Isles of Scilly, 2023 Pt.5 - 30th September to 3rd October, 2023

This fifth instalment of my account covers the final four days of our recent holiday on the Isles of Scilly. All ended rather differently to that expected or hoped for. 

If you missed previous parts of my account, you can find them by going to the bottom of this post and then clicking on 'Older Post'. 

Saturday, 30th September

The weather forecast for the day was not very favourable, with a strong wind all day, and a chance of rain, with very little sunshine.

My first job of the day was to retrieve my camera bag from the kiosk on the quay, where it had been put after I left it on the boat the previous afternoon.

Having returned to base, I then took Lindsay shopping so that she could buy a belated part of her birthday present, and we could get take-home gifts for granddaughters at home. The next stop was at Becky's Scilly Cakes where, on Saturdays, she offers the best doughnuts in the world. This week's special filling (it changes every week) was apple and cinnamon, which is what I chose. The girls, variously, had custard or jam. Mine was absolutely delicious and was eaten while still warm.

It was about 11.00 before I got out,  and I was given a lift in the buggy to Carreg Dhu Garden by Melanie and Lindsay. I saw little there, and only took shots of Humming-bird Hawk-moth without being able to freeze the wing motion because of the low light levels. They were on some Escallonia bushes, which had small, but rather beautiful, flowers.

 

Escallonia macrantha - Carreg Dhu

Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - Carreg Dhu

I set off to walk back to base and, just after I had passed the road to the airport, was accosted by a gentleman that asked if this was the way to the airport. Somehow I had managed to miss the news that two Bobolink had been seen there. Never having seen this extremely rare visitor from the Americas, I went to have a look. I found about 40 to 50 birders already there. The birds put in very brief appearances every time an aircraft flew in to land, but I only got one very distant sighting of one of the birds as it flew, and didn't get a single shot. Having an aversion to crowds, I gave up after half an hour and walked to Old Town and checked out Standing Stones Field and Lower Moors, only finding a Snipe at Lower Moors. 

 

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Lower Moors

The girls then came and gave me a lift back to base.

 

After a very late lunch, I fell asleep on the sofa. It was 17.00 before I got out,  taking the buggy to Higher Moors,  having quick visits to both the hides and Porthellick beach. The light was atrocious by now and, as little was seen and a dense sea mist was building, I didn't linger for long.

I returned to base and took part in a 'build a better pizza' competition with the four girls. Mine was wonderful!

 

Thus ended the most unproductive day, photography-wise, of the holiday.

 

Sunday, 1st October

 

This was to be our last full day of the holiday as we were scheduled to fly back to the mainland the next morning. The forecast for the day was for little wind,  but low level cloud and the occasional rain. It turned out to be a bit worse than that as, for much of the morning, the cloud level was zero metres above ground. 

I took a few photos from the garden after breakfast,  including some of a seal that was venturing to occasionly stick its nose out of the water.

 

Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) - Littleporth

A few years back, a trio of Mallard hybrids made a name for themselves by regularly appearing in the bay at Porthcressa. For several years, 'the Porthcressa Three' were lauded and fed by locals and visitors, and were very much at home on the sea.

Last year, we found that the 'Three' had produced offspring and they were now the 'Porthcressa Three plus Three'.

This visit revealed that they had now become 'the Porthcressa Seventeen'! I took this shot from the garden.

The Porthcress Seventeen - Littleporth

Having sorted out a few administrative jobs, I  set off on foot at about 09.15.

As I  passed along the head of Littleporth beach,  I grabbed some shots of what I think was possibly a White Wagtail (rather than Pied Wagtail). This was on what I think were Mermaids Tresses (Chorda filum).

White Wagtail? (Motacilla alba?) - Littleporth

I took the path that climbs up to Buzza Tower, stopping to photograph Littleporth, including the property that we were staying at - at the bottom of that yellow line.

 

View to Littleporth from Buzza Hill path

A little further on I just about managed to photograph a Song Thrush. I believe that I have mentioned before that this species used to be numerous, and very confiding, on the Isles of Scilly, but I have seen far fewer on recent visits, and they seem far more nervous.

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) - from Buzza Hill path

Having passed Buzza Tower I then found a Humming-bird Hawk-moth on Red Valerian opposite the hospital. Being one of my favourite moths, I hope that you will excuse more photos.

 

Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) -by St. Mary's Hospital

As I finished with the hawk-moth, I was greeted by Ren Hathway, who remembered me from previous visits. We chatted on our way to the airport where we both hoped to have views of the two Bobolink that were there. Unfortunately it started raining a bit heavily soon after we arrived. I didn't stay long because of the weather, and I didn't see a Bobolink, but I  did get some shots of a distant Whinchat and of the two Wheatear that were in the area.

 

Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) (female) - near Airport entrance

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (female) - by Airport entrance

I returned to base a little damp and concerned for the welfare of my camera, particularly of the lens which is clearly stated as not being waterproof.

Having had lunch, I took a few photos from the garden.

 

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - Garden, Littleporth

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - from the garden, Littleporth

After this, I headed out to Carn Vean Cafe where I was to meet up with the girls. I first went down to the beach at Pelistry Bay with the intention of going onto Toll's Island. I have never been on the island, which one can walk across to when the the tide is out, as it was at this time. However, having crossed the beach to the island, I found that the initial scramble over boulders to get up onto the top of the island was a bit beyond the physical abilities of my aged body.

When they arrived, the youngsters enjoyed feeding the sparrows that eagerly visit the outside tables when it looks as if food might be on offer. Georgie took great delight in feeding the sparrows by hand.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (female) - taking food from Georgie's hand

There being five of us, and with only a four-seater buggy, return to base needed two runs. Melanie dropped me off at Maypole, where Wryneck had been seen. I arrived to find people there, and was informed that Wryneck had not been seen for a long time. A Lesser Whitethroat was pointed out to me but I didn't manage to photograph it. My lift to base was on it's way and I was waiting at the appointed spot when a recently arrived lady spotted a Wryneck in the field next to the one where people had been looking. I got a view of it through a kind person's 'scope, but didn't manage any shots of it. I'd only brought my backup camera with me, as I didn't want to risk getting my main, non-waterproof, kit wet.

Once we'd got everyone back to base, I returned the buggy to Scilly Carts. 

The evening was spent relaxing and preparing for our departure.

 

Monday, 2nd October

 

The weather forecast for this day had looked a little worrying, with a high chance of low cloud and fog. I was up and packed quite early and found time to take some photos from the garden before our departure. 

 

I have difficulty separating White Wagtails from Pied Wagtails but, by the amount of grey showing on the flank, I think that this was a Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (female) - Littleporth

A Shag was fishing in the bay too, and getting tangled in 'weed'.

 

Shag (Gulosus aristotelis) - Littleporth

Before 09.00, the weather did not look too bad, although low cloud was obscuring much of the view of Peninnis. However, I was dismayed to see on Twitter that flights were currently on hold due to poor visibility.

 

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 11.20 and our transport to the airport was booked to pick us up at the property at 10.20. We had to be out of the property by 10.00 but the management kindly let the girls sit in the kitchen while I kept a look out for the mini-bus outside.

 

The mini-bus arrived spot-on time and we were delivered safely to the airport, where we found many people trying to sort out what their situation was. We managed to find five seats in a quiet area (essential when you have two autistic teenagers with you that have difficulty coping with people in close proximity) and, hgaving been told that our flight was currently on hold, waited for news. We had been told that enough places had been reserved on Scillonian III (the boat which plies between the Isles of Scilly and the mainland), but no moves would be made until the status of our flight changed from 'on hold' to 'cancelled'. 

The flight cancellation was announcedjust before noon, and were bussed to the quayside. Check-in for Scillonian III was not until 15.30, for a 16.30 scheduled departure. As it was now raining, this resulted in us sitting in the waiting room for three and a half hours. 

We had another problem to sort out and that was, with an arrival at Penzance expected to be around 19.15, and then probably losing another quarter of an hour or more before being able to retrieve our baggage, followed by another half an hour being bussed to Lands End airport, we were not going to be on the road before about 20.00. This was clearly too late in the day to safely drive the 308 miles (496 km) to our home.

Melanie came to the rescue by booking hotel rooms for us for the night. She managed to get the last room available at the Premier Inn, Hayle, for Lindsay and I but the nearest she could find for herself and the two girls was in Oakhampton.

 

The ship was full and all areas were crowded, much to the discomfort of the two youngsters. It didn't help that a few Gig Crews were having a bit of a noisy party and sing-song on board. I did try and spend a little time on the outside deck-space of the ship. There were some dedicated birders out there, but it was very wet so I didn't stop for long.

Arriving on time at Penzance, for some unexplained reason, we had to wait for about twenty minutes before we were allowed to disembark. It was then a few minutes walk to the baggage retieval area, where it was difficult to find one's own baggage in the darkness.

Having reclaimed our baggage, I went ahead to find the bus and managed to find and 'reserve' a group of five seats so that the youngsters could sit together in relative isolation from the rest of the passengers. We departed for the airport almost immediately after the girls were boarded.

 

This allowed us to be checked in for the night by 21.00, but Melanie's journey that day didn't finish until about 22.30.

You will not be surprised to hear that this day was the absolute low-point of the holiday.

Tuesday, 3rd October

Lindsay and I awoke fairly early. I declined Lindsay's invitation for me to have an early morning visit to see what birds were at Copperhouse Pool, Hayle, favouring getting hgome as soon as possible. As I discovered on the outward, the light would have been totally against me anyway.

We soon ran into rain, and the traffic situation was worse than expected, resulting in us not getting home until 16.45. Melanie, who had a significantly shorter distance journey than us that day, had far worse traffic than us and didn't get home until about fifteen minutes after us.

 

From a wildlife photography point of view, it had probably been my least satisfying of stays on the Isles of Scilly, but I still had a great time. The real bonus was, however, seeing our granddaughter, Georgie, come out of her shell through having her friend Kerris with her, giving them both the confidence to do things independently of us adults. All five of us are very much looking forward to returning next year.

All things being equal, my next blog post will be covering my October sightings close to home. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

Isles of Scilly, 2023 Pt.3 - 27th & 28th September, 2023

This third instalment of my account covers another two days of our recent holiday on the Isles of Scilly. It is a little shorter than my two previous postings, but if I had added a third day it would have been excessively long.

If you missed Pt.1 or Pt.2, you can find them by going to the bottom of this post and then clicking on 'Older Post'. 

Wednesday, 27th September

This day had been forecast for a few days as being one of awful weather due to Storm Agnes, with an official Severe Weather Warning for much of the UK,  including the Isles of Scilly.  The main factor was high winds, but heavy rain was in the mix too.

We woke to fairly strong winds with light rain. However, the wind soon picked up, and the rain became torrential. Some birding folks ventured out in the foul weather and some interesting birds were sighted, but I stayed at base, mainly because I couldn't contemplate going out without my camera, and my camera isn't waterproof. I did take some photos of the Humming-bird Hawk-moth which was now in the conservatory.

Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - from the house - Littleporth

After lunch it started brightening up, although it was still very windy, and so I took the buggy to Old Town and went into Lower Moors.  To my delight, the hide was empty apart from two other people who arrived at the same time as me. The juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper that had relocated from Higher Moors,  presumably to be in a more sheltered location, was immediately spotted and showed well.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) - Lower Moors

I spent a while here but it started getting crowded in the hide, so I departed, heading for Carreg Dhu Garden as this beautiful garden is in a sheltered long-disused quarry and often used by sheltering small birds, such as Firecrest. I found butterflies and two Humming-bird Hawk-moths, but no birds to photograph. 

Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) -Carreg Dhu Garden

I next moved on to Higher Moors and, on entering Sussex Hide, found the unprecedented sight of  eleven Greenshank together. I have only ever seen single Greenshank.

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) - Porthellick Pool

Little else was happening here, so I moved on to Seaward Hide, where only Mallards were visible. I sat out a heavy shower of rain then went along to Porthellick beach. Here there were lots of House Sparrows and three Turnstone.

Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) - Porthellick Beach

What was more interesting to me, however, was the several stranded 'jellyfish'. These varied considerably in size from maybe 3 cm to 15 cm across. Some seemed to be absolutely crystal-clear, but a couple seen had a circular ring of a pinkish colour. I did not know what species these were, but an image I posted of the second one was was subsequently identified by the excellent 'Scilly Wildlife News' WhatsApp group as Crystal Jelly. This very attractive and bioluminescent animal is not an actual jellyfish but classed as a hydrozoan. It is, I believe, quite a rarity in UK but there were numerous sightings being reported in the south-west of UK at this time. According to an on-line article, "The species is typically found off the west coast of North America, identified from the Bering Sea to southern California. It’s particularly common in Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean along the northwestern coast of Washington." I must say that I find this hard to believe!

Crystal Jelly (Aequorea victoria) - Porthellick Beach

I dropped back into the hides on Porthhellick Pool. At Sussex Hide, the Greenshank were still there, but put up by an arriving Grey Heron. This seemed to have prey, which looked rather like a small rodent, in its bill. I couldn't see clearly as this shot was of it at the seaward end of the pool.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) with prey - Porthellick Pool

The Greenshank soon settled back again and seemed quite relaxed.

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) - Porthellick Pool

Other than these, the only other notable sightings were a pair of Snipe in the distance, kindly pointed out by Julian Branscome, a member of the superb Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.

It was now time to head back to base.

Apart from a shopping trip to the Co-op, the evening was spent relaxing and writing up notes.

I'd been expecting the day to be a total washout,  but it was far from that.

Thursday, 28th September

The weather forecast indicated that a relatively dull morning would develop into a rather wet afternoon.  The girls decided that they'd like another attempt at collecting sea-glass on Treasure Beach (Porth Minick),  so I got Melanie to drop me off at the entrance to Higher Moors. The plan was that I'd see what was going on at Porthellick Pool and Beach, and then walk over Sallakee Down, past the airport turning circle, and meet them at Treasure Beach.

I saw absolutely nothing of interest until just before the airport turning circle, where I got some shots of a female Stonechat.

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - by Airport Turning Circle

Between the airport turning circle and Porth Minick, I spotted a Kestrel. My previous sighting of a Kestrel on the Isles of Scilly was on 14th March, 2020 when some photos I took turned out to be the confirming photos for Lesser Kestrel - a 'mega' that had previously been reported as a 'very interesting looking Kestrel on Porthellick Down' with a request for photos.

I had no such luck this time!

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) (female)

I arrived at Treasure Beach before the girls had departed from base, so had a brief look around. All I found of interest was something that looked like a tiered lump of jelly, but again was subsequently identified by the 'Scilly Wildlife News' WhatsApp group as being a Beadlet Anemone. It seems that it would have been a real treat to see this animal in shallow water with its tentacles open.

Beadlet Anemone (Actinia equina) - Porth Minick

As the girls had not appeared, I made a quick visit to Lower Moors, but saw nothing of any interest. I then hurried back to Porth Minick and found the girls had already got there. I spent a little while with them, but was concerned that I was going to get caught out by the forecast heavy rain, there being only room for the four girls on the buggy, so I set off to return to base.

I stopped briefly for a comfort stop by Old Town Cafe, and noticed that the forecast had moderated, with the rain now coming in later. I changed my plan and took the path round Old Town Bay towards Carn Lêh, getting some shots of a large and wonderful Hornet Hoverfly which, unusually, settled.

Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) (female) - near Carn Lêh

I went up onto Peninnis, seeing little of interest. 

As I descended the west Peninnis path a Grey Heron passed by, but the shots were binned. I was surprised to see some 'wild swimmers' who seemed to be launching themselves from what appeared to be a relatively inaccessible location, not far from Peninnis Head. 

Wild Swimmers - Peninnis

By the allotments I stopped by some Ivy where there were many Ivy Bees.

Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) - by Porthcressa Allotments

After a late lunch, we all went out to Carn Vean Cafe where we sat outside and enjoyed tea and cake. I was happy to be reunited with their fabulously succulent 'Jaffa Cake'. Because of the forecast rain, I'd left my now normal (non-waterproof) camera set up back at base and taken my old Nikon D7200 body with an old Tamron 28-300 lens (my only back-up equipment these days) with me. I found myself struggling to remember how to use this kit, but did manage some photos of the House Sparrows that wanted us to share our cakes with them. One even had the cheek to read the menu.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - Carn Vean Cafe

While we waited for Melanie to return with the buggy (it needed two trips to transport five of us in a four-seater) I took Lindsay part-way down the path from Carn Vean Cafe to show her the views over to Toll's Island and the Eastern Isles. Toll's Island can be accessed on foot at low tide, but the tide was in on this occasion.

View to Toll's Island from Carn Vean

View to the Eastern Isles from Carn Vean

We got back to base just in time to avoid the rain.

The evening was spent, as usual, catching up with notes, making plans, etc.

 

My next blog post, if all goes according to plan, will feature the next day of our stay, and will be a little different. 

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

New Forest, 2023:- Pt.2 - 9th July

In contrast to my last, rather long, blog post (which you can find here if you missed it;- https://peglerbirding.blogspot.com/2023/07/new-forest-2023-pt1-7th-8th-july.html), this one is very much shorter and covers just one day of our holiday. I did consider adding in a further day, but this would have have made this post even longer than the previous one. This short one will, therefore, give you time to take breath before the next onslaught! 

Sunday, 9th July          Eyeworth Pond : Cadnam Common

With the alarm not set, Lindsay and I awoke rather late in the morning and were not up and about until just before nine!

So far, during this holiday, I'd only been out alone, and the girls had been out together. As our granddaughter, Georgie, is semi-nocturnal, making plans for us all is rather difficult as she is rarely available before mid-day. This day, I suggested to Lindsay that we both went out for a scenic drive in the morning, and this we did, returning to base at 12.15. 

We were soon turned round with all four of us, in two cars, heading to Keyworth Pond to feed the ducks. Melanie and Georgie had an en-route diversion and, while Lindsay and I waited for them to arrive, I went to the dam area to direct them to where we were parked, and photographed a Red-eyed Damselfly while I waited.

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male) - Eyeworth Pond

I had brought some bird seed with us, and the ducks eagerly snaffled this up. Sadly, the Mandarins that I'd seen here in previous years were not in evidence. I'd put some seed on a gate and gate post, and this was soon found.

 

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (female + male) - Eyeworth Pond

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (female) - Eyeworth Pond

The girls didn't stay very long, and Lindsay switched car from ours to our daughter's while I  went off dragon hunting round the pond. I had little success, missing a shot of a Kingfisher that flashed by, but did take a few other photos before departing for Cadnam Common.

 

There were two areas where water lilies were growing - one group were white and the other a deep pink. My lens wouldn't allow me to take photos of those groups, so here are a couple of individual flowers. The insects seemed to like the white ones.

 

Pink Water Lily - Eyeworth Pond

White Water Lily - Eyeworth Pond

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Eyeworth Pond

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) (male) - Eyeworth Pond

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male) - Eyeworth Pond

The visit to Cadnam Common was a little more successful, with some photo opportunities with an ovipositing Emperor dragonfly, and a charming interlude with a pony and its foal. The Four-spotted Chasers were aggressive with the Emperor and with their own species, and not at all photographically obliging.

 

On arrival, a male Emperor was flying around, looking as if it wanted to settle. I was surprised when it did settle - low down, behind some reeds. It was not the most photogenic of locations.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Cadnam Common

This Four-spotted Chaser, a rather worn specimen, was even less obliging.

 

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (male) - Cadnam Common

It seems that I only manage to photograph female Emperors when they are ovipositing or, occasionally, mating. Such was the case on this day. This female was exceptionally blue on its abdomen - they usually range from lime-green  to 'bluish'.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (female, ovipositing) - Cadnam Common

Here's a video clip of the action.

It was while I was photographing the ovipositing Emperor that the pony showed up with its foal, walking right by me (almost close enough to touch) and stopping at the water's edge. The female adult stopped to drink, but the foal didn't seem that keen on water.

New Forest Pony (mare + foal) - Cadnam Common

And a video clip of that event too.

After a while, the ponies wandered off, but soon stopped so that the foal could have the drink it really wanted.

New Forest Pony (mare + foal) - Cadnam Common

Having had its thirst quenched, there then followed the most enchanting episode of the visit here. The foal ran off and hid behind a bush, maybe a hundred metres away. It then jumped out as the mare approached its position. It was obviously a game that it enjoyed, as it promptly did the same thing again!

While this was going on, the male Emperor was back in action, and then settled once more in an equally unphotogenic position.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Cadnam Common

It was now time to head back to base. However, the Forest Glade Ice Cream shop in Lyndhurst makes it's own ice cream which is some of the best that I have ever tasted. The girls had been having daily visits there, and I had been missing out on this. This day I sorted it out and had a delicious salted caramel ice cream on my way back.

After a latish evening meal, I  relaxed and wrote up my notes while the girls went out to try and find 'wild' donkeys with young.

It hadn't been the most productive of days but was, nevertheless, highly enjoyable.

 

 

As mentioned above, my next blog post, which will probably just cover the following day, is likely to be a rather long one.

 

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

 

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard