Island hopping

Day two of a short trip to the Isles of Scilly saw me heading to St Agnes, an island with a legendary record for hosting rare birds. A few minor rarities had been reported there the previous day, including a Spotted Sandpiper from the Americas, which was enough to tempt me into making the journey.

Red-throated Pipit, St Agnes

Red-throated Pipit in this plumage shows strong black streaks on a white breast...

On arrival there was no sign of the Sandpiper but St Agnes certainly held promise, with a larger number of common migrants than I had seen on St Mary's the previous day. I headed inland to search for an apparently photogenic Lapland Bunting which I saw, but only in flight as it headed back to the beach I had just left. Retracing my steps the Bunting continued to elude me so I headed back up the slope to where I had first seen it in the hope that it would return, as indeed it did.

..and normally whitish mantle stripes but these were not so prominent in this individual

Note the short, spiky bill with yellow base

In the intervening period news had broken of a Red-throated Pipit, a top drawer rarity which breeds in the most northern parts of Europe, on the island. As is often the case, the report concerned a bird heard calling in flight, and in such circumstances that is usually the end of it. As I was watching the Lapland Bunting with a small group of birders, a shout went up that the Red-throated Pipit was in the field behind us less than 100 yards away.

The whitish mantle stripes more visible from this angle

Red-throated Pipit

Approaching the field and peering over the dry stone boundary wall, there was the Pipit, parading in the grass at close range with Meadow Pipits conveniently close by for comparison. It flew around a couple of times, giving its distinctive call, before moving off after just a few minutes. It was a very fortunate encounter, illustrated by the fact that a friend from Dorset who was staying on the island missed the bird in the short time it took him to walk up from nearby Porth Killier.

Lapland Bunting, St Agnes

Lapland Bunting, St Agnes

I had resolved to get the 1415 boat back to St Mary's so headed for the quay where breaking news of an Isabelline Wheatear on Tresco caused a re-think. Initially I didn't think I had the energy for a yomp the length of Tresco, but was talked into it by the promise of seeing only my second individual of this species. The Guiding Star returned to St Mary's but the same launch took us straight to Tresco, removing any need to disembark. We would have only a couple of hours before the return trip which would leave from the 'wrong' end of Tresco, so a brisk march was required to get to King Charles's Castle at the north-western tip of the island where the Wheatear was being watched.

Pink-footed Goose, St Agnes

This Pink-footed Goose shared a field with the Red-throated Pipit

On arrival we saw the pale Wheatear straight away, standing out like a beacon against the dark heather. Initially distant, it was flushed closer by some castle visitors, enabling us to get a few record shots - not easy in the light of that Scilly speciality, a late October heat haze!

Isabelline Wheatear, Tresco - sandier brown upperparts compared to Northern

Isabelline Wheatear, Tresco

Despite the no-show by the Spotted Sandpiper, a good second day then with two high quality breaking rarities seen in T-shirt weather, and without the usual stresses of island hopping on Scilly in October.

Isabelline Wheatear, Tresco - note broad black band on the tail

Northern Wheatear on St Agnes for comparison