Fly On The Wall

And we move forward apace. September always contains the promise of both quality and quantity. Glimpses of such treasures fall upon us, seemingly from nowhere, on hot sunny days with light westerlies blowing!

Some initial excitement came in the flecky, spotty form of a canny juvenile Spotted Flycatcher that flaunted itself all over our receptors up at the Lighthouse. 

Phwaar check that out. Bringing the Spotted to the Flycatcher!

The following day was a day that I’d had in my mind as easterlies in the North Sea coupled with light SSW veering W winds seemed to beget excitement and  at around 15:00 myself and another ranger heard the familiar fluid call as a stocky finch flew past us, right against the sun and promptly disappeared! Hmm Rosefinch echoed around my head but failure to locate the bird ultimately resulted in frustration and a dash of excitement as searching quickly turned up Pied Fly and Reed Warbler, sure indicators of the beginnings of fall.

An evening trip to Brownsman was insane! Every lap of the island turned up more birds, clearly all fresh in. After just a Pied Fly and Willow Warbler on the first walk through, further searching saw Whinchat, Song Thrush, Robin, Reed Warbler and finally, just as we were leaving, an Icterine Warbler! Stonked to the max!

Prime Icterine habitat...some mayweed on a tiny island in a pond...!

Enlivened by such rare proceedings we hit the Wides, a shoe in for the ‘Rarest Island’ award. The first Hemlock patch held a Willow which flew towards the next, equally puny patch. While nailing it at distance bins style a flash of black and white saw something drop out the sky vertically, into said patch. Convincing myself it must have been a Pied Wag or something we moved closer slowly realising the subtle movement from deep, covert deep, in the Hemlock patch was in fact a Red-breasted Fly! Clinch! This amazing beauty thrilled us in the fading light as it trilled away from within the patch filling up on big fat juicy dirty blue-bottles.

Quite a distinctive fresh first winter, looking interesting...and STONKING!

Worrying levels of fringing on the tertials, plus an overly cream white well defined throat on this bird hint at mega...the views were always too brief to appreciate all this in the field. Any comments?

Migrants on route!! Whinchat getting arty and Goldcrest, the latter giving a real seasonal feel!

Finally besides chilling night time temperatures, the insect life is still kicking off with regular trapping turning up some little nuggets including these:

Frosted Orange

Green Brindled Crescent

Fea'some Storms!

What a return. Thursday saw me jumping into a zod as news was breaking of a Yelllow-breasted Bunting on Brownsman, just the medicine a needed after travelling for over a day. This hyper-skulking brighter than a lemon in the morning bird had us wandering across the island attempting to grab fleeting glimpses amongst the dense Orache. I scored lucky with a few ‘out in the open’ views before the bird conveniently evaporated. Eventually the bird gave itself up and slutted itself all over the boardwalk for a minute or two. A real dream bird, and one that I always associated the Farnes with. So great to finally get this cracker after three years of slog!

Bobolink styled eastern stonk!!!!

And I did well to get back on. The next day dawned with monster NE winds and rain throwing the sea into oblivion, a running theme over the past few days. Despite one or two passerines getting dropped hardcore style, the sea took first prize as a Fea’s Petrel flew close past my bedroom at the Lighthouse…however I was at the other end of Inner Farne, and after garbled frantic radio transmissions I managed to glimpse semi-distant views of the u-shaped valley of a bird! I was amazed how wingy they are (something I learnt from my ‘saw it, but not well enough’ on the last bird in  the mist), but also how jet black those underwings are. Truly rot you tits off level bird.
 

Spot the Pied Fly

Other bits and bobs have been flicking about including Farnes views of Pied Fly, feeding on cliff faces. Can feed on my face if it likes.

Farnes views of Whitethroats....rock hard.

Also the big seas have stirred up a seabird frenzy with thousands of Gannets, Manx Shearwater and Fulmar feeding in the churning waves.

Even had one of them Black Terns....

Some southerlies brought these little beauties, check how rare that is,...nectaring in the pioneer community!

Its September, this is the Farnes. Bring it on!

Pocket Full of Sunshine

So I'm back on the illustrious Isles of Scilly for some R&R post 'the most mental season ever' where workload, film crews, special events and random guests nearly had every single one of us fatigued in an insane ayslum! The avian gods smiled upon us though, and delivered therapeutic rare after medicinal rare to ease our weary psyches'!!

A rather stiff 25mph NW watched as I hugged the railing of Scillonian III on Saturday, scanning for 3 solid hours and eeking out Cory's, Belearic and 2 Storm Petrel from the 600+ passing Manx Shearwaters. After being on the east coast, where seawatching is great, but perhaps lacks the potential for a 'Tropicbird moment' that the SW will always possess. So needless to say I was very excited throughout!

This Spotted Fly was looking rare down at Porthellick

However semi-ideal these conditions were for sea passage, I wasnt hopeful for any passerine migrants, while the east coast was bathed in all the shades of brown one could ever wish for. So it came as a surprise when the garden held Tree Pipit, Pied Fly and Chiffchaff! This vein continued as I stomped round the airfield clocking 17 Wheatear but no Citrine or Dotterel or Buff-breast while the Farnes crew kept finding stonker after whisker tickling stonker!

My luck changed however!! A coincidental trip with mates to Tresco yesterday saw me sneaking away, bins and camera clutched firm, to the Great Pool. Where before even entering the hide I could make out the hybrid Yellow Wag/Tree Pipit call of a Citrine Wag! It remained mostly elusive occassionally rewarding my persistence with good close views, remaining extraordinarily vocal throughout, which allowed to me pinpoint the second, less vocal bird across the pool! Needless to say my pics dont convey their loveliness!

Well two Citrine's together almost compensates for missing 2 Belearic Shearwater, 2 Greenish Wblr, 2 Citrine Wags, Icterine Wblr and Rosefinch on the Farnes in a matter of days. Balls. But I couldnt help feel St. Marys was hiding some gems that would probably require a bird-finding pick to unearth given the habitat. And thats the great thing about Scilly, it's just nice to wander around birding, even if there's very little about, the biggy is round the corner...! Which I did as I apporached my garden and saw a large, buff looking, shortish legged, long-toed Heron bank behind the trees, which seemed brownish in the millisecond I saw it for. Cue running but alas it had done a classic rare dissappearing act. Purple Heron it was, almost certainly. But I aint the guy to claim off those views! Luckily other people managed to nail birds..and so a pub lunch was interrupted by news of a third, this time adult (!) Citrine Wag down at Lower Moors! Oh my days! So I calmly ate my food, had a pint, played pool and casually rode like hell to find this extraordinarily fresh looking adult female showing superbly.

What a pleaser!! Little bundle of lemons!

Rather aptly, it has been nothing but beautiful sunshine here since my arrival allowing the true majesty of butterfly numbers on Scilly to be realised. They are everywhere! With Common Blue's seeming especially abundant. However top prize goes to possibly my favourate UK butterfly: The Clouded Yellow. These little rays of sun are everywhere there is suitable habitat with Porthloo area holding nearly 20 and Porthellick to Deep Point holding in excess of 30. Pure unadulterated high grade uncut cripple!

They are just little pockets of sunshine!!