5th CLIFF SWALLOW for scilly

Graham Gordon returns from the mainland and the following morning he finds a CLIFF SWALLOW at Porth Hellick.

  At about 22.00 last night I dropped Graham Gordon at Porth Hellick so he could camp on the beach. As he hadn't seen the Lesser Yellowlegs since it arrived a few days ago, he was hoping to catch it first thing in the morning. Just after 08.00 this morning, I called him from the airport to see if he had seen the Lesser Yellowlegs. That he did, along with the Temmink's Stint, then he said 'Just a minute Spider. Ring me back!' That I did, only to hear 'I think I've got a CLIFF SWALLOW!!!' What!! 'I'm on my ways!' I drove to Porth Hellick and ran like the devil towards the loop trail and found him under a pine pointing behind me and shouting 'There it is!' I looked and every bird I got on to was a House Martin. 'It's coming towards you' Then I got on to it as it swept low in front of me and over the pines and out of sight. But not before I got some record shots, just in case it was never seen again. I gave Graham a celebrity hug but quickly parted, just in case someone was watching. And it was a man hug. It was not like a celebrity hug like footballers do when they jump on top and kiss each other and get very very close. I just wanted to make that clear.
  Anyways, I had to return to work and called everyone and then put the news out. Some twenty minutes later, I returned with Higgo, who also found my first Cliff Swallow on St Mary's back in '00, but this Cliff Swallow had gone missing since I left and no one had seen it yet. However, Graham relocated on the nearby Salkee path where it showed well over the fields. Back to work and throughout the day it was seen until 14.30 when it moved off with other hirundines. At 18.00 I returned to Porth Hellick to find Higgo and seven other birders who had charted a boat from Penzance already there, including Alstair Orton from Cheshire! But still no sign of the Cliff Swallow. However, Higgo came to the rescue and relocated it in the area where Graham first found it this morning. Here it continued to show very well to dusk with 40+House Martin and 25+Swallow. 
  Thinking about it later, I guess I was co-finder of the Cliff Swallow. If it was not for me calling him up when I did, then he would of had his head down, walking fast around the loop trail. That ring from me made him stop in his tracks and he looked up as he was speaking to me to see a Cliff Swallow hawking in front of him! So surely that makes me co-finder as he might not of found it if it was not for that call. Anyways, when birders were asking me 'Where has the swallow been hanging out?' I reply 'As co-finder I can tell you'

  

I think that man hug might of meant more to Graham than I thought. Later in the day, just before Graham returned home to St Agnes, He asked me if I wanted to spend the weekend at his place. You can sleep in my bed. A! What! He continued, I'll be sleeping under the stars. Oh sure, I replied. I relaxed and thought that's ok, I'd like to do that. As I waved him off from the quay I suddenly thought, he ain't got a bloody roof!

This was the record shot I first took just in case it disappeared

In the overcast morning skies

Later on the Cliff Swallow showed at close range as it hawked over myself and Martin's heads in the evening sun.

All us locals getting stuck into the Cliff Swallow. Note Graham laughing when he was told about Higgo seawatching for an hour when there was a Lesser Yellowlegs, unknown to him, just around the corner at the same time!

   

Both the Lesser Yellowlegs and Temminks Stint were showing superbly in front of both hides

Common Sandpiper

  

A exhausted House Martin at Porth Hellick

Also seen today was a Bonelli's Warbler sp at Shooter Pool, Lower Moors and the 2 Buff-breasted Sandpiper were still on the golf course. On St Martins, Paul Buxton found a Ortolan Bunting and on St Agnes the juvenile Dotterel that was discovered yesterday by Viv Stratton on Wingletang was still there.

Willow Warbler

   While Graham was away off his island, St Agnes, I made a brief visit to try and grip him off in hopefully finding somethin. low on migrants and the highlight was this Wryneck in the Broweth fields and that was it

When I returned from St Agnes, later in the day the Buff-breasted Sandpiper on the golf course was joined by another juvenile.   

This ones for Graham. Still Corners is the London-based musical project of songwriter/producer Greg Hughes and vocalist Tessa Murray. Still Corners self-released their debut EP, Remember Pepper?, on 13 June 2008,^[1] followed by a 7" single, "Don't Fall in Love", released by UK label The Great Pop Supplement on 30 August 2010.The duo signed with record label Sub Pop in 2011 and issued their first full-length debut, Creatures of an Hour to favourable reviews.^[3]In October 2012, the band released a new single, "Fireflies",^[4] which was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork Media.^[5]In February 2013, Still Corners announced that their second album, Strange Pleasures, would be released on Sub Pop in May 2013. The second single, "Berlin Lovers", received widespread coverage.^[6][7][8] Strange Pleasures was issued on 7 May. On 29 June 2016, the band announced the 16 September release of their third album, Dead Blue, on their own Wrecking Light Records label; Still Corners also shared the video for the album's first single, "Lost Boys".