Avian Love

Belated post from Tuesday due to inexplicable laptop issues. Read on at your own risk!

So today is that day. You know. The one enforcing our commercial calender sitting nicely between Christmas, Mother's Day and Easter. Anyway regardless of the obligitory consumerism today is about love how and wherever you can get it! So with this in mind I spent brief periods of freedom in my 12 hour day out in the sun and checking the local talent two time. Avian talent that is.

The 'usual rounds' mid-work produced the Blue-winged Teal slagging it up on the scrape while a Cormorant's eternal battle with a monster Eel provided entertainment as it caught, dropped, caught, dropped (to infinity) the long slippery nugget.

Having steadied myself post 'Eel madness' the remainder of the stroll produced Kestrel, Black Redstart and Rock Pipit along with a Chiffchaff getting rare in the dune scrub.

And some more pics from recent days:

Solar Radiation

While the mainland remains below freezing, and with some at least also remaining under snow or ice today Scilly was honoured by t-shirt weather! A real oxymoron of cold sharp warmth. Anyway obviously these glorious conditions had to be capitalised upon and these were the results:

Lower Moors was stunning.

and this Snipe put on a lovely if not slightly deluded show of being cryptic or invisible.

One of the Iceland Gulls was enjoying a steaming hot bowl of rubbish mmm. The presence of steam eludes to how warm it was in the sun!

Hugh Town was lovely but no sign of the Eider...

While up at Harrys Walls this Merlin unexpectedly dropped in gripping instantly!

Cumulatively all this sun-related niceness made for a distinctly early springish day. Here's some more (slightly more flappy) pictures from recent days that illustrate this point:

Mixed Nuts

If the weather was nuts (which in a manner of speaking it is) then I'd have a full-on smorgasbord brimming with every conceivable shape, size and flavour. It’s been cold, warm, still, windy, rainy, sunny, cloudy, humid, dry and everything in-between, in near infinite combinations.


The birding has followed suit really with a few birds clearly suffering at times from the sudden cold snap while marked increases in waders like Ringed, Sanderling and Dunlin are clearly linked with the harsher mainland conditions.

A rare sight...Lower Moors frozen.

And some Teal at the same spot when it was alittle warmer (look at the cock!)

But from here on in it'll be megapics negligible words. Tired brain.

On wednesday, the coldest day last week these 2 Chiffchaff were clearly having trouble as were driven to feeding on short grass at '0 feet'. The paler one was pretty fit.

The cold also made this lovely sooty Black Redstart fairly obliging.

Had a look at the Dusky Warbler up at Harrys Walls which showed well but once again not for my camera....(top left of pic).

Spot the Dusky Warbler..answers on a postcard.

Another slightly easier spot the Dusky...

Common but sick. Orange honking thrush (Blackbird).

This single Dunlin was wonky sleeping down at Porthellick, cold snap relic.

Moths kicking off! Winter Moth remaining ironically still.

Conitinuing the mothy theme here's one of several interesting holes I found down Lower Moors whilst roaming amongst the sallow carr. Now to me they looked good for Lunar Hornet Moth exuvae but they seemed quite old and could be some mental beetle.