SCILLYSPIDER: 6th and 7th BLACK-WINGED STILT for Scilly!

Sunday, 23 April 2017

6th and 7th BLACK-WINGED STILT for Scilly!

I only just got to Lower Moors by the skin of my teeth before the pair of BLACK-WINGED STILT, including this male, flew off high east!!

Yesterday shortly after 16.00 I got a call from Martin Goodey asking about the 3 Dunlin I had earlier in the day at Lower Moors. Ten minutes later Martin came through to me again 'Spider! There is a Bittern at Lower Moors!!' I was just going into the COOP 'Errrrr, I'll be there in two secs!' Unknown to me, as Martin entered the ISBG hide at Lower Moors, a visiting birder told him that there was a Bittern in the reeds! Without looking, Martin contacted me.
As I came through the hide door, Martin told me that it's a female Little Bittern! That will do and I informed everyone. I only had half an hour as I had to get back to the club to watch Spurs knock out Chelsea in the semi-finale of the FA Cup! I get so excited and jump up and down, shout at the TV and everyone in the club, go down on my knees, go crazy really and that's half an hour before they've even kicked off! Anyways, as I was watching Spurs crumble, I was getting texts that the bittern was showing well out in the open. I returned later to the moors with Ren and observed the bittern very active moving through the reeds from one side to other making short fights now and then.

This is the first view I had of the female Little Bittern at lower Moors and this is how it stayed for the 40 minutes I was there before I left to watch Spurs get knocked out of the FA cup!!

I returned later after the game with Ren and observed it feeding actively. This is my 8th Scilly record including the male less than two weeks ago at Porth Hellick!

The 3 Dunlin were still present

So roll on to this morning. At 06.00, I made my ways down to Lower Moors and relocated the female Little Bittern in the same clump of reeds as I saw it for the first time yesterday. There was a notable increase of sedge Warbler with at least 10+birds around the pool area, Trench Lane end of Lower Moors there was a Wood Warbler singing and trying to see the warbler, I flushed 2 Whitethroat. It felt really promising that something good was goin to turn up and with that in mind, a few of us got the 10.15 boat to Bryher.
Passing samson in the boat we got 4 Great Northern Diver and a single Puffin. We were walking on the coastal path at Popplestones when James, Ren's son, shouted at me 'Slow Worm' I know I'm slow but you don't have to let everyone know and calling me a worm? My heads were in the clouds and I almost stud on the legless lizard! I soon came back down to earth as this was my first Slow Worm for over 30 years and my first for Scilly! Every one caught up with it as they were close behind us.
Otherwise it was hard work and all I could manage was a Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Merlin, 1 White Wagtail, 15 Dunlin and 5 Greenshank.
I decided to the last two hours on Tresco and it weren't any better. While watching 120+House and 15+Sand Martin overhead, a male Ring Ouzel flew straight through the flock. The male Buzzard was busy displaying.

The female Litttle Bittern was still on the far side but the light was a lot better this morning than it was yesterday

There was up to 15+Sedge Warbler at Lower Moors

Only 1 Dunlin was still present on the pool

My first Slow Worm for Scilly!!

My earliest spring record of Spotted Flycatcher was at the west end of Samson Hill

Buzzard on Tresco

Just after 17.30, I was finishing off my Sunday roast when Martin came through '2 BLACK-WINGED STILTS lower Moors now!!' Didn't he say this to me 25 hours ago but instead of saying stilts it was Bittern? My reply was the same 'Errrrr, I'll be there in two secs' But I've got to eat my puddin. It was staring me in the face, apple pie and custard! Oh yes my favourite! Black-winged Stilts or apple pie and custard? Stilts won but only because the custard had gone cold! I called on Ren on my ways there, but he was just about to have his dinner. I asked what you having?
I left him to it and got to hide within minutes to see a pair of Black-winged Stilts in front of the ISBG hide looking like they were ready to go. The Little Bittern was just to the right of the stilts and I had only been there a minute and sure enough the stilts were off and flew east climbing higher and higher. Martin told me that Himself and Nigel Hudson were keeping an eye on the bittern when the 2 stilts came in! They also had a male Blue-headed Wagtail drop in briefly. Only myself and Bobby Dawson got the stilts in time and there was no sign of them at Porth Hellick.

the pair of BLACK-WINGED STILT that only spent 15 minutes at Lower Moors before flying out east! This is my third Scilly record after the individual that spent five days at Porth Hellick in spring 2005! They will be somewhere in Cornwall tomorrow!

I thought I'll go to the airfield and search for Bobby Dawson's Short-toed Lark he had this morning over Porth Hellick. I relocated it at the turning circle end where it showed at very close range. At the golf course I had were 50+House martin, 15 Wheatear, Ring Ouzel and a female Black Redstart.

Darren Mason had a singing Wood Warbler at Watermill. Elsewhere the first Golden Oriole of the year was on st Martins and on St Agnes, yesterdays Hoopoe was still in the Wannas Cove area but mobile. After we all left Bryher, Lewis Thompson went and found a Richard's Pipit by the pool. He also had 1 Swift, 2 Grasshopper, 1 Wood Warbler, 4 Tree Pipit and 2 Ring Ouzel. Yesterday on the same island he had 3 Grasshopper, 1 Wood Warbler, 4 Ring Ouzel, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Tree Pipit and the Long-eared Owl that Higgo found last Monday.