October 2026

23rd. Storm Austen provided some challenging conditions for seawatching at The Island. Sustained NNW winds over 60mph with one gust reaching 97mph. I saw 1 red-throated diver, 1 great northern diver, 11 grey phalarope, 1 purple sandpiper, 20+ Manx shearwater, 11 little gull, 2 bonxies, 3 Pomarine skua, 7+ Arctic skua and best of all, 2 juvenile dark-phase long-tailed skua.

22nd. The black kite was seen again recently near Camborne, so I looked for it unsuccessfully from around the A30 area.

21st. Back in St Ives. Seawatching from the Island in the morning. 1 European storm petrel, 4 sooty shearwater, 1 bonxie, ca.5 Arctic skua, 3 Pomarine skua, 2 little gull, 7 grey phalarope, 1 great northern diver, 11 teal, 1 common scoter, 2 black redstart and a female-type merlin carrying prey.

20th. The Scillonian departed early because of incoming bad weather - two storms broke in subsequent days. The sanderling flock at Porthmellon now numbered around 150 birds.

I caused a mini-twitch at Shooter's Pool when the male bullfinch flew past - one birder had waited over two hours wanting it as his 300th Scilly bird, and left 10 minutes before I saw it! Fortunately it reappeared mid-morning. A lesser whitethroat and tristis-type chiffchaff were also present. My photos showed little detail on the lesser whitethroat, though it didn't appear especially buffish. I walked around Peninnis and saw black redstarts at Carn Heh and Stony Porth.

On the Scillonian III crossing (probably my last one), I saw a juvenile Sabine's gull, 2 grey phalarope and a puffin.

19th. I stayed in the Seaward Hide at Porth Hellick for about 5.5 hours. The sora showed at around 11.00h but I missed its close-up show by about 10 minutes. So I sat it out waiting for repeat performance. I spent time photographing grey wagtail (two present), kingfisher (two present - female in photo) and little egrets.

There seem to be a lot of brown rats on St Mary's at present. One tried to enter via the hide shutters yesterday!

Towards the ringing station I saw a brambling and a lesser whitethroat. I spent a lot of time photographing some very photogenic jack snipe - there were at least 6 present.

Eventually the sora appeared, and walked in front of the hide.

A likely male lesser emperor dragonfly flew close to the hide briefly.

Clouded yellows are still flying, including this fine one near the airfield.

I spent the late afternoon at Lower Moors. A jack snipe and an interesting possible second Wilson's snipe showed close to the Hilda Quick Hide. If it is one, it looks different from the one that frequented the ISBG hide area, and seems to have a different tertial pattern. Or is it a common snipe?

I ended the day at Porthloo, where there were 132 sanderling, 6 bar-tailed godwit and a black redstart.

The traditional Scilly bird log at The Scillonian (18th).

18th. A northerly wind brought large numbers of redwing and fieldfare (my first of the year) to the islands. A probable yellow wagtail landed briefly on a pool at the track alongside the Garrison football field, but flew off towards Porthcressa before I could get a got look at it. Two were seen elsewhere of the island later. News came out that the RED-EYED VIREO had reappeared on St Agnes, so that was my destination. Another birder and I thought we had brief views of it at The Parsonage, and eventually it showed well for all present. A yellow-browed warbler moved swiftly through the trees, and a fieldfare fed on apples.

Clouded yellows and a painted lady were still on the wing. Bermuda buttercup Oxalis pes-caprae is naturalised.

Some more naturalised Scilly plants - treasure flower Gazania rigens and Cape rain daisy Dimorphotheca pluvialis both on St Mary's.

Back on St Mary's I spent the early evening at the Seaward Hide, Porth Hellick and saw a jack snipe, 2 house martins and the Sora moved along the far shore - the first I'd seen since the Pagham bird 41 years ago!

17th. I set off for a short break on Scilly. The crossing on Scillonian III was relatively calm.

I saw 11 grey phalarope, 2 puffin, and unexpectedly a female-type merlin flew close over the boat mid-channel. There was a pod of common dolphins near Tater Du Lighthouse, and about 5 Risso's dolphins and an ocean sunfish nearby. Another dolphin pod on the Scilly side of the crossing included an all dark individual, but the fins didn't seem to be Risso's size and they were probably bottlenose dolphins. Bird news reported that the Isabelline shrike was still on Porth Hellick downs, so that would be my first target. On arrival I bumped into Viv Stratton and Brad Dallas from the mainland, checked into Tregarthen's Hotel and walked to Lower Moors where the Wilson's snipe was not clearly on show. Three wheatear lingered around the airfield, and few remained in the subsequent days. The ISABELLINE SHRIKE showed well on Porth Hellick downs, and I settled into a path through the gorse to get some great views. It is thought be most likely be a Daurian shrike, and introgression clouds identification of this taxon, especially for first-winter birds.

I spent an hour or so in the Seaward Hide at Porth Hellick, but the sora did not appear. I left for the ISBG Hide at Lower Moors and the WILSON'S SNIPE gave great view. the distinctive tertials and some of the outer tail feather show nicely in the images.

16th. Seawatching from The Island in a moderate NW wind that veered from W overnight. Quiet though. 11 common scoter, 1 great northern diver, 2 Manx shearwater, 1 Leach’s petrel, 1 juvenile Sabine’s gull, 3 little gull, 4 Arctic skua, 4 grey phalarope, 1 common/Arctic tern.

15th. A dark bonxie chased kittiwakes off The Island. Three sooty shearwater flew past and 4 chaffinch flew over while a meadow pipit came in off the sea. Still up to 5 chough present.

Juvenile starling doing its best to look like a nutcracker (they are invading The Netherlands at present, and one appeared in Norfolk towards the end of the month).

14th. Five chough, peregrine, magpie and a male kestrel at The Island. Strong passage of auks, kittiwakes and gannets offshore.

Two drake ring-necked ducks at Boscathnoe (adult and first-winter).

Sixteen cattle egret at Drift, though the Baird’s sandpiper seems to have gone. Turtle dove at Brew Farm near Sennen.

Clouded yellows still at Drift and Boscathnoe, with the Drift one being a faded helice. Fox moth larva at Pendeen.

2nd. 2 kingfishers and a grey wagtail at Snuff Mills, but no dippers.

1st. No ring-necked parakeets at Stoke Lodge.