Purple Heron at Lower Moors

Juvenile purple Heron showing very well in front of the hides at Lower Moors.

  Today turned out pretty bloody good. From first thing this morning, I got texts telling me that the Bluethroat was still present at Higgo's Pool. Mid-morning, like yesterday, I saw it briefly before I got the call to return to work. Throughout the day, the fog was in and out and as a result it stopped the planes flying. While in the Coop, Ritchie called to say that him and Robin had what they thought was a Little Bunting in the same fields as where Ren had a Common Rosefinch yesterday at porthloo. With in minutes, I was looking through Robins scope at a cracking Little Bunting.

This is the best I could get of the male Bluethroat at Higgo's pool

The Little Bunting was always distant feeding in the furrows. As the owners were away, it was hard work arranging access to the area.

  With Subalpine Warbler, Buff-breasted Sandpiper and the first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year on St Agnes, I thought I should go and kick some fields at Content. I had only just climbed the gate when Darren Mason was on the phone telling me that he had just had a Purple Heron fly over the golf course and landed on Taylors Island, porthloo! From the beach we scanned the island and got an adult Grey Heron. However, when we moved further up road, into Robins fields, I scanned the rocks and said I've got it! Through Robins scope you clearly see it was a juvenile and after ten minutes it took flight. It did a lot of flapping around before coming down into Porth Mellon. At the latter site, we were told that it was observed landing on the rocks near to Sharks Pit. It was flushed by two birders and flew out of sight back over the golf course.

This was the first sighting of the juvenile Purple Heron on Taylors island, Porthloo. As you can see the bird was a very long ways off

The light was pretty crap as it flew overhead at Porthloo Beach

  Bob Dawson text me to say that he had just found an AQUATIC WARBLER at the Big Pool, St Agnes! He also found one last year at Porthloo Duckpond. When he returned to St Mary's he joined up with me and we both went up to Content. We got a single Pied Flycatcher and Willow Warbler when we were stopped short again by a call from Darren to say that the Purple heron was in front of the hides at Lower Moors. The bird was on show when we arrived and for the next 30 minutes it gave everyone cracking views. On our way down to the moors, there was a Redstart on the side of the road at Parting Carn. Later I got a call from Higgo to tell me that the Bluethroat was showing well on his pool. With Robin, we all had brief, but good views, in the fading light. We also observed over 250 alba Wagtail, 350+Swallow and single Yellow and Grey Wagtail come into roost in the phragmites. A male Merlin was dashing around and 4 Whimbrel flew overhead

After the call from Darren, we couldn't resist seeing the juvenile Purple Heron at close range and raced down to Lower Moors and were not disappointed.  

Is this the first time that 2 Wrynecks have been photographed together in the UK? At 07.30 I had just dropped some guest off at the airport when Andrew Gardner text me to say he had a Nightingale opposite Robins House, Porthloo. There was no sign of it, but we did get these 2 Wrynecks together.

  As it was early in the morning, Robin was fast asleep in his cosy bed, unaware of the birds showing in front of his window. So to get his attention I threw small stones at his window. For an hour! No response. There were four of us standing just below his window and if he did open his curtains, we were all going to shout 'Messiah, Messiah, Messiah' Just like in the Monty Python movie 'The life of Brian. But he didn't.

When Higgo and I were searching for the Bluethroat, we got a fright and dived into cover as we thought the Abominable Snowman was coming straight for u!. But as it came closer we identified it as Chris Bonnington. We were relieved until we recognised that it was in fact Robin, and we dived back into cover again!

2 Roseate Terns roosting on a boat out in Porthcressa Bay. Two days ago Ren spotted a Roseate Tern roosting in Porthcressa Bay with Sandwich Terns. Later on, another adult was found by Ralph Parks 

A few of the crowd enjoying the Roseates. Note how Paul Buxton is hiding his face from the camera.

Here again we see Paul trying his up most to hide from the camera by trying this time to hide behind a tripod while we were all getting crap views of a wet Wryneck! Can you believe it? A tripod!!

 

And here is that wet wryneck at where else? Porthloo. Up to 7 Wrynecks were seen on St Mary's today.

And for those who have not seen 'The life of Brian' which I'm sure you all have, here is the snippet from 'He's Not The Messiah'

Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Dotterel

It's becoming the norm every year to observe Dotterel and Buff-breasted Sandpiper feeding together on St Mary's

 Spent the afternoon with Simon Bucknall http://shorebirder-waderworld.blogspot.co.uk/ and after seeing a few Chiffs and a single Yellow Wagtail at Lower Moors, we made our way in the thick fog to the airfield to have a look at the Buffy and Dotterel that have been present up there for the last few days.

 

 

Juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper feeding on a Leatherjacket This is a different individual to the two  here over a week ago

 

 

 

Both birds showed off in front of everyone including Mr Paul Buxton

 

 

At porthloo there were 2 adult and 1 1st winter Mediterranean Gull

 

On the 12th, I spotted this Wryneck feeding on the side of the road at Sallyport while driving me wagon just in front of Ren's front garden. The following day, Ren got a pic of it in hios back garden.

 

Still lots of Swallows on the Garrison

Juvenile Ringed Plover at Porth Hellick

 

Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper spent two days at Porth Hellick

 

Juvenile Rose-coloured Starling at St Agnes

 

Juvenile Red-backed Shrike St Agnes All three above pics taken by Chris and Rose

 

Simon and I watched Man United get a beating, 4-1, against City. I couldn't help but notice that the City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, is a look-like to gods own comedian, the late Dave Allen

 

 

 

"And may your god go with you"

 

Yes Brucey boy, my show is on tonight on the BCC at eight o.clock. Now don't miss it, it's 'The Dave Allen Show' Very funny, I tink you will find'

'Yes, yes Dave, I mean Manuel Allen. Whatever your bloody name is'

I took this shot from Star Castle

And here is the great man himself telling the story on religion. It's so damn true and very, very funny

Large fall of wheatear on St Mary's

On the 7th September, well over 600 Wheatear arrived on St Mary's after heavy overnight rain, including a record number of 400+ on the airfield! Other birds included 100+Giants Castle, 50+peninnis, 40+Woolpack area, Garrison and 25+Telegraph with other birds scattered around the island and no one did the golf course.

 

 

The following day, 2 juvenile Buff-breasted sandpiper turned up on the airfield. Most of the Wheatear had departed overnight, leaving only 50+ on the airfield.

 

While trying to relocate the Buff sands after they had gone missing, I stumbled across this Lapland Bunting on the golf course. The only other bird of note that I've seen is the Icterine Warbler that Tony and Ritchie found on the Garrison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Spotted Flycatcher and Swallows at the Garrison

 

Juvenile Goldfinches 

 

Kingfisher at Porth Hellick in the evening light

 

Elle strangling a Manx Shearwater that we were just about to release off Deep Point. The bird was picked up at the harbour and given to me by Mad Max Rowe.

Thumbs up as we watched it fly off strongly out to sea

 

Sunset from Peninnis

 

I loved this man's music. The lagend, JJ Cale, died of a heart attack on 27th July aged 74. Here he is having a chat with Jools Holland and singing  Cocaine, made famous by Eric Clapton.
Singer and songwriter, whose work became hits for a wide range of other artists including Eric Clapton and Lynyrd Skynyrd. 
Known for a relaxed blues style mixed with folk and jazz, Cale got his start playing in honky-tonks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before joining the Grand Ole Opry road company. In 1964, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a recording engineer for Leon Russell and Snuff Garrett. He recorded his first single for Liberty Records in 1965, with "After Midnight" as the B-side. Cale won a Grammy for his 2006 collaboration with Eric Clapton,
The Road to Escondido. Over a career that spans more than a dozen albums of his own, beginning with Naturally in 1972, Cale cultivated a quiet anonymity, doing few interviews, rarely performing live, and keeping his picture off his album covers in the first decade and a half of his career.
"I'm a background person," Cale told the Chicago Sun Times in 1990. "I'm not a household name. People have heard my music, but all my famous songs were made famous by somebody else. . . . But that was my goal."
In spite of the low profile, Cale continued to exert an influence on subsequent generations of musicians. "The effortlessness, that restraint and underplaying, under-singing – it was just very powerful," Beck told the Los Angeles Times in 2009. "The power of doing less and holding back in a song, I've taken a lot of influence from that."