Monday 7 October 2013

Scillies Day 7 (4th Oct)

Hello

Well today was all about splitting up and doing our own thing!

After a little land birding I then went on a six hour pelagic trip for sea-birds well to the north and east of the islands.

Eleanor spent the day touring pretty much all of St Marys and notched up plenty of good birds with four different Wrynecks, a fly-over Short-toed Lark, an adult Mediterranean Gull, 2 Ring Ouzels, a couple of Peregrines, a redpoll sp and still summer migrants in the shape of Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, lots of Whinchats, over a hundred Wheatear, Whitethroat and other common warblers.

The pelagic trip proved to be extremely quiet but we experienced a couple of pods of Common Dolphins riding the bows of the boat, Balearic Shearwater, Puffin, Guillemot, Great Skua, Sandwich, Common and Arctic Tern and of course hundreds of Gannets.  Flocks of Meadow Pipits could be seen regularly skimming low over the waves.

After finding my land-legs again I day-ticked Purple Heron, Bluethroat, Redstart, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, a Wryneck (different bird to Eleanor's four), Turtle Dove, Kingfisher and Mediterranean Gull.

A Death Head's Hawk-moth was an awesome beast, on show from a moth trap the previous evening.

Neil M


 
Great Skua or Bonxie


 
Gannets

 
Common Dolphin

 
Balearic Shearwater

 
Spotted Flycatcher

No comments: