Isles of Scilly, 2023 Pt.1 - 24th and 25th September, 2023

This begins my account of another family holiday on the wonderful Isles of Scilly. Lindsay and I  were accompanied by our daughter Melanie,  granddaughter Georgie,  and Georgie's friend Kerris.

To put things in context, we were both extremely nervous at the prospect of starting out on this journey to the Isles of Scilly. On Friday, 1st September on the way home from having a meeting with Lindsay's surgeon, while travelling at about 40 mph (65 kph) the rear wheels of our car suddenly locked solid and we skidded all over the road before coming to a halt. It was, to say the least, extremely frightening. Fortunately, there were no other cars around at the time. After about two hours the rescue truck arrived and took the car to the nearest Skoda dealership. It was even more unsettling that this could happen less than 200 miles (320 km) after the car had a full service and MoT test at the dealership.

It was the Tuesday before they found time to investigate, and found that the rear offside brake  calliper was broken, and so they replaced that, plus the brake disc and brake pads for an eye- watering price. They then took it out for a test drive and the same thing happened on the test drive as had happened to us. Having retrieved the car and supplied the test driver with clean pants, they got it back on the ramp and found a hole in the 4WD differential casing and came to the conclusion that the diff. was well and truly lunched. With a price now quoted for the repair being close to £6,500 we had a long hard think about whether to go forward with the repair or ditch the car. We decided on the former option. A day later, we were told that there was not a replacement diff. anywhere and it could be weeks or months before they managed to get the part. Arrangements were made for them to supply us with a car for our trip to the Isles of Scilly. We were comforted by the thought that we'd not have to take the long drive to the tip of Cornwall in a car that we'd not had time to regain confidence in.

I was not, therefore, overjoyed to get a call on Thursday 21st September to say that they'd got the part and fixed it, so that we could collect it on the Friday, two days before our departure, giving us no time to have a good run  and gain confidence. If it happened again when we were travelling at 70 mph on a busy motorway we would stand little chance of surviving!

Sunday, 24th September          Ashby de la Zouch to Hayle  :  Hayle, Copperhouse Pool

We managed what for us was a fairly early start, departing from home at 09.15. The first half of the 300 mile journey was in constant drizzle but it dried up later. I drove very gingerly at first but, after about 150 miles I started to gain confidence. We had a few comfort stops en route and arrived at the Premier Inn, Hayle, at 15.15. 

Having unpacked the car, I went off for a walk beside Copperhouse Pool as it is an interesting birding spot. I arrived to find winds of 26mph, gusting to 43 mph, rain threatening, and the tide out so the water was quite a distance from the road. Wind and distance made photography difficult, but there were some interesting birds to see - nothing rare, but with a few a bit different to what I see close to home

 

Close to where I'd parked the car, a Little Egret posed nicely.

 

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Over on the far side of the pool, about 150 metres away, a Cormorant was spreading its wings.

 

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax Carbo) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

It was good to see a Black-tailed Godwit probing in the mud for a snack

 

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Black-headed Gull is a familiar bird localy to home.

 

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

By far the most numerous bird species present was Canada Goose (I suspect that there were a couple of hundred, or more) - also a familiar sight close to home.

 

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

I am used to seeing Redshank at this location and was surprised to only spot one on this occasion.

 

Redshank (Tringa totanus) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

The north end of Copperhouse Pool is usually good for Curlew in my experience, and so it was this time too.

 

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Copperhouse Pool

On my way back to the car, the Godwit was in a slightly better position.

 

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

I'd only been there for about half an hour, and my timing was almost perfect as it started raining when I was just a few metres from the car.

 

I drove back in heavy rain and returned to base to find that Melanie and the girls had just arrived. 

After a chat, for convenience, our evening meals were obtained from 'the Scottish restaurant' with the two youngsters having takeaways and us older folks eating in. 

That night we turned in early at 20.30

 

Monday, 25th September          Copperhouse Pool, Hayle  : Hayle to St. Marys, Isles of Scilly 

The day got off to an unfortunate start, and seemed to be a bit jinxed thereafter. I'd set the alarm to wake Lindsay and I up at 07.00. The alarm went off in the morning and we both started sorting ourselves out when I suddenly noticed that my watch was reading 05.34. Somehow I'd also managed to set an alarm for 05.30!

There was an upside to this mistake as it meant that I had time to return to Copperhouse Pool before we needed to depart for the airport.

In contrast to the previous day, it was a sunny day with just a gentle breeze and I  hadn't reckoned with the early morning sunlight being all but horizontal and straight ahead of me as I looked over the pool. Also, the water level was even lower than it was the evening before. I did manage a few photos, however. I'll leave off the shots of species photographed the previous evening.

I thought that I'd found the Black-tailed Godwit again, but it was only when examining my photos that I realised that I'd been looking at a Bar-tailed Godwit. This is a species that I rarely see.

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) - Copperhouse Pool. Hayle

A Greenshank was near the bridge.

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

Grey Heron is, of course, common almost everywhere.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Copperhouse Pool, Hayle

We arrived at Lands End Airport in good time and had already checked in when I noticed that Lindsay was not carrying her binoculars. She'd left them in the car, so I had to hot-foot it back to the car park to collect them. Due to this minor kerfuffle it completely slipped my mind that I had to cancel the rooms that I'd booked at the hotel for that night as a contingency in case our flight was cancelled - flights to the Scillies are a bit vulnerable to weather conditions. By the time I realised this omission we'd already been charged for the rooms.

The flight was uneventful and we were on the Isles of Scilly by 12.30, and soon transported to the self-catering property we had rented on Littleporth, St Marys. Having collected our shopping for the week and had a light late lunch. I set off on what I'd intended to be a short walk along the sea-front that is at the bottom of the garden of the property that we were staying in.

 

I was delighted to see a Wren in the garden of the property.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - property garden, Littleporth

On Porthcressa beach I found something that I was not sure of the identity of, but was informed that it was the 'holdfast' of Furbelows - a kelp seaweed.

 

Furbelows (Saccorhiza polyschides) (holdfast) - Porthcressa

There was far more seaweed on the beach than I have ever seen before, presumably as the result of recent storms. This Herring Gull was probing some of it for a tasty treat.

 

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) - Porthcressa

In recent visits to the Scillies, I have seen far fewer Song Thrushes than I had previously been used to. These used to be quite confiding. I have even had them take food from the hand. I wonder if the seeming increase in domestic cats has been the cause. I was pleased to see a Song Thrush this day, gracing the back of a memorial bench on the sea-front.

 

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) - Porthcressa

Deciding to go a bit further, I headed up the hill to Buzza Tower, dipping into the small disused quarry near the lower end of the path. Here I found the caterpillar of a White Ermine moth.

White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) (larva) - quarry below Buzza Tower

Further up the hill, I stopped to photograph a lowly Large White butterfly.

Large White (Pieris brassicae) (male) - path to Buzza Tower

Reaching the hospital, where I had intended to turn back, a message came through that there was a Wryneck on Peninnis Head. I was already halfway there so cleared it with Lindsay that I'd be back late and set off along the lane.

There was not anybody around when I arrived and I was not too sure as to where the bird had been seen. I looked around in the area where I thought it had been and, apart from a momentary double-take when a bird popped up onto the wall, which turned out to be nothing but a Dunnock, I saw little.

 

Dunnock (Prunella modularis) - Peninnis Head

I started looking along the start of the path that runs along the west side of Peninnis. I'd  not gone far before I saw a fellow waving his arms to me a few hundred metres down the path. I hurried to him and he confirmed that he'd had a Wryneck working it's way along the wall in a northerly direction. We continued to search together and at one point he had it spotted, but I misunderstood his directions and was looking in the wrong place, whereupon it flew before I spotted it.  I did get some distant shots of a Whinchat.

 

Whichat (Saxicola rubetra) (female) - Peninnis

We continued to look for the Wryneck for some time before giving up. I decided to continue northward and back to base, while my companion returned to Peninnis Head.  About five minutes later, a message came though on the WhatsApp group saying that Wryneck had been spotted at the place that I'd originally looked at, only about 10 minutes after I'd left that location.

As I continued my walk, another message came through, this time from my previous companion, with a wonderful photo of the Wryneck at the location. I only found some butterflies to photograph.

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Peninnis

Peacock (Aglais io) - Peninnis

As I neared base,  I found Lindsay and Melanie sitting on a seafront wall. I joined them and, just to rub it in, another message came through that  there were now two Wryneck at the same location. 

I took a few more photos at Littleporth. A Wren was in the usual corner at the western end of the beach.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - Littleporth

An Ostercatcher in drab, and rather cryptic, 1st- summer plumage was on the beach and flew as I watched from the sea-wall footpath.

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - Littleporth

The youngsters turned in at around 19.30. Lindsay and I called it a day at 21.30 after what seemed like a long day. 

I will terminate Pt.1 of my account here. Pt.2 will probably follow in about a week's time, when I have had time to process the many photos that I took. I suspect that it might be rather longer than this post.

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - - Richard

 

 

New Forest, 2023:- Pt.4 - 11th & 12th July

Herewith, Pt.4 of my account of our family holiday in The New Forest. If you missed any of the earlier installments, you can find them by clicking 'Older Posts' at the bottom of this post.

In spite of a dire weather forecast before we had set off from home at the end of the previous week, we had got off relatively lightly as far as adverse weather was concerned, although the winds had been less than ideal. However, things went downhill a little at about this time, although the weather was still workable with.

Tuesday, 11th July          Cadman's Pool : Cadnam Common

The day was forecast to be dull and windy, with the occasional light shower of rain, and that is just what it turned out to be. The night before, we had agreed that this would be a family day and, as Georgie (our granddaughter) would be unlikely to surface much before mid-day, we all had a bit of a much-needed lie-in, and it was getting on for 09.00 before I was showered and ready for breakfast. 

I spent some time sorting out the aftermath of Sunday night's moth trapping, but much of the remaing morning was spent chatting. When Georgie did join us, it was decided that the girls would take Georgie crabbing. This was definitely 'not my thing', so I  fixed up a picnic and departed to try and find a location that had been recommended to me - Cadman's Pool. I guess this place might have been more attractive if it was not so windy and dull, and there had been less people around, but the only photos I took were of New Forest Ponies that had come to the pool for a drink.

 

New Forest Ponies - Cadman's Pool

From there, I  moved on to Cadnam Moor. Yes, it can be confusing having a Cadman and a Cadnam relatively close to each other! My visit was just to check if, by some slim chance, there were any dragonflies around the small pool - there weren't, but I did find ponies and donkeys feeding and drinking at the pool. One of the donkeys was, unusually, white, and it did look to be rather old.

 

Donkey - Cadnam Common

New Forest Pony - Cadnam Common

It then started to rain, so I headed back to the car and went into Lyndhurst to do some shopping and have an ice cream.

I got back to base to find the girls had just beaten me back. They had not managed to go crabbing as, on arrival, they had found the place rather busy. A major part of Georgie's autism is that she has difficulty with people, especially children, and she just couldn't manage to get out of the car.

 

After a quick coffee, the girls wanted to go into Lyndhurst to visit 'Down To The Wood' - a shop selling a huge variety of attractive wooden ornaments, trinkets, games, etc. Of course, the main objective was for Georgie to have a huge tub of sorbet from the ice cream shop, resulting in me having my second ice cream of the afternoon.

The day ended with a relaxing evening back at base.

 

Wednesday, 12th July          Keyhaven : Janesmoor Pond : Stoney Cross : Cadnam Common

 

The forecast for the day was for fairly high winds, with sunny spells in the morning and some heavy rain showers in the afternoon. It made sense, therefore, for me to do the bulk of my outdoor activities in the morning. I am rarely able to manage an early departure, mainly for technical reasons, but I did get out at about 08.45 and arrived in the Keyhaven area at 09.30. 

The car parking area was full when I arrived, but as I turned the car round someone departed. At the gate, two persons who were obviously birders were chatting. As I approached the gate, one of them said "it's gone". It turns out that, unbeknown to me, the twitchers had been out in force as there had been a Curlew Sandpiper on the reserve. This would have been a 'lifer' for me.

I spent three hours on a circular walk, seeing a few birds, all at a distance, and a few butterflies. Frustratingly, I had my fourth sighting of the week of a Marbled White butterfly here, and still came away without a shot.

The walk southward from the car park to the sea wall, as usual, yielded mainly insects to photograph.

 

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Keyhaven Marshes

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) (male) - Keyhaven Marshes

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - Keyhaven Marshes

From the path to the sea wall there are occasional views through to the marshes on the west side of the path. A distant Grey Heron seemed to have a punk hairdo, and the sight of an even more distant Little Ringed Plover had me quite excited as it is 16 years since I last saw and photographed one.

 

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Keyhaven Marshes

Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) - Keyhaven Marshes

On reaching the sea wall, I headed westward on the lower path beside Fishtail Lagoon. Here, the juvenile Shelduck were mainly sleeping on an island, while an adult was out on the water.

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) (juvenile) - Keyhaven Marshes

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) (female) - Keyhaven Marshes

There were a couple of Redshank in the water at the edge of the nearside of the island.

Redshank (Tringa totanus) - Keyhaven Marshes

A Lapwing was obligingly rather closer than most things.

 

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) - Keyhaven Marshes

Most of my time, however, was focussed on photographing those irresistable Avocets. I thought this youngster was particularly charming.

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) (juvenile) - Keyhaven Marshes

The adults were quite active. I have included a video clip to show the feeding action, and the sound may give you an indication of the wind factor. I was quite surprised as to how quick that sweeping action was.

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) - Keyhaven Marshes

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) - Keyhaven Marshes

I then continued towards Keyhaven Lagoon. I had been seeing a few birds at a distance that had me a little puzzled. They were behaving like wagtails, and were grey and white, but had short tails. As I approached Keyhaven Lagoon, three of these were on the path ahead of me. One flew up onto the fence beside the path and I was able to get a shot before it flew off. From my photo, I reckon it was an immature Pied or White Wagtail. Any help with nailing the ID would be much appreciated. Note:- Pete Woodruff has kindly advised me that he believes this to be a Pied Wagtail, and as Pete is a life-long birder I am more than happy to accept this - thank you, Pete.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (immature) - Keyhaven Marshes

Keyhaven Lagoon didn't yield anything of great interest, and the only thing I photographed was a Common Blue butterfly.

 

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) (male) - Keyhaven Marshes

The path then continues round and ends up at the place where the Solent cuts inland to Keyhaven. There I found Little Egret and Oystercatcher.

 

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Keyhaven

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - Keyhaven

I then headed back eastwards, along the ancient highway that is now a cycle way and constitutes the northern edge of the reserve. In the past, I have seen dragonflies along here, including Golden-ringed, but I had no such luck this time. Part way along this track, I took a northward path through a wooded section that passed close to a good-sized pond. However, the bushes between the path and the water were much more dense than when I previously visited and I could not get a view of the water. I did find a damselfly though.

 

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Having turned around and gone back to the ancient highway, I continued towards the car park. This stretch was quite rich with butterflies.

 

Comma (Polygonia c-album) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Peacock (Aglais io) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Large White (Pieris brassicae) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) (female) - by Keyhaven Marshes

I couldn't resist a shot of one of nature's architectural perfections.

 

Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Shortly before reaching my car, there was a section of track with an open aspect to the north. While looking around, I photographed a couple of distant birds in flight. To my surprise, only when looking at my photos on the computer, I found that one of them was a Sand Martin.

 

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - by Keyhaven Marshes

Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) - by Keyhaven Marshes

I had my picnic lunch at the car, then contacted the girls to arrange to meet up. We settled on meeting at Stoney Cross, and I arrived there and got a message to say that they were just down the road at Janesmoor Pond. They'd stopped there because Georgie had seen Donkeys and wanted to photograph them.

After a short session there, we went down the Road to the Stoney Cross parking area, and a very heavy rain shower started as we arrived. Melanie (our daughter) and Georgie went out in the rain to photograph some deer. I waited until the rain stopped before I went to photograph them! In the meantime, Melanie and Georgie had set off for Cadnam Common, using the what3words reference that I'd given Melanie.

 

Fallow Deer are known for their wide variation in colour. This group was entirely comprised of males of three or more years of age, as witnessed by the antlers.

 

Fallow Deer (Dama dama) (male) - Stoney Cross

They were very relaxed about the proximity of humans, as can be seen in the following video clips.

We caught up with Melanie and Georgie before they reached Cadnam Common as they had stopped to photograph some donkeys. We pulled up behind them and Lindsay started to get out of the car but was stopped in her tracks by the rapid approach of a donkey coming to greet her. I had opened my window to take some photos but I had a donkey's head in through the window before I managed. It was far too close for my camera to focus on.

Until I was informed a couple of days prior to this, I was unaware that there is now a fine of up to £1,000 for feeding or petting the livestock (deer, ponies, donkeys, pigs) which roam free in the New Forest, and I can now understand why.

After a brief interlude here, we moved on to Cadnam Common,  where we all got out for a walk, although Lindsay didn't make it as far as the pool. Melanie and Georgie headed back to the car, while I spent a short time looking for dragonflies, although the light was not good. I'd not long found one and was photographing a male Broad-bodied Chaser dipping the rear of its abdomen into the water (as shown in the video clip, below), when the heavens opened and I  got soaked before I got back to the car. I am not sure what this dragonfly was doing (perhaps just washing its anal appendages?), and would be grateful for any suggestions.

 

Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) (male) - Cadnam Common

Back at the car, the air-conditioning in the car dried me out somewhat, so we were able to shop for gifts, cakes, and ice creams in Lyndhurst before heading back to base for a relaxing rest of afternoon and evening.

 

 

It is planned that my next blog post will cover the final day of our New Forest break, and a brief mention of the journey home the following day.

 

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature.

 

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard