A repeat of last year's family holiday and a week on the Isles of Scilly with the added bonus of a day in Cornwall tagged on to the end.
Sailing from Penzance on the Saturday morning meant an early start as we left home at 4.45am. An uneventful drive was followed by a calm crossing and very few birds other than a few Manx Shearwaters, my first Kittiwake of the year and a few Fulmars and Guillemots. We arrived at Hugh Town and settled in to our accommodation before a quick walk around The Garrison where a family of Stonechats put on a show.
Sunday was a quiet day with a stroll to Old Town taking in Lower Moors where a few Gadwall and singing Reed Warblers were all I could manage. Later in the day another jaunt around The Garrison failed to deliver birds but did produce a few Red Admiral, Small Copper and Holly Blue butterflies.
Monday evening was my treat to myself as I embarked on a pelagic with Sapphire Pelagics with the skipper Joe Pender and a couple of the local Scilly birders, including Bob Flood who is world renowned for his seabird expertise. The trip was a great experience with the highlight being some superb views of Storm Petrels with at least sixteen birds noted. Other bits and pieces included a single Great Skua, a couple of Common Terns, three Puffins and a handful of Manx Shearwaters plus two Turnstone and a Purple Sandpiper on one of the small islands. It was gone 10pm by the time I got in!
Another quiet day on Tuesday, though I did see a Whimbrel at Higher Moors, but missed a Red-rumped Swallow (something I managed to do three times during the week!).
On Wednesday we took a boat over to Tresco and spent the bulk of the day wandering around the island. We were lucky enough to get some cracking views of the Iberian Chiffchaff as it sang from trees above our heads. A recording of the bird singing can be heard here:
https://soundcloud.com/user-974772027/iberian-chiffchaff-tresco-may16
The Great Pool held a Grey Heron, a couple of Mute Swans and Pochard plus several Coot. We bumped in to lee Evans on the journey back to St Mary's, he had come across to twitch the Bryer Snowy Owl and had been in constant contact with me for a couple of days trying to get news. Anyway, he was successful in his twitch! When we got back to Hugh Town I quickly popped over to Higher Moors and managed to get some great views of a Spotted Sandpiper that had been found the previous evening.
Bryer on Thursday and we arrived on the island just as it started to rain. A look over the north of the island failed to produce the Snowy Owl that had been present just a day before! A couple of Wheatears were scant consolation though it was a lovely island. Two Great Northern Divers were seen from the boat on our journey to and from Bryer.
Friday was another quiet day, though I did find the long-staying Iceland Gull on the Hugh Town dump which was a nice little bonus.
Back to the mainland on Saturday after a relaxing morning around the beaches of Hugh Town. I didn't see anything new from the Scillonian III on the way back. We checked in to The Old Quay House at Hayle for the night. A few Curlew and three Ringed Plover were noted on the estuary and a Spoonbill flew over!
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and the Spoonbill was again on the estuary but there was no sign of the Dalmation Pelican which had been in the area for the past two weeks. A quick trip to Drift Reservoir drew a blank so it was back home via a quick stop for a picnic lunch at Polzeath. A nice break even if I did miss a few good birds...but after all if wasn't a birding holiday! I saw 73 species whilst I was away, not that I was counting!
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