7th Scandinavian Rock Pipit for Scilly

Yesterday at morning Point I got my second ever Scandinavian Rock Pipit after finding the first for Shropshire at Woodlane on April 4th, 1995! 

  Yesterday I made the short cycle to Morning Point where one of the pale juvenile Iceland Gull was feeding with Herring Gulls in the bright evening sun. While taking pics of the Iceland Gull, I spotted a very interesting large gull come in. It was clearly a Herring Gull but I couldn't tell you what age it was as it had an adult bill, head and upperparts but 2nd winter wings, tail and the underparts were unusual for your normal 2nd winter Herring Gull. At the same time a Rock Pipit called close to my right and very briefly with my bins before it flew behind a boulder, I could see that it was a possible Scandinavian Rock Pipit! Fortunately it flew up and landed nearby for a few seconds where I could see that it was a Scandinavian Rock Pipit. My first for Scilly! I dipped out one two years ago ago on the same date as this one that Bobby 'Dazzler' Dawson found at Pelistry. This individual flewoff with 2 Rock Pipit and out of sight. Before seeing the pipit, I had already let every know about this odd gull but as it was getting dark only Scott Reid twitched it. It was still present when we both left to go and watch England and Italy in the Club.

   

As Mashuq Ahmad said 'It's a freak!' Is it an adult or a 2nd winter Herring Gull? Whatever it is, it's an very interesting gull to observe.

  

The pale juvenile Iceland Gull

The day before both juvenile Iceland Gull were both at Morning Point. Today they were joined by the juvenile Glaucous Gull

This male Stonechat was nearby

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I Come home to Iceland Gulls!!

Female Black Redstart at Porthcressa in the early evening light

  I returned home from Palestine four days ago and on my first day back while working, I managed to see at Little Porth, 6 Mediterranean and a 1st winter Common Gull, Great Northern Diver and a female Black Redstart. At work, there was a male Firecrest singing and later in the evening I caught up with the 2 juvenile Iceland Gull at Morning Point.
 
  Yesterday, we added another birder to Scilly! Scott Read and his family arrived on the island, with his four cracking dogs to start a new life and I wish them all the best!
  Today Scott got me twitching my first Wheatear of the year at Little Porth but I dipped out on his Glaucous Gull. While I was at Little Porth, Vicky Turner and Andy Holdon turned up and got us the first Sandwich Tern of the year! Shortly afterwards we made our ways to Morning Point to find the 2 juvenile Iceland Gull were still present briefly being joined by an adult Common Gull. Before this I had my first White Wagtail at Star Castle with the Firecrest singing in the rain

This male Wheatear at Little Porth was my first of the year

This adult Common Gull was above the heads of the 2 juvenile Iceland Gull at Morning Point

These 6 Mediterranean Gull have been knocking around Porthcressa since a I arrived back home on Wednesday. 

2 Juvenile Iceland Gull are commuting with Morning Point and Porthloo. At the latter site this evening, including these the ones above, there were 3 Iceland Gull with a distant Glaucous Gull.

In 1996, Johnny Cash recorded a cover of Soundgarden’s hit “Rusty Cage,” written by frontman Chris Cornell, on his Grammy-winning album ‘Unchained.’ Twenty years later, Cornell wrote the next chapter in this unique musical relationship by setting a newly discovered poem of Cash’s to music, to create the stunning all-new song “You Never Knew My Mind.” It was recorded at the historic Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, TN, and marks one of Cornell’s final solo recordings. The song is featured on ‘Johnny Cash: Forever Words,’ out April 6 on Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. The album is comprised of Cash’s unknown poetry, lyrics, and letters, now set to music by an all-star array of contemporary artists. Along with Cornell, the album features new songs by Ruston Kelly & Kacey Musgraves, Rosanne Cash, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Kris Kristofferson & Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, John Mellencamp, Carlene Carter, Elvis Costello, The Jayhawks and more.

Palestine Day 4-8

Short-toed Eagle drifting over the Israeli apartheid wall into occupied Palestinian land!! 

  With internet hard to come by and camping, I couldn't update me blog. On my last few days in Palestine, Imad Al Atrash, who works for Birdlife International and is CEO of Wildlife of Palestine, invited me to join him in his nature tours and with 40 other Palestinians, camping in the village of Faqqua. I had an amazing time with so many beautiful Palestinian people and like Imad said to me 'Palestinian people are not terrorist!'
  Until you visit this country and spend time with the Palestinians then you have no idea how kind, warm, fun and welcoming they are. And although the Israeli Government oppresses, occupies and almost daily shoots Palestinians, They are strong and brave!! They constantly tell me 'This is our country and we will not move!'

  Although this was my second visit to Palestine, I learnt so much about the behavior of the IOF (Israeli Offense Force) towards the Palestinians that I did not know before. I interviewed and spoke to many Palestinians and a few Israeli's who wanted the Palestinians off the face of this earth!
  But I'm goin to tell you about the life of a few Palestinians that I think everyone should know and discover what is goin on in this country. I'm sure you can find this on the net what I discovered but I ain't come across it myself yet.

  A mid-twenty male, I'll call John. I interviewed, told me about his brother being arrested at the age of 13 years old and put in prison with no trial for no other reason than suspicion that he might of thrown a rock! What if he did throw that rock? Does that give Israel the right to put him in jail for four years!? Four years is what his brother got without trail!! John and his family made visits and each time had to be there at 05.00 in the morning and then they were forced to wait for ten hours until they could see him! Ten hours! To get to his brother in the prison, they had to push their way sideways through a very narrow walkway. It was so upsetting for John that he never saw his brother again until his release four years later!!
  Before his brother went to prison, John's dad in the 70's at a young age was also put in prison for the same reason as John's brother. Only he got fifteen years without trial and no proof what so ever!

  I found out with other ex-prisoners I spoke to in different cities, it's their family, not the Israeli Government, that have to pay for the son, daughter, father or mothers food and clothes! Something that many of the prisoners family could not afford. And again no trial or proof in some cases. From the age of six to seventeen. Many that were put in prison were tortured to confess to something they never did. Can you imagine a six year old being in a cell and then tortured? What hell they go through and what it does to them when they leave years later? All for being accused or throwing a rock!
  However, the IOF are experts at firing plastic bullets and tear gas and put many Palestinian children in hospital or kill them! In the time I was there, children were killed by the IOF and in one case, the IOF put two dogs on a child in the age of 10-12 maybe and if you watch the footage, the IOF are setting the dogs on him then letting go and repeat it over again.
  Lets repeat that. A young child being torn by two big guard dogs set on by the IOF who take them away only to release them again for the poor kid to be tortured!! You know what I think of the IOF? Inhuman sick blood thirsty psychos!

  This is just the tip of the iceburg of how the IOF get a thrill out of torturing or killing Palestinian children.

  I've had a few emails threatening me to stop talking about what the Israeli Government is doin to the Palestinians. They try and twist it by asking why I don't write things about other countries that have got a lot to answer for about their human rights?! Firstly, if they're telling me this then they know that Israel is breaking the International Law every minute and secondly, if they read my blog regularly, then they would see I write a lot about other countries human rights and our own corrupt Government! Corrupt for so many reasons. One of them is supporting Israel! On top of that, do you really think I'm goin to stop telling the truth of the Israeli Terrorist State? Maybe that is it! They don't like what their reading on here because it's the truth!

Will these be the next children that will be put in a prison for 10+years for throwing rocks!?

The main man Imad Al Atrash Imad! 

Imad is so keen to show students and Palestinians the wildlife of the area Fuqqua

Some of the Palestinians that I camped with and tried to teach me Arabic! Could these Palestinian children also end up in prison without trial?

The village of Fuqqua

Israeli drones and planes were watching every move we made as they flew overhead all day and all night! At the moment the Israeli's are dropping bombs on Gaza from drones like this one and teating their new F-15's on the Strip!

Imad picked me up in Jericho and heading north to Jenin we stopped off a tip on Highway 90 at Yafit where there were 100s of Black Kite, Cattle Egret and White Stork

Faqqua Iris is Palestine's national flower and can only be found in the fields of the village and to see the flower is why people visit this area. 

Eastern Lesser Whitethroat

and Laughing Dove both making use of the apartheid fence 

Corn Bunting are all over the shop!

I picked up a distant Booted Eagle and didn't think much of it until Imad told me that Palestine only get five or six a year!

There were good numbers of Short-toed Eagle

Palestinian farmer with occupied Palestinian land in the distance!

The fields of Faqque with occupied Palestine land in the distance. Imad told me in 2000 the Israeli's stole more land and took all their Ceder woods and just behind these woods are bodies of water that they also stole! More great habitat for you birders to visit occupied Palestinian land and tick it off in Israel!! Wake up! 

We passed the apartheid wall a few times 

And Israeli settlers, some 600,000 of them, treat the stolen Palestine land as their own! 

308 Black Stork flew NE over Jericho city with 16 Common Crane

Stone Curlew I saw and heard in good numbers including this one at Jericho

Over 200 Common Crane drifting NE over my digs in Jericho just before dark

The following day 4000 vocal Common Crane flew NNE over Jericho with 44 Black Stork, 19 Steppe Buzzard and a single Short-toed Eagle and Marsh Harrier not long after

2 Ruff

16 Garganey was only five short to beaten the Palestinian record of 20!

The Shoveler had dropped from 530 when I was here three days ago to 350+

A confiding Green Bee-eater

While cycling Spur-winged Plover are so noisy as they rise from the roadside.

White Wagtail

Looking across the border from Palestine to Jordan

At the site where apparently Jesus was Baptised. So now 1000s of folk a year come here to do the same and guess what? The Israeli's now have control of this area along with the resorts nearby along the Palestinian side of the Dead Sea!!    

In supporting the Palestinians, Waters has lost millions in sponsorship but that ain't goin to stop him from spreading the truth about the Israeli Terrorist State!!