Cornwall, Devon, Wiltshire, Sussex and the Scilly Isles
Just back from another fantastic trip to the Scilly Isles with Paul. We went for the Birder Special Pelagics organised by Bob Flood and Joe Pender. This trip was as good as, or even better than, last years memorable, first visit. Only Paul and I travelled this year but we met up with young birders Jake and Peter from Sussex.
Friday 5p.m. to 10p.m.
The weather conditions were ideal for sea birds with wind speeds of nearly 25 knots and bright clear skies. Of course these conditions didn't suit the humans and at least 3 of the 25 birders suffered with seasickness.
- On leaving the harbour at St Mary's and moving south for a few miles, we saw mainly Herring Gulls, Shags and the odd Kittiwake. Later when bait was thrown into the water it attracted the Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a few Great Black-backed Gulls. Further out to sea we were joined by mainly Fulmars and, of course, Gannets by the score.
- It wasn't long before we saw our first "Bonxie" which was attacking the gulls. We were to see them at regular intervals throughout the evening.
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| Bonxie Library picture |
- Several Great Shearwaters were seen, affording us excellent views.
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| Great Shearwater Courtesy of Joe Pender |
- The Manx Shearwaters provided the supporting cast and were a delight to see.
- The "birders" bird of the day had to be the Wilson's Petrel which we saw right at the end of the proceedings. This bird, a very rare visitor to these shores, was the first seen in the UK this year. Much to the delight of everybody it came close enough give excellent views.
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| Wilson's Petrel Courtesy of Joe Pender |
- For me the highlight was provided by the Storm Petrels which swarmed around the boat when the engines were cut and we drifted for 3 - 4 miles. These tiny birds entertained us for some considerable time as we waited for the Wilson's Petrel to show.
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| Storm Petrel Courtesy of Joe Pender |
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| Storm Petrel Courtesy of Joe Pender |
- One incident, unfortunate at the time, provided some light amusement when we looked back at it later on. One poor chap, became violently sick and tried to vomit over the side of the boat but the strong winds carried most of the discharge inwards and into the face, clothing and camera of Peter, our young Sussex birder who was standing next to him.
- The strong winds provided us with an exhilarating boat ride and one massive wave in particular produced a truly scary moment. Bird watching really can become an extreme sport at times! Fortunately, our boat, The Sapphire was more than up to the job and we were never really in any danger.
Saturday 11a.m. to 6 p.m.
The winds eased overnight to around 12 knots for our second sea voyage - this time in daytime. To compensate for the reduced wind speeds, the strategy for the day was to go south for about 17 miles to intersect a French trawler and attract it's trailing birds towards our boat.
- This worked beautifully with some 17 sightings of Great Shearwaters, including some smashing close range shots of them flying and also sitting on the water.
- Bonxies were again out in good numbers.
- We even managed to see a Pomarine Skua.
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| Pomarine Skua Courtesy of Joe Pender |
- Manx Shearwaters were again present throughout the trip.
- The Storm Petrels were around again but not in the same numbers. Neither did they swarm round our boat like they did the day before.
- For me the highlight of the day was provided by the Sooty Shearwaters which showed well and regularly throughout the afternoon. They were delightful to watch as they trailed our boat.
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| Sooty Shearwater Courtesy of Joe Pender |
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| Sooty Shearwater Library picture |
- A Wilson's Petrel was around again but it was only seen by the crew a few hundred metres ahead of our boat.
- The funniest moment of this trip was the sight of a Fulmar standing on a polystyrene raft some 50 metres away from our boat. Unfortunately it flew away before anyone to photograph it.
Sunday
With wind speeds of only 2 knots expected, even the organisers predicted that this final pelagic was likely to be more like a "Mediterranean Cruise" than a useful sea-watching experience. With so few birds expected we did not take up the option, deciding instead to try birding on the mainland.
- This turned out to be the unluckiest decision possible. Against all the odds, the final pelagic turned out to be the most successful of all, bringing in most of the birds we had seen on our trips but including the prestigious Fea's Petrel, one of the rarest sea birds to visit the UK. To make matters worse, the bird was seen only feet away from the boat and showed brilliantly for several minutes!
- Paul was particularly distraught. There are few UK visiting birds that he has not seen and this was one of those he craved for. When we got the news he was devastated. To have come all this way, to be so close and finally to miss out was a real body blow. To add insult to injury we saw very little on St Agnes - a couple of Whimbrels and a Wheatear being the pick of a very ordinary bunch.
What an unfortunate end to our Scilly adventure! What was an excellent trip was so close to being the trip of a lifetime!
Whilst the pelagic trips from St Mary's were the main focus there were other opportunities, elsewhere, to look for interesting birds.
Berry Head in Devon
Despite the atrocious weather on Thursday, we still managed to see at least 4 Balearic Shearwaters at Berry Head on the way down to our hotel in Penzance. We stayed the night at the Queens Hotel before catching the Scillonian III ferry to the Scillies at 9.15 a.m. on Friday.
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| Balearic Shearwater Library picture |
Coate Water in Swindon, Wiltshire
We decided to twitch the Spotted Sandpiper on our way home. To do this we detoured to Swindon and after a wait of over an hour and a call from Peter and Jake we got good views from hide 1.
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| Spotted Sandpiper Library picture |
Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex
Hearing of a Red-backed Shrike at Cuckmere Haven, I decided to twitch it before going home. Thankfully the bird, a juvenile male, was showing well when I arrived and I enjoyed splendid views from 10-15 metres away.
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| Red-backed Shrike Library picture |
Thanks to Paul for yet another wonderful trip. 3 "lifers" and 6 year ticks were just the tip of the iceberg. The pelagic trips were particularly special and meeting youngsters from Sussex like Jake and Peter was a breath of fresh air.
Additions to BUBO UK Life List:
Balearic Shearwater (295)
Sooty Shearwater (296)
Spotted Sandpiper (297)
Additions to BUBO 2015 UK Bird List:
Balearic Shearwater (238)
Storm Petrel (239)
Wilson's Petrel (240)
Great Shearwater (241)
Great Skua (242)
Sooty Shearwater (243)
Pomarine Skua (244)
Spotted Sandpiper (245)
Red-backed Shrike (246)
Balearic Shearwater
- Slightly larger than the closely related Manx shearwater, the Balearic shearwater is brown above and dull below.
- It flies with rapid, shallow wingbeats on stiffly held wings.
- It will rest on the water, and also plunge-dive for food.
- Despite breeding in the Balearic Islands, and the south coast of France, it migrates north towards the Bay of Biscay, which is when some birds make it into British waters.
- The Sooty Shearwater is a seabird, that is smaller than a herring gull. It is a large shearwater, with dark brown body and wings and long wings.
- Its bill is dark and when seen close up, there is a pale band along the underneath of the wings.
- It does not breed in the UK, but makes a huge clockwise migration up the western Atlantic in spring to spend the northern summer in the north Atlantic.
- Then in summer/autumn it moves down into UK waters on its return to the southern ocean to breed.
- Their breeding habitat is near fresh water across most of Canada and the United States.
- They migrate to the southern United States and South America, and are very rare vagrants to western Europe.
- These are not gregarious birds and are seldom seen in flocks.
- Adults have short yellowish legs and an orange bill with a dark tip. The body is brown on top and white underneath with black spots.
- Non-breeding birds do not have the spotted underparts, and are very similar to the Common Sandpiper of Eurasia; the main difference is the more washed-out wing pattern visible in flight and the normally light yellow legs and feet of the Spotted Sandpiper.
Schedule followed:
Thursday 13/08/2015 Left home at 05.30, picked up Paul, birding at Berry Head in Devon
Overnight stay in Penzance at Queens Hotel , The Promenade TR18 4HG (OK but a tad expensive)
Friday 14/08/2015 Scillonian III from Penzance at 0915 to St Mary's for 12.30 (£98 return), booked into the Isles of Scilly Country Guest House TR21 0NW (excellent value) for 2 nights.
Scilly Pelagic 1; 5p.m. to 10 p.m. from St Mary's (£30)
Saturday 15/08/2015: Scilly Pelagic 2; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. from St Mary's (£70)
Sunday 16/08/2015: Declined option of 3rd Pelagic Trip; Short ferry trip to St Agnes island for birding on mainland. Return journey to Penzance on Scillonian III 4.30 p.m. to 7.45 p.m. Overnight stay in Penzance at Beachfield Hotel, Promenade, TR18 4NW (excellent value)
Monday 17/08/2015: Drove to Swindon to twitch Spotted Sandpiper then dove back to Sussex to twitch Red-backed Shrike at Cuckmere Haven. Home at 7.45 p.m.
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