More good footage of SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF

                                          A SCILLY STAR!!!!

My daughter Tean singing the Fleetwood Mac's song 'SONGBIRD' from the album Rumours

There was too much cloud to see the eclipse by the time I got up, however it was well worth it to see this stunning sunrise



  Robin told me that there was a Black-throated Diver off Carn Movel. So at about 10.00 I was standing at the latter site and found the bird had moved over towards Crow Bar. Just off Samson there were the 7 imm/fem Common Scoters, 4 Great Northern Divers and off Pentle Bay, Tresco, 11 Little Egrets. One of yesterdays Mistle Thrushes flew over towards the pig fields.

  Yesterdays weather was still with us with bright warm sunshine. However when that breeze got up a little, you could feel a nip in the air. As I arrived at Porth Hellick, Will was just leaving and told me that he had heard the CETTI'S WARBLER down the path towards the hides. While we were talking a Linnet flew overhead. I went in seach of the SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFFS and found one around the loop trail, showing very well at close range feeding in the sun with a Chiffchaff. I met Robin near the hides and in the field next to the boardwalk was an impressive 51 Fieldfares. There were also more Redwings in, but most of the Skylarks seemed to have moved on. The Pochard was still on the pool and the fem Wigeon had returned from Lower Moors. An adult male Merlin was a new arrival and we flushed 2 Jack Snipe at the ringing station and over 30 Snipe were in the fields of which 8 were on the beach. Robin decided to go and have a look off Star Castle while I continued on and made my way towards Carn Friars. Here I found that the Mistle Thrush had been joined by another bird in the horse paddocks and nearby, I could hear the fem Great Spotted Woodpecker and found her near the ringing station. Back at the crossroads, I joined Martin and Joe who had seen 2 SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFFS and a Firecrest. While I was there a Brambling flew NW and the imm male Sparrowhawk went through.

PORTH HELLICK
1 SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF, 1 fem Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Mistle Thrushes, 2 Jack Snipe, 1 ad male Merlin, 1 Pochard, fem Wigeon, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Brambling, 1 Siskin, 1 Linnet, 1 Sparrowhawk,  2 Redshanks, 4 Greenshanks, 5 Coots, 6 Goldcrests, 9 Woodcocks, 9 Chiffchaffs, 17 Teal, 30+Lapwings, 30+Snipe, 51 Fieldfare and 80+Redwings.

  These shots were all taken by Martin Goodey at Porth Hellick crossroads. I did not see any of these birds. The light can play tricks and both these birds could be SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFFS. More maybe going for the lower bird.

                A classic SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF at Porth Hellick crossroads

While this bird looks cold looking and the light could play apart in this, so will have to go down as a Eastern 'type' Chiffchaff

 SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF at Porth Hellick. Note again how the bird can look different in certain light

This SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF almost landed on my head until I moved!


During this footage at Porth Hellick, you can hear a Dunnock call three times in the background, which sounds similar to the SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF call. It's not until the forth call that you ca hear this SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF and then I filmed some nice twigs.

                    some of the flock of 51 Fieldfares in a Porth Hellick field

This female Great Spotted Woodpecker, here at Carn Friars, can be a hard bird to catch up with

                                        Two Skylarks at Carn Fiars

                    A Lapwing shares a field with 5 Snipe at Porth Hellick

                             Two of the 25+Redwings at Green Farm

                        Large numbers of Redwing on the island today

From Carn Movel the ambulance boat is heading towards St Martins (straight ahead) through Crow Sound with Tresco on the left.

I like to think that I did not miss much of this lunar eclipse taken at 6.30 this morning by Martin Goodey.