8th SORA RAIL for Scilly

This SORA RAIL was discovered yesterday evening and was showing well today from the Swarovski hide. Cliff Smith This is the third Sora Rail to visit Scilly in two years. At the same time a Sora was on Tresco another bird was very briefly seen at Lower Moors. The latter individual overwintered but wasn't relocated until February! Hopefully this one sticks around for a while.

 With the strong SE overnight, more scarcities turned up and first thing this morning, Ian Grant found a Red-breasted Flycatcher at the campsite, Garrison. I had a few minutes to have a look for it but had to make do with yesterdays Red-backed Shrike in the Christmas House paddocks and a fly over Lapland Bunting.

This 1st winter Red-backed Shrike was in the Christmas House paddocks, Garrison

  Mid-morning and from the airport I could see 2 egrets 100 miles away over Porth Hellick. I put my bins up and they looked good for Cattle Egret. I took two pics and looking back screen on the camara didn't really help, although I thought I could see a hint of orange on one of the egrets bill while the other egret looked dark. Twenty minutes later driving out of town, Higgo flags me down. '2 Cattle Egret at Porthloo! And he jumped in and demanded me to take him there! But I've got guest to take to the airport. Chesney was observing the two egrets a long ways off from the Garrison with Seth and he told us to go to Porthloo.  We ended up as far away as possible from the two birds! Seth told us where to go but we missed them by minutes as Martin Goodey watched them fly off from the the Trewince fields (Nowhere near Porthloo). Higgo went off searching for the egrets while I returned to work. I had the idea that the Cattle Egrets might pre-roost at Porth hellick and at 17.00 I had a quick look. A birder was already in the seaward hide and I had a look at the Black-tailed Godwit that's been here since the 29th Sep. We started talking, I mean the birder and I, not the godwit, and while looking out the hide without me bins I starrted saying 'I thought the Cattle. A! WHAT! MMM!' or was it 'UMM!' Anyways I shouted 'THERE THEY ARE!!!' The guy must of shite himself! I put my bins up and then put them down again. The other day someone asked me in the hide, what the weight was of my bins? I thought, who asks a stupid question like that? Anyways, I told him, well when there full of rubbish then they can be pretty heavy, but when empty then there not so heavy. Then he explained to me that he meant the bins around my neck. He was thinking of buying some new ones and wanted to know the weight of mine. I couldn't give him an proper answer, because it depends how you lift them up and sometimes the strap can get twisted which can make a difference to the weight. He looked at me as though I was odd. Anyways, there they were! The egrets on the other side of the pool being pushed around by a Grey Heron. I contacted Will Scott to put the news out on the radio and he was the first to arrive quickly followed by other birders.

I took this record shot of the egrets over Porth Hellick from the airport thinking that they were Cattle Egret. At the same time, Will scott was watching them from Porth Hellick

Thses 2 Cattle Egret at Porth Hellick this evening are the 21st records for Scilly with the last recorded in 2006.

     Yesterday I had better views of the American Golden Plover and Buff-breatsed Sandpiper on the airfield

Over 15 Wheatear were also on the airfield. Good numbers of Meadow Pipit had also arrived with 50+airfield, 60+Peacehaven, 40+Garrison, 60+Trewince with smaller numbers ellsewhere.

At Lower Moors this Redshank showed off

It was almost flushed by this Grey Heron

aren Jill Elson (born 14 January 1979) is an English model, singer-songwriter and guitarist. Elson's musical career has been building slowly over the past several years. In 2003 she contributed backing vocals to a remix of Robert Plant's "Last Time I Saw Her" from Plant's album Dreamland.^[15] In 2005 a personal recording of Elson singing was made available on a CD accompanying the August 2005 issue of Uncut magazine (the song was titled "Coming Down"). The song was chosen by REM singer Michael Stipe.^[16] In 2006 she dueted with Cat Power on a provocative cover version of "I Love You (Me Either)" forMonsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, a tribute album to French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.^[17]