively approachable bird by the David Hunt hide. I also had a Sedge Warbler here.

Pied Flycatcher

Leaving Tresco just as it seemed to be getting good, I was back at St. Mary's just in time to grab a Pasty from Kavorna and queue for the Scillonian. I spent the whole journey on deck - of course and was rewarded with a Cory's Shearwater with 100 Manxies and a single Great Shearwater.

I'll be back for a few days mid October hoping for the biggie.