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.2 - 26th September, 2023

I had, originally, intended to have this second instalment of my account cover another two days of our recent holiday on the Isles of Scilly. I then realised that just this one day would result in a blog post that was more than long enough - sorry folks! 

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

Tuesday, 26th September

In spite of having had a poor night's sleep, I was up relatively early for us - 07.00. I then had a relaxed breakfast, after which, my first job of the day was to go and pick up the buggy that we'd hired for six days from the excellent Scilly Carts, taking Melanie along with me.

 

As there were five of us, I'd booked the hire of a six-seater cart. We trotted off to Scilly Carts, arriving soon after opening time and, after filling in the necessary forms, were headed back to base. I'd been concerned that the abrupt transition from level road and pavement to a steeply sloped drive might be a problem due to the long wheelbase of the low-slung six-seater. On arrival, we carefully tried puting the cart on the drive and found that we only had about 2 cm clearance with just me in the cart. With five of us in, I suspect that it would have grounded. A quick call to Scilly Carts and we were headed back to exchange the cart for a four-seater. This did, of course, mean that our options for travel were slightly limited. This is the cart that we ended up with.

The forecast for the day was for warm, but rather breezy, weather with sunny spells - and this is what it turned out to be.

 

Having missed out on seeing a Wryneck the previous afternoon, I was  determined to have another try. I set off, on foot, along Porthcressa seafront, dipping into Becky's Scilly Cakes  to choose my cake that the girls would pick up later.

I then headed towards the path that runs on the west side of Peninnis to Peninnis Head. As I passed the allotments, I stopped by a large patch of ivy to photograph some of the many Ivy Bees that were enjoying it. Ivy Bees have become very common on the Isles of Scilly.

 

Ivy Bee (Colletes hedera) - Porthcressa Allotments

A couple of Red Admirals were also in attendance.

 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - Porthcressa Allotments

I continued along the Peninnis West Path, seeing a few Small Copper butterflies as I went.

 

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Peninnis West Path

Before reaching the head, I saw a couple of pipits on a drystone wall. My ID skills are sadly lacking when it comes to pipits, but I reckon the most likely candidate is Meadow Pipit, which is very common in this area.

 

probable Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - Peninnis

I spent half an hour on Peninnis head at the spot where the Wrynecks had been seen the previous day. No Wryneck was seen, but I did get some shots of a Wheatear - a species that never fails to excite me.

 

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (female) - Peninnis

There had been a stiff westerly breeze along the west side of Peninnis and on the head, so I set off down the east side towards Old Town. As I neared the point where the path levels off and passes through the drystone wall, I put up a bird that I'd not noticed, which flew and dropped down into the ground vegetation. It then flew out again and landed on the drystone wall at a distance. My usual modus operandi is to take the photos first and then check for ID.  Through my binoculars, I was not sure of its identity, but when I zoomed in on my photos I found I'd photographed a Wryneck! These are very heavily cropped images.

 

Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) - Peninnis East Path

As I approached Old Town Church I spotted a Speckled Wood butterfly that looked a bit unusual. The Speckled Woods on the Isles of Scilly are a different sub-species to those found on the mainland. The main distinguishing feature is that where the mainland sub-species tircis have pale cream markings, the sub-species insula on the Scillies have markings that are more orange. This particular specimen had much smaller markings than usual. 

 

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria insula) - near Old Town

I continued through Old Town Churchyard, seeing nothing of interest, and walked down the road to Old Town and turned off to Lower Moors.

At the ISBG hide at Lower Moors, there were two Snipe. Again, just distant shots were obtained. I didn't get any shots of the Migrant Hawkers that were sticking to the far side of the pool.

 

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Lower Moors

On the approach to the hide, on the railings as I left, were two Common Darter dragonflies. Here's one of them.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Lower Moors

Just along from the ISBG hide I also photographed a Speckled Wood  butterfly.  This was, in appearance, much as I would expect this species to be. I think that you will agree that it looks rather different to the one shown earlier.

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria insula) - near Old Town

I carried on to Rosehill Garden, hoping to find more dragonflies, but only found another Common Darter.

Continuing to Porthloo,  I found a few birds on the beach, including some Pied Wagtails, but only photographed a Rock Pipit. 

 

Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) - Porthloo

 It was now time to get back to base and fix myself a very late lunch. 

That afternoon, Melanie drove me out to the entrance to Higher Moors where I had frustratingly distant views of a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper that blended in so well with the background that I couldn't find it in my viewfinder. I took a few shots with the camera pointing in roughly the right direction and found that I'd actually managed to include the bird in just one of the shots. Here is a very heavily cropped image, from which you can problably understand the difficulty I had.

 

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) - Porthellick Pool

After about half an hour I lost the bird and gave up as I'd tentatively arranged to meet the girls at Porth Minick beach where they were going to collect sea-glass.

I took the path that goes over Salakee Down, seeing little as I did so. My timing was such that, as I approached the airport runway turning circle,  the sirens started and I had to wait for a plane to taxi up to the circle and turn before taking off.

 

Continuing on my way on the south side  of Salakee Down, the only bird photographed was a Meadow Pipit.

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) -Salakee Down

From the path to Porth Minick, there are views over to Peninnis. I rather liked this view of the nearer rocky coast.

View from Salakee Down

As Porth Minick came into view, I couldn't see the girls there. I was only a few hundred metres from the beach when I got a message to say that they'd turned back because there was little beach showing as the tide was well-in (a spring tide), and were heading for base. I went onto what was left of the beach and found  two Turnstone there. I sat on a rock and waited patiently and soon one of them came close and allowed some relatively intimate photos.

 

Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) - Porth Minick

A Rock Pipit was similarly obliging.

 

Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) - Porth Minick

Whilst on the beach, a Coastguard helicopter passed overhead. I tend to be curious about such aircraft, and looked up details of this one from its registration. I was sorry to learn that it had been involved in a fatal accident on 4th March, 2022. When landing at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, the downdraught had blown over an 87 year old woman on a nearby footpath, who sustained a serious head injury. It also injured another woman in her 80s who was exiting her car in a nearby car park, when the downdraught caused the car door to slam on her, breaking her pelvis.

 

Coastguard Sikorsky S-92A - G-MCGY - over Porth Minick

The approach to Old Town from Porth Minick is lined with Amaryllis Belladonna, as are so many places on the islands. I couldn't resist a photo of a flower that, to me, epitomises the flora of the Isles of Scilly. 

 

Amaryllis belladonna - Old Town

A Glossy Ibis had been reported at Lower Moors, but was nowhere to be seen when I got there. I didn't stay long, but took the coastal path past Old Town church to Carn Lêh, where some climbers were busy.

 

Climber on Carn Lêh

On a rock in Carn Lêh Cove there were two Shags and a Herring Gull.

 

Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) + Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  - Carn Lêh Cove

I then followed the path up onto Peninnis in the hope of a better sighting of Wryneck, but it didn't happen. It was good to see both male and female Stonechat as I was beginning to be concerned that I was not seeing this species on Peninnis - a usually reliable area for this species.

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (female) - Peninnis

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (male) - Peninnis

I also took some shots of Dunnock and Meadow Pipit.

 

Dunnock (Prunella modularis) - Peninnis

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - Peninnis

I walked down King Edward's Road and by Peninnis Farm thought, momentarily, that I'd found a Stock Dove, until it ran towards me, flashing its leg bands! It was a racing pigeon looking to be fed. As I write this, on 18th October, this bird was spotted on 17th October in Porth Mellon. It seems it was supposed to be flying from North Wales to Belfast but got lost on the way, and has decided that it likes the Isles of Scilly - and who can blame it!

Racing Pigeon - Peninnis Farm

Almost back at base, I went onto Littleporth beach to photograph a pair of Turnstone. 

 

Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) - Littleporth

It had been a record breaking day for me with my fitness tracker recording 24,087 steps (11.92 miles / 17.58 km). I am rather happy with this achievement as much of it was up-hill and down-dale and over uneven or rough terrain.

That night we were requested to batten down the hatches as winds of up to 55 mph (89 kph) were forecast for the following day, accompanied by heavy rain.

 

My bird ID skills are far from well honed and are, I believe, weakening (age and deteriorating eyesight) . If you disagree with any of my IDs, please let me know - I will be most grateful!

I suspect that my next blog post in, as usual, about a week's time will just cover the next two days of our stay on the Isles of Scilly. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves and Nature.

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard