August 2024

31st. A pelagic trip to 12 miles south and west of Scilly. Joe's totals were 40 Cory's shearwater, 70 great shearwater, 5 sooty shearwater, 2 storm petrels, a Pomarine skua, an Arctic skua, 3 Sabine's gulls, a juvenile Caspian gull and a juvenile yellow-legged gull. We also saw 2 black tern, 40 common tern, 4 Arctic tern, and a puffin. Lots of the big shearwaters had moved away since last night. We had one shearwater that met most, but not all of the criteria for Scopoli's, and saw a colour-ringed lesser-black backed gull W:72J blue ringed on left leg. It was ringed as a nestling on Gugh on 12 July, though as a herring gull!. In the evening I saw a green sandpiper on Lower Moors.

Yellow-legged gull. Note the mostly dark inner primaries (pale in herring gull), the distinct tail band and the narrow eye mask on a largely white head.

Caspian gull - a real Scilly rarity with only 11 records I believe. Remarkable views as it followed the boat, showing 'Venetian blind' pattern on inner primaries, the very pale underwing and the pale underwing.

Inspecting an ocean sunfish

Summer and winter plumage Sabine's gulls.

Black tern

30th. I left St Ives at 07.15 on a day with a glorious sunrise. What a memorable day, with action from sunrise until night time.

From a calm crossing on the Scillonian I saw 4 common scoter, 30+ Cory's shearwater, 25+ great shearwater, 3 sooty shearwater and a grey phalarope. There were also 2 harbour porpoise, common dolphins and a tuna boil.

I then joined at 17.00h pelagic trip, which was one of the best yet for me. It's remarkable how the biodiversity of the waters off SW England have changed in the last decade, presumably because of climate change. Hardly any basking sharks, but now large boils of tuna, and thousands of great and Cory's shearwater. Joe Pender's list was first calendar year SOUTH POLAR SKUA 5 km SW of Bishop's Rock, 2500+ Cory's shearwater, 1000+ great shearwater, ca. 2000 Manx shearwater, 12 sooty shearwater, 3 Pomarine skua, 6 storm petrel, 2 common tern, 4 Arctic tern, 100 bluefin tuna and a blue shark (which was landed and tagged just as the South Polar skua passed)!

Cory's shearwaters

Great shearwaters

Sooty shearwater

Manx shearwater

Adult and juvenile common terns

Two different Pomarine skuas. Maybe second summer birds?

A dark phase bird without spoons but with an unspeckled underwing. Could be confused with the South Polar skua below.

South Polar skua, first calendar year. Note the moulting primaries.

The sun goes down and as shearwaters feed.

That night I photographed the Milky Way from Porthcressa.

29th. I made a trip to St Ives and Scilly, using trains, buses, my bike, walking and of course the Scillonian III. Soon after arriving, I cycled to Carnsew Basin to see the juvenile semipalmated sandpiper, which at times associated with a juvenile little stint (left hand bird). Single knot and whimbrel also present.

25th. Kingfisher and 2 osprey at Herriot's Bridge, Chew Valley Lake.

20th. I visited the raptor viewpoint at Woolbeding Common in West Sussex. Within 10 minutes three HONEY BUZZARDS were in the sky, with a male passing quite close overhead. I didn't have time to put my extender on the lens! This is the first time I've seen them in Britain, and the viewpoint provided a splendid outlook. The birds appeared sporadically over the afternoon.

8th-9th. London. Ring-necked parakeets in Hyde Park, Charlton and Greenwich.