Scilly Pelagic Trips out of St Mary's
Paul and Group - 6 of us.
One of the highlights of the birding calendar for me is the pelagic trip. After a one year break last year, when we went to Madeira, we returned to the Scillies. Expectations were high after reports of record sightings in the previous weeks.
We booked 3 boat trips (almost a year ago to ensure our places) and we managed to sign up for an extra one when we arrived at St Mary's.
My wish list included the "big 5" - Great Shearwater, Cory's Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Wilson's Petrel and European Storm Petrel. In fact, we saw all 5 and even added the illustrious Sabine's Gull to the list on our final outing.
- The first boat trip - the extra one, on Thursday got us off to a flying start when we saw all 5 target species. This trip also produced our best numbers of Great Shearwaters (12) and Cory's Shearwaters (40).
- Friday evening's trip was the roughest with quite severe winds blowing, which limited where the boat could go to. Thankfully the rain held off till late on and we were able to observe a close Wilson's Petrel among the European Storm Petrels.
- What should have been our best trip, in ideal conditions, on Saturday was rather underwhelming. However, we did manage to post our best total for Sooty Shearwaters (9) as well as observe them diving below the surface of the water rather than just flying by as on the other days.
- Sunday's trip, in the rain for most of the time, was, by contrast, our best. As well as seeing the spectacular Sabine's Gull at close quarters, we also saw at least 7 Wilson's Petrels from distances at times down to less than 5 metres.
A Wilson's Petrel (left) compared with the European Storm Petrel (right).
A Sooty Shearwater flying low over the water
The same bird on the water.
Just one of the many Great Shearwaters.
A fantastic Cory's Shearwater.
The fabulous Sabine's Gull
The procedure was very much the same for each voyage. As soon as we left port, the assistants threw out bread from the rear of the boat to attract the gulls - Herring Gulls and Black-backed Gulls (predominantly Lesser) as well as the Gannets - of course. After a while, we started to "steam chum" which, together with the build up of gulls, brought in the Skuas and the Shearwaters. Finally, when we reached our destination we started to "drift chum" - when the engines were cut for a couple of hours and a huge chum slick was allowed to form which brought the Petrels closer in.
- Invariably we saw several Bonxies each time we went out. One of my favourite birds - the Fulmars, accompanied us throughout. It was a sheer delight to see them flying in at high speed towards the boat. One bird got too close and got caught on the fishing line but it was soon set free by the able attendants.
Here are a couple of shots which give a flavour of what was going on.
Petrels on the water.
and a single Storm Petrel about to "dance" on the water.
We had time to do some birding on St Mary's between trips. Obviously, there was no migration going on and things were rather quiet. Nevertheless, we did find some interesting birds. Alan produced a detailed species list so I will just run through the headlines.
- Top of the bill went to the Hobby, seen flying overhead on Friday.
- There was a good selection of waders including Green Sandpiper and Greenshank. Rarest bird seen was the humble Lapwing - not usually seen on the Scilly Isles. A Kingfisher flew by to add some glamour to the occasion.
A pectoral Sandpiper turned up at the last minute but we couldn't generate a slot to go and find it.
Our accommodation arrangements worked very well. After a good nights sleep at the travel lodge in Hayle, we parked our vehicles at a nearby farm and were driven to Penzance where we caught the early morning ferry from to St Mary's, sailing on the Scillonian 3.
- On the outward journey, the main highlights were an Arctic Skua and many Manx Shearwaters seen gliding over the waves.
- On the return leg from St Mary's to Penzance, we had a much more spectacular experience with hundreds of Manx Shearwaters on the move as we approached the harbour at Penzance. Paul spotted a couple of Balearic Shearwaters in the pack, and, fortunately for me, I was able to get good binocular views of the second one.
We stayed at the Old Chapel B&B in Old Town, where the food and accommodation were sensational. Our hosts Lin and Dave went out of their way to make us welcome. Lin even got up an hour early to cook our breakfast before the final pelagic trip and Dave then drove us to the harbour saving us a 25-minute dash!
This is where I will stay on future visits.
The long drive from home down to Penzance at the start of the trip on Wednesday provided the first birding opportunity.
- With no plan announced and travelling down on my own, I made an afternoon start, calling in at Labrador Bay, in Devon, in the evening to twitch the Cirl Buntings before heading off to the travel lodge.
The last birding opportunity, as we travelled home from our travel lodge on Monday, proved a bit of an anticlimax.
- We had no luck at all, dipping on Chough and Balearic Shearwaters at Porthgwarra, near Lands End.
- Another dip, this time on Hoopoe and White-winged Black Tern at Exmouth in Devon brought our trip to an end.
Another fantastic Pelagic - bring on the next one!
Alan's Species List
| Cornwall and Scilly Isles bird list August 2017 | ||||
| Excludes birds seen before most of us met at Walmsley Sanctuary | ||||
| Ref. is page number of the illustration in Collins Bird Guide 2nd edition | ||||
| Ref | Mainland | Scillonian + Scilly | Notes | |
| Mute Swan | 15 | Yes | Yes | |
| Canada Goose | 21 | Yes | ||
| Gadwall | 25 | Yes | ||
| Mallard | 25 | Yes | Yes | |
| Wigeon | 27 | Yes | ||
| Pheasant | 59 | Yes | Heard | |
| Cory's Shearwater | 69 | Yes | "The Big 3" | |
| Fulmar | 69 | Yes | Yes | |
| Great Shearwater | 69 | Yes | "The Big 3" | |
| Balearic Shearwater | 71 | Yes | ||
| Manx Shearwater | 71 | Yes | ||
| Fea's Petrel | 73 | Only in our dreams | ||
| Sooty Shearwater | 73 | Yes | ||
| Storm Petrel | 75 | Yes | ||
| Wilson's Storm Petrel | 75 | Yes | "The Big 3" | |
| Gannet | 77 | Yes | Yes | |
| Cormorant | 79 | Yes | Yes | |
| Shag | 79 | Yes | Yes | |
| Cattle Egret | 83 | Yes | Walmsley Sanctuary | |
| Little Egret | 83 | Yes | ||
| Grey Heron | 85 | Yes | Yes | |
| Glossy Ibis | 87 | Yes | Walmsley Sanctuary | |
| Common Buzzard | 109 | Yes | ||
| Kestrel | 117 | Yes | ||
| Hobby | 119 | Yes | Yes | |
| Peregrine Falcon | 121 | Yes | Seen off St Marys | |
| Water Rail | 125 | Yes | Heard at Porth Hellick | |
| Coot | 127 | Yes | ||
| Moorhen | 127 | Yes | Yes | |
| Oystercatcher | 135 | Yes | Yes | |
| Lapwing | 147 | Yes | This is a mega on Scilly's being less than annual | |
| Turnstone | 149 | Yes | ||
| Dunlin | 151 | Yes | Yes | |
| Common Sandpiper | 155 | Yes | ||
| Green Sandpiper | 155 | Yes | Lower Moors | |
| Greenshank | 157 | Yes | Including a "Yellowshank" | |
| Redshank | 157 | Yes | Lower Moors | |
| Curlew | 159 | Yes | ||
| Whimbrel | 159 | Yes | Yes | |
| Ruff | 167 | Yes | Flew off at Walmsley with Dunlin | |
| Great Skua | 175 | Yes | ||
| Arctic Skua | 177 | Yes | ||
| Black-headed Gull | 181 | Yes | Yes | |
| Mediterranean Gull | 183 | Yes | ||
| Herring Gull | 185 | Yes | Yes | |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 190 | Yes | ||
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 191 | Yes | ||
| Kittiwake | 193 | Yes | ||
| Sabine's Gull | 193 | Yes | ||
| Sandwich Tern | 199 | Yes | ||
| Arctic Tern | 201 | Yes | ||
| Common Tern | 201 | Yes | ||
| Ferral Pigeon / Rock Dove | 215 | Yes | Yes | |
| Wood Pigeon | 215 | Yes | Yes | |
| Collared Dove | 219 | Yes | Yes | |
| Swift | 237 | Yes | Just one at Walmsley | |
| Kingfisher | 239 | Yes | Yes | |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | 245 | Yes | Porthgwarra ! | |
| Sand Martin | 259 | Yes | Yes | |
| House Martin | 261 | Yes | Yes | |
| Swallow | 261 | Yes | Yes | |
| Rock Pipit | 265 | Yes | ||
| Meadow Pipit | 267 | Yes | Porthgwarra | |
| Dunnock | 275 | Yes | ||
| Robin | 277 | Yes | ||
| Wheatear | 283 | Yes | ||
| Stonechat | 293 | Yes | Yes | |
| Song Thrush | 295 | Yes | Very confiding | |
| Blackbird | 297 | Yes | Yes | |
| Blackcap | 303 | Yes | Yes | |
| Goldcrest | 337 | Yes | ||
| Wren | 337 | Yes | Yes | |
| Blue Tit | 343 | Yes | Yes | |
| Great Tit | 343 | Yes | ||
| Magpie | 361 | Yes | Yes | |
| Jackdaw | 365 | Yes | ||
| Carrion Crow | 367 | Yes | Yes | |
| Raven | 367 | Yes | ||
| Starling | 371 | Yes | Yes | |
| House Sparrow | 373 | Yes | ||
| Chaffinch | 377 | Yes | ||
| Linnet | 379 | Yes | ||
| Goldfinch | 381 | Yes | Yes | |
| Greenfinch | 381 | Yes | ||
| Total species | 43 | 70 | ||
| Trip total species | 83 | |||
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