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

Dropping in for a chat

I joined the ranks of the unemployed this week for the first time in 27 years. In case you were worried there, don't be, I wasn't fired from my job at the council in disgrace: fortunately, unlike many of my colleagues in cash-strapped local government, I was able to leave at a time of my own choosing, and I shall return to full-time employment as early as next week. But more on that later, the week between jobs provided an opportunity yesterday to get out and about with the camera.

Northern Wheatear at Maiden Castle yesterday

The morning light was better at the Bill earlier in the day, but the Wheatears more distant



A female was with the male on a dung-heap at Maiden Castle

A second, less well marked bird at Portland Bill

It being mid-March, as the first summer migrant birds had been trickling in all week, there was one species in particular on my mind: Wheatear. Rising early I negotiated the road works onto Portland and hit the Bill slopes just as they were being kissed by the rising sun. The immediate reward was two male Wheatears. Seeing these long distance migrants from Africa catching the morning light was a tonic and appeared as proof that spring was winning the battle with winter, despite the forecast for weekend snow. Skylarks singing overhead seemed to prove the point. An obliging male Stonechat on the slopes and a Black Redstart in the Bill quarries completed an attractive trio of chats for the morning.

Female Black Redstart

A presumed migrant in the Bill quarries

Male Stonechat - often obliging around the Pulpit Inn

Skylark at Portland Bill

A brisk southerly saw rough seas crashing around the obelisk at the Bill's southern tip, so much so that the Purple Sandpipers which are often directly below had been pushed up to almost eye level, providing unusually good photo-opportunities. They were rather more successful at dodging the spray than I. I headed up to the more sheltered Church Ope Cove to dry off and look for Wall Lizards - more on them in a later post - and was treated to my first photographable butterfly of the year: a Peacock which basked briefly on a warm rock.

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper

The Bill was taking a bit of a pounding on Friday

Peacock at Church Ope Cove

On the subject of butterflies, the return to gainful employment mentioned above starts very shortly in the form of probably my dream job at Butterfly Conservation, the UK charity dedicated to saving butterflies and moths, which is based here in Dorset. If you're not a member already, you obviously should be: they do great work for our hard-pressed Lepidoptera. And now there is the extra incentive that by joining you will be keeping me too busy to clutter up the internet with so-so photos :-). Speaking of which, here are a few more chats to end with - and why not!



Autumn gathers pace

This week's weather appears as a statement of intent about the changing seasons, though for migrating birds 'autumn' has of course been underway for some weeks. Yesterday I met up with my parents on Portland to see what was about on a day which started out fine and bright, but which saw torrential rain by lunchtime, arriving just in time to give us soggy chips at the Bill's Lobster Pot café.

Wryneck, Portland Bill

Probably the best view I have had of this species

Photographing it in dappled light on the ground was tricky...

...but the cryptic plumage can be seen well here

And here's a clue to how the Wryneck got it's name

Shortly before the downpour, we had jammed in on a long-staying Wryneck in the Obs quarry - not only was it on view as soon as we arrived, shortly after it was flushed by a rat and perched up to give unusually good and extended views of this often shy species. Apart from Wheatears, common migrants were thin on the ground on Portland, though there were plenty of hirundines in the air feeding up before the long journey south.

Northern Wheatear at the Bill

One of nine in the same paddock

Not just migrant birds on Portland - there were many Red Admiral around too

The resident Rock Pipits entertained us while we sat for lunch

Most of the Wheatears were sporting the tawny female-type plumage - but at least one male (left) was among them

In contrast to the shortage of common migrants on Portland, a visit to Greenlands Farm near Studland a couple of weekends ago saw the fields and woods alive with them. Yellow Wagtails were particularly entertaining and I spent a warm morning stalking them, hiding behind gorse bushes and acting like a horse in an effort to gain their trust. Suffice to say I got closer to the horses than the wagtails.

Yellow Wagtail, Greenlands Farm

The wagtail flock follows cattle and horses around the National Trust land at Greenlands...

 ...feeding right under the noses and feet of the livestock

This blue-grey headed individual didn't look like the regular British race - enquiries are underway to establish what flava it might be, but it's presumably of continental origin

Good to see these migrants on the ground rather than just flying overhead calling

While the Yellow Wagtails dominated the paddocks at Greenlands, Willow Warbler was the most numerous migrant around the forest edge - every tree seemed to contain two or three - with Common Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher and Whitethroat present in smaller numbers. 

Redstarts seem to like Greenlands - here a male...

...and here a female

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

I became enamoured with Greenlands Farm during a late summer bird race in 2015 - the concentration of migrants there at this time of year puts my own patch at Swineham to shame - a good excuse for my continued neglect of the latter! Purists would no doubt castigate me for forsaking my own patch to go farther afield where the grass is greener - I would merely point at that many hard core patch workers travel further to get to their 'local' patch than I do to get to Greenlands!

Common Whitethroat, Greenlands Farm

 

Wheatear, Greenlands Farm

Wheatear, Greenlands Farm

House Martins were gathering around Manor Farm on Studland at the end of August

This rare visitor to Poole Harbour, a Hooded Crow, was also at Manor Farm