Scilly Sojourns, Sept/Oct, 2022, Pt.1 - 25th to 27th September

Lindsay and I, together with our daughter Melanie, and granddaughter Georgie, had another highly enjoyable stay on the island of St Marys, Isles of Scilly, at the end of September through to the beginning of October. Here is Pt.1 of my account of this stay.

Sunday, 25th September                 Ashby de la Zouch to Hayle, Cornwall

We left home at 10.30, and the journey from to Hayle, in Cornwall, was an uneventful one. It took just under 6 hours, with comfort stops and a picnic lunch en route.

Check-in at the Premier Inn was swift, and our room was comfortable and spacious. A message from Melanie to say that she and Georgie would be arriving at about 18.30 gave me time for a quick visit to the part of the Hayle Estuary known as Copperhouse Pool. Close to the car park was a Herring Gull, and a little further on, at a distance, I saw Wigeon, a Curlew, and a Little Egret.

 

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Wigeon (Mareca penelope) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

The call of a Curlew alerted me to another of the species that was departing on the far side of the pool.

 

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

I missed getting shots of two Grey Wagtail that were close to the path, but a Rock Pipit was somewhat more obliging, although still difficult to photograph as, with the light and surrounding vegetation, it was hard to find in the viewfinder!

 

Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Ahead of me, I  was disappointed to see one of a group of four youngsters go over the wall to the water's edge and throw a stone at the large group of Canada Geese that were there. They also put up a wader that I was not able to identify, and which disappeared into the distance. At my age, I  considered it wise not to confront them, however.

 

A Black-headed Gull arrived after the youngsters had left the area.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Further on, from the road, I did get some very close views of a Curlew that was very confiding.

 

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

On my way back to the car, I was pleased to see that the Canada Geese had returned, so here are a few of them (for David).

 

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

That night, for the sake of convenience and lack of appetite, Lindsay and I  had our evening meal at the Scottish restaurant  (McDonald's!). 

We turned in early at 21.30 feeling rather tired after a long car journey.

 

Monday, 26th September               Hayle to Land's End to Isles of Scilly

 

We had a gentle start to the day as our flight was not until 12.20. With the airport being only 30 minutes away, and an 11.30 check in time, we had time to kill before leaving our overnight accommodation.  I attempted a walk up the country lane on which the hotel is located but, with no verges and rather a lot of fast traffic, I  soon felt uncomfortable about the safety of this and gave up, only photographing a very vocal Rook that seemed totally unperturbed by my presence.

 

Rook (Corvus frugilegus) - Carwin Rise, Hayle

The weather forecast was for sunny spells, but with strong winds, and we were a little concerned as to whether our flight would be cancelled, but all went ahead as scheduled, and we landed on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, just 20 minutes later.

Having reached our accommodation and settled ourselves in, Melanie and I went off to the Co-op to buy some immediate provisions for lunch, after which I went for a walk to see what I could find. My walk took me along the sea front of Littleporth and Porthcressa, up the hill to Buzza Tower, along King Edward's Road to Peninnis Head and back down the western side of Peninnis to Porthcressa and Littleporth. 

Before I left, I couldn't resist taking a shot of the Starlings lined up on the railings at the bottom of the property's garden.

 

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - from the house, Littleporth

As I left for my walk, I looked out for birds on the beach below the property. I tend to have great difficulty in trying to separate White Wagtail from Pied Wagtail, and I think that these may now have been lumped together anyway. I believe this to be Pied Wagtail as it seems to have extensive grey on the flanks, but please let me know if you disagree.

 

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) - Littleporth

I saw very little for the first nine tenths of this walk, only photographing some relatively mundane items, just to exercise my shutter finger. One item, though, was a little disturbing - it appeared to be the front of the skull of a Gannet and possibly a victim of Avian Influenza. It looks as if that might be an eyeball hanging out, but I wasn't going to get any closer to investigate.

 

remains of Gannet (Morus bassanus) - Porthcressa

There was disappointingly little seen along King Edward's Road on the way to Peninnis Head, and I only photographed one of the Rabbits in a field that had withered Amaryllis belladonna at the far side. Rabbits are plentiful on St Marys.

 

Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) - from King Edward's Road

Nothing was seen on Peninnis Head, where it was very windy. But from the head, I saw a group of five Sandwich Terns and three Mediterranean Gulls.

 

Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) + Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) - from Peninnis Head

Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) - from Peninnis Head

Nearly back at base I found some interest in a good number of Ivy Bees, on Ivy, by the allotments at the eastern end of Porthcressa. This was, until relatively recently, a quite rare bee, being first recorded in UK in 2001, but is now well-established on the Isles of Scilly and is rapidly spreading northward in the southern half of UK.

 

Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) - by Porthcressa allotments

A little further on I saw a Hummingbird Hawkmoth, but failed to get any photos. 

Arriving at the eastern end of Porthcressa beach, I  noticed a fellow with a camera photographing a Song Thrush. While we chatted, I spotted a bird fly in and land relatively close. It was a Linnet, which is a common bird in these parts, but this one was unbelievably confiding and flew to within a about 3 metres of us! It was intent on feeding on dandelion seed.

 

Linnet (Linaria cannabina) - Porthcressa

I had another pleasant encounter when I reached Littleporth as a Stonechat was present, and I  also took some shots of a wagtail.

 

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) - Littleporth

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - Littleporth

That evening, Melanie and I went out to the Co-op to collect our click-and-collect order of the main provisions for the week. 

The rest of the evening was spent writing up notes before another early night.

 

Tuesday,  27th September                Higher Moors ; Carreg Dhu Gardens ; Newford Ponds

This was never going to be a brilliant day as the weather forecast was for heavy rain for most of the day and winds of between 30 and 42 miles per hour. 

My first duty for the day was to collect the buggy that we'd hired for the remaining six days of the break, after which I  had a late breakfast. 

In the late morning, a let-up in the rain coincided with a report of two Whimbrel at Porthcressa, which is within easy walking distance of our accommodation. I set off to try and find these, but had no success. If one sees a Phalacrocoracid on the Scillies, it tends to be a Shag, rather than a Cormorant. This one, out in the bay at Porthcressa, seems to have the head markings resembling those of a Shag (although my photo is not clear in this respect), but lacks the steep forehead usually apparent in that species. I am, therefore, a little unsure of its ID, but think Shag. 

 

Shag? (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) - Porthcressa

 I saw little else on this brief excursion. However, when I  was within ten metres of the property and had stopped to talk to a fellow birder, he spotted the two Whimbrel flying across the bay, and settling on the rocks on the Garrison side of the bay. I only managed shots that were not even good enough to count as record shots. The image berlow is hevily cropped. Can you spot them?

 

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) - Littleporth

If you missed them, you should look at that large vaguely heart-shaped rock. There's one just above the 'v' at the top of the rock, and one just below the very bottom of the right-hand 'lobe'.

 

There was another break in the rain after lunch and I took the buggy to Higher Moors. The hides looking over Porthhellick Pool only produced Moorhen, Coot, and Mallard. Only a pair of wagtails (glimpsed in flight and not identified) was seen by the beach.

 

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (juvenile) - Porth Hellick Pool

With the area so unproductive, I left and headed to Carreg Dhu Gardens in the hope of finding Firecrest and maybe a flycatcher of some sort, as both Pied and Spotted Flycatcher had been reported on the islands. Carreg Dhu Gardens is a sheltered area of tranquility, containing some wonderful plants and is a haven for migrating birds in inclement weather. It seems, however, that none had found the gardens on this occasion. I did photograph a couple of flowers.

 

Brugmansia sp.  - Carreg Dhu Gardens

Amaryllis belladonna - Garreg Dhu Gardens

I'd only been in the gardens for about ten minutes, and not seen any birds, when I  got a call from Lindsay to ask if I could come back with the buggy as Georgie (who is primarily nocturnal) was up and wanting to go out for an explore. The plan was that they'd then drop me back at where I was and pick me up again later. This all fell apart, however, when I twisted my back getting out of the buggy, and ended up in extreme pain.

Having been medicated, and got myself in a position where I was more comfortable, the girls set off out without me. I did venture into the garden while they were gone, and was pleased to see the much-enlarged group of ducks that, for several years had been known as 'The Porthcressa Three' fly in and land on the water. These are Mallard-based domestic ducks that have become naturalised and spend much of their time on the sea at Porthcressa. Earlier in the year, I was pleased to see that they'd had young, and it seems that these young are staying with them. I only saw six in the goup on this occasion, but there was regularly a group of ten seen later in the week.

The Porthcresss Three plus Three - Littleporth

The girls came back about an hour later and told me of all the birders at Newford Ponds who were there looking for Pied Flycatcher. As I  was now only in pain, rather than agony, I set off for Newford Ponds in light rain. I got there to find just two birders present who were about to leave having seen nothing for about an hour. I stayed for around twenty minutes until the rain turned heavy and so set off back to base, having only seen Moorhen,  and very brief glimpses of two Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff.

 

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - Newford Ponds

Thus ended an extremely unproductive day, with nearly every birder I  met commenting on the lack of birds that day.

 

Bird-wise, the break had not got off to a very good start, and I was beginning to think I might have seen more if I had stayed in Cornwall! 

I still have photos to process, although we have been home for more than two weeks. However, for me it is a fact of life that, when the weather and light is unfavourable, many more photos are taken in the hope of being able to salvage some that are usable, and these take time to wade through and process, with more frames requiring exposure and colour-balance adjustment.

With luck and a following wind, I hope to be publishing Pt.2 of my account in just under a week's time. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature.

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

Scilly Sojourn, September/October, 2021 - Pt.1

At the end of September we departed to the Isles of Scilly, having missed a stay there in March due to Covid Lockdown, for a much-anticipated family holiday on St Mary's, staying in a wonderful self-catering property next to Littleporth Beach, Hugh Town, a property that we have stayed in several times before and found to be perfect for our needs. Lindsay and I were accompanied by our daughter Melanie and granddaughter Georgina (Georgie). This is how the holiday unfolded.

Sunday, 26th September          Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire to Hayle, Cornwall

          warm with sunny periods to start - wet and windy by evening

Lindsay and I set off from home just before 11.00 on our long drive from the Midlands to the south-west. We had several comfort stops at service areas along the way and, at around the half-way mark we came across extremely heavy traffic on the road, but fortunately this was in the opposite direction. I would estimate that there were probably around twenty miles (30 km) of virtually stationary traffic coming away from the south-west, and we wondered if anybody would be left in Devon or Cornwall when we got there!

 

We arrived at Hayle Travelodge at 16.20. By now it had become quite cloudy and windy. After we'd settled in we went off to get a Chinese takeaway meal at the Eastern Empire - a restaurant that we'd enjoyed a meal in a few years ago but, due to Covid times, was now only offering takeaway meals. While Lindsay went to order, I watched the birds on Copperhouse Pool (part of the Hayle Estuary) from the restaurant car park, regretting that I'd not got the camera with me. Godwits, Curlew, and  Little Egret were in the river below.  All I could do was take some shots and video with my phone until it started chucking it down with heavy rain. The results were not good and this shot of a Little Egret was the best of a bad bunch.

 

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

The Chinese meal was great - prawn toasts, followed by crispy squid and noodles for me and crispy chilli beef and noodles for Lindsay, and washed down with a bottle of Henry Weston's vintage cider.

 

Before our departure from home there'd been some concern about the fuel shortages that were starting to grip the country. We'd set off with a full tank of diesel which had been enough to get us to Cornwall, but not back again. We'd planned to top up on the way down, but queues were long at the filling stations. The filling station beside the travelodge had run out of diesel but told us that they were expecting a delivery of diesel fuel between 07.00 and 09.00 the following day.

Melanie and Georgie had had a late start and arrived at about 20.30. We spent a little time together before turning in for the night.

Monday, 27th September          Hayle - Land's End Airport - St Mary's, Isles of Scilly

 

          sunny periods and showers - very windy

In the morning, our daughter reported to us that she'd been to the next door filling station and was told that the tanker had been diverted and that there would not be a delivery that day. Furthermore, she was informed that there was not any diesel in the Hayle and Penzance area. This was a little worrying as we would need best part of a full tank to get to the airport that day and then home after our week on the Scillies.

 

Having seen the potential for birds on Copperhouse Pool the previous evening, I decided on a visit in the morning while the girls were sorting themselves out. I parked opposite the Eastern Empire and went to have another look from their car park, finding that the tide was now in and the situation was somewhat different to the previous evening. There was, however, a group of Redshank on a distant 'island'.

 

Redshank (Tringa totanus) with gull and feral pigeons - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

I set off to walk round to the far side of Copperhouse Pool and, as I  reached the bridge, I  found that the filling station opposite had diesel. After a quick call to the girls so that Melanie could top up her car, I  hurried back to get my car and get the permitted £30 worth of diesel which, with luck, would allow us to get home at the ned of our stay and not have to fret about the situation during the intervening week.

After this, I had a stroll along the west side of Copperhouse Pool where I found a Curlew, close to the road. 

 

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Having taken some shots from a distance, I was approaching on the footpath on the other side of the road when a couple with a boisterous dog approached from the opposite direction and on the Curlew's side of the road. I thought that I'd missed my chance, but the Curlew didn't bat an eyelid as the dog passed by, so I took this as confirmation that I could get some closer shots and be confident of not disturbing it, and this proved to be the case.

 

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

While I was photographing the Curlew, a couple of Rock Pipits flew in briefly. Here's one of them.

Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

At the northern end of the pool, there were large numbers of Canada Geese, a Grey Heron and a few gulls. These were all at a considerable distance.

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

I'd arranged to be back with the girls at 11.30 and got back to find tha they'd had a change of plan, and we'd be checking out of our accommodation late. This left me time for a quick visit to Gwithian for a wander round the sand dunes. This was less productive than hoped for as the wind was blowing strongly, much to the delight of the wind surfers. I did manage some shots of Stonechat.

 

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - Gwithian dunes

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (male) - Gwithian dunes

The only other bird photographed was what I believe to be a Herring Gull (I'm not good at gull ID!)

 

Herring Gull ? (Larus argentatus) - Gwithian dunes

From the dunes, there was a pleasant view to Godrevy Lighthouse.

view to Godrevy Lighthouse, from Gwithian dunes

If nothing else, at least the strong wind was benefitting the windsurfers!

 

Windsurfer - Gwithian

After this it was time to return to the girls, and set off to Land's End Airport. 

Our 15.50 flight in De Havilland Twin Otter G-CBML (built in 1980!) to St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly departed on time and was uneventful. 

 

De Havilland Twin Otter G-CBML - from the property garden, Littleporth

Having arrived at our base for the week. Melanie and I  went off to the Co-op to get our click-and-collect order which, sadly, was missing many of the key food provisions for the week, but had most of the peripherals. 

Lindsay and Georgie had spotted a couple of seals out in the bay while Melanie and I had been to collect the shopping, and I tried for a few shots on my return, together with some shots of an Oystercatcher below the property.

 

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - from the property garden, Littleporth

Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) - from the property garden, Littleporth

Having sorted things out at base, I went out for a walk along Porthcressa sea front (Littleporth is at the west end of the sea front) to see what might be around.

 

The Porthcressa Three are a trio of feral ducks, loosely of the Mallard persuasion! One is pure white, one is almost drake Mallard and the third is a bit nondescript. The Three have been around for a few years now, spending much of their time swimming out in Porthcressa Bay. At least one of the three is female, and there have been breeding attempts in previous years that have been blighted by predation by gulls. I was, therefore, delighted, and a little emotional, to see that the Porthcressa Three had five well-grown ducklings with them this year.

 

The Porthcressa Three - - plus five! - Porthcressa beach

I couldn't resist a shot of a charming collection of shells that someone had painstakingly laid out on the promenade above the beach. I share their sentiment!

 

message in shells - Porthcressa

Just before returning to base, I  took some shots of  a Stonechat. If you didn't know already, I have a bit of a thing about Stonechats!

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - Porthcressa

A shower, just before sunset, produced a rainbow which I photographed from the garden with my phone.

 

Rainbow - from the property garden, Littleporth

It was good to be back on the Isles of Scilly!

 

Tuesday, 28th September          Porthcressa

          less windy, but showers all day (some heavy) with a few sunny intervals

 

Because of the unfavourable weather forecast, I decided to stay close to base, although this did not stop me getting rather wet on three occasions. This meant that, in case Georgie woke up (she's nocturnal) and was worried at finding no one around, I got the job of staying on the property in the morning while Lindsay and Melanie went on a shopping adventure to try and find substitutes for the missing foodstuffs, so that we could have some proper meals. I'm pleased to report that they had success. Between showers, I spent time in the property garden taking a few photos.

Many people keep garden lists consisting of birds seen seen from their garden. However, my lists only include birds that put a foot down in the garden. My garden list for this property regularly includes Stonechat, and so it was on this day. I did warn you of my penchant for Stonechats!

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - property garden, Littleporth

I took some more shots of Grey Seal out in the bay.

 

Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) - from the property garden, Littleporth

Also, way out in the bay were a pair of terns, one of which was fishing and appeared to be feeding the other. I am relatively sure that these were Sandwich Terns, but please let me know if you think otherwise.

 

Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) - from the property garden, Littleporth

Oystercatchers were also coming and going.

 

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - from the property garden, Littleporth

After Lindsay and Melanie returned, we had lunch and then I went for a walk along the Porthcressa seafront. There didn't seem to be much about, and I decided to take a few shots of gulls.

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) - Porthcressa

I was photographing one gull which looked a bit different when a kind gentleman pointed out to me that it was a Mediterranean Gull.

 

Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) - Porthcressa

A Shag was fishing out on the water.

 

Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) - Porthcressa

Returning to base, I felt the need to take a shot of a large flower in the front garden. It seems that this was a Rhodostachys - a close relative of the Pineapple!

 

Rhodostachys (Fascicularia bicolor) - property garden, Littleporth

In the late afternoon another short spot of observation from the garden yielded little more than a Black-headed Gull on the beach below.

 

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - from property garden, Littleporth

Thus ended a relatively flat day.

 

Wednesday, 29th September          Porthcressa - Peninnis - Porthcressa - Helvear - Porthhellick - Porthcressa

          sunny and warm - breezy to start but more calm later

This day was forecast to offer the best weather of the week. I had pre-booked the hire of a four- seater buggy for three days from Scilly Carts, so that Lindsay and Melanie, neither of whom are capable of walking long distances, could explore the island, taking Georgie with them - and perhaps me too! After breakfast I went to pick up the cart and came back to find that Georgie was adamant that she would not ride in the buggy and so, if Lindsay and Melanie were to go off together, I'd be back at base looking after Georgie - and this is how it was.

As neither Lindsay nor Melanie had driven one of these buggies before, they went off for a short trial run as an excuse for a shopping trip. Lindsay came back with gold, frankincense, and myrrh - I'm not kidding!

After their return, I had just enough time for a walk up to Peninnnis Head to look for birds. In this respect, I was singularly unsuccessful. Most of my photography was of butterflies.

 

Speckled Wood butterfly on the Scillies are of f. insula which is unique to these islands, having markings on the wings that are more orange than those of the main UK form, although this aspect is not so obvious as this specimen that was found a short way from the property garden as I set off for Peninnis.

Speckled Wood (Parage aegeria f.insula) - Littleporth

As I passed up Buzza Hill, and along King Edward's Road to Peninnis, I saw several more Speckled Wood, but was particularly pleased to find this Small Copper which was, I believe, my first of the year.

 

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - King Edward's Road

Near the top end of the road there were three small birds. I'm very much a novice birder and not very good at pipit ID but believe these to have been just Meadow Pipit. Eventually two of them came close enough for a photo.

 

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - King Edward's Road

Peninnis Head seemed to be almost totally devoid of birds, possibly because it was quite windy there. I found nothing to photograph other than scenery!

 

view to Pulpit Rock and Salakee Down from Peninnis Head

view towards St Agnes from Peninnis Head

I headed back to Porthcressa via the west coast path, mindful that, unusually, I'd not seen Stonechat on the head. I did, however, find a second Small Copper.

 

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Peninnis west path

As I neared the allotments, I found a rather more orange Speckled Wood.

 

Speckled Wood (Parage aegeria f.insula) -Peninnis west path

Alongside the allotments, a large Ivy bush was alive with bees. I looked for Ivy Bee but didn't spot one in the short while I looked (I was already a bit late on my scheduled return time for lunch). I did photograph this bee which I believe is the common Western Honey Bee.

 

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) - by allotments, Porthcressa

The afternoon had got warmer, and after lunch I was granted use of the buggy to go and look for birds. My first objective was to try and find the extremely rare Balearic Woodchat Shrike, that had been hanging around at Helvear, by Innisidgen, for a few days. I took the buggy and parked near the Wildlife Trust's offices in Trenoweth, walking through the woods to get to the area. With help, I achieved my objective, although the views were into the sun, and very distant. The first image, below, is an uncropped one, with the lens at 500mm (you may just spot the shrike atop the small tree). The second image is, therefore, a heavily cropped one at the same distance.

 

Balearic Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator badius) - Helvear

The bird stayed around that small tree for a while and then disappeared to an area that was further away. As the sun was getting lower, making photography even more difficult, I departed for Porthhellick as both Pectoral Sandpiper and Glossy Ibis had been reported from there during the day.

 

As I approached Sussex Hide at Porthhellick Pool, I found a Common Darter on the handrail.

 

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Porthhellick Pool

I entered the hide and was told that I'd missed the ibis by about quarter of an hour. As there were several people in the hide, I left and moved on to Seaward Hide. Here I was almost immediately rewarded with sighting of a Pectoral Sandpiper. Initially it stayed much obscured by vegetation, but slowly it revealed itself more clearly and even decided to have a bath right in front of the hide! Only once before have I seen a Pectoral Sandpiper, maybe 15 years ago, and at a great distance and not photographed, so please excuse me if I go overboard with photos.

 

Pectoral Sandpiper  (Calidris melanotos) - Porthhellick Pool

It was then time to go back to base for dinner, so that Lindsay and Melanie could take the buggy out in the evening.

It had been a very enjoyable day and my last shot of the day was a Stonechat from the garden.

 

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - from property garden, Littleporth

This brings me to the end of Pt.1 of my account of this visit to the Isles of Scilly. Pt.2 and Pt.3 will follow at some time in the future.

In the meantime, take good care of yourselves and Nature - - - Richard