Our first family holiday and we spent a week on the Isles of Scilly. Sailing on board the Scillonian III from Penzance we had a really good crossing, though there was little action on the bird front, with a few Manx Shearwaters being the pick and four Bottle-nosed Dolphins providing some entertainment. We stayed on St Mary's and spent most of our time exploring this island.
Highlights on the bird front included a Bee-eater which was fairly vocal but failed to show itself over Porth Hellick. I found a male Hen Harrier one evening on Peninnis Head which was a bit of an unexpected find and the same area also held a few Whimbrel. A Common Sandpiper on rocks near Old Town was the only other wader that provided a little interest. A Cuckoo showed very well on Peninnis Head and was also heard a couple of times whilst we sat in a café in old Town. But despite the time of year there was little else out of the ordinary on the bird front on St Mary's.
We took two day trips, one to Tresco and another to St Agnes.
The Tresco day was lovely with cloudless skies and warm sun for the bulk of the day. A Roseate Tern was an unexpected find whilst we sat having a drink in Old Grimsby, but two small waders that flew over proved impossible to identify and a Golden Pheasant at the Abbey Gardens was hardly tick-able!
St Agnes was very quiet but we did enjoy a very tasty pasty at The Turk's Head! A very smart White Wagtail was the pick of the birds on this island.
I took an evening boat trip on the Monday night and this produced three Great Northern Divers, including two in summer plumage, and eventually a total of nine Puffins, though we had to cover a lot of water to finally find them.
So despite the lack of quality vagrants on the bird front we had a relaxing and enjoyable week away and I'm already looking forward to a return visit sooner rather than later!
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