Woodchat Shrike at Longstones Lane

This cracking male Woodchat Shrike was discovered in fields off Longstones Lane and was even heard singing.

  It's been not a bad week. On the 18th a few of us observed an Osprey fly from Bar Point to Tresco. Two days later I watched it being mobbed by a Carrion Crow over Porth Hellick. At the latter site on the same day, I flushed a Jack Snipe off the lower beach path and the Yellow-legged Gull came in for a wash on the pool. My first Cuckoo and Reed Warbler of the year were singing with a single Grasshopper and 2 Sedge Warbler. Nearby at Carn Friars there was a male Ring Ouzel in the horse paddocks. While observing the Osprey, thinking he would see from his bedroom, I called Will Scott and as a result he scanned from his house and got it up over Pungies Lane. He thanked me, walked down road and found a male Woodchat Shrike!

 

Record shots of the Osprey over Bar Point (top pic) and Porth Hellick

 

 

Male Woodchat Shrike off Longstones Lane (20th-22nd)

Yellow Wagtail at Pelistry. There's also been 2 Blue-headed Wagtail around and today a possible Ashy-headed Wagtail was on St Agnes 

 

This Whitethroat was on the Garrison

 

 

2 male and female Ring Ouzel have been favouring the paddocks below the golf course for the last week

While this single male Ring Ouzel was a one day bird at Carn Friars (20th)

 

The first year Yellow-legged Gull can be found all over the shop on St Mary's

 

First summer Herring Gull on the golf course

 

Only a few Whimbrel around at the moment

 

There has been 2 Common Sandpiper at Lower Moors

 

There's still a single Snipe at Porth Hellick yesterday

 

Also yesterday, 2 Golden Plover were on the airfield. Up to 26 were on the golf course three days ago

 

 

 

Joe Pender picked up this dead male Hawfinch in his garden in Hugh Town

Caravan Palace is a French Electro swing and Gypsy Jazz band based in Paris. The band's influences include Django Reinhardt, Vitalic, Lionel Hampton, and Daft Punk. The band released their début studio album, Caravan Palace, on the Wagram label in October 2008. The record charted in Switzerland, Belgium and France, where it reached a peak position of 11

BEE-EATER at Lower Moors

The Lower Moors Spotted Crake have a good ol stretch 

 

 

   Yesterday, just after 07.00, I was at Lower Moors hoping to catch the Bee-eater that roosted in the area the night before. As usual the Spotted Crake was putting on a good performance, but no sign of the Bee-eater. I decided to go and have a look at the back of the moors near to the junction going up to the airport. Here I found Will Scott looking pretty happy as he had pinned down the bird sat in a dead sallow warming itself in the morning sun. Within minutes everyone was on top of us observing the BEE-EATER, doing what else, catching ants.

 

 

The BEE-EATER was flushed by a Blackbird and disappeared over the moor. It wasn't until 12.15 that Robin saw it fly over the moor and 45 minutes later, Doug page was observing it on St Agnes. 

 

The Spotted Crake shared the flooded willow with a single Water Rail and both birds were on show throughout most of the day.

 

  I was given the rest of the day off and in a breezy SE I made my way around the SSW of St Mary's. First I had my first Whitethroat of the year at Star Castle, followed by a Tree Pipit at Lower Moors. A stunning male Redstart in the Salkee fields, most of the Wheatear had cleared out, but I came across small flocks of Meadow Pipit totaling over 70 birds altogether. Up to 20 Swallow were at the airfield with a single Sand Martin. In the late afternoon, Elle and I kayacked to Tresco and got 2 Whimbrel, lots of Sandwich Terns and the juvenile Iceland Gull was on the heliport.

Whitethroat at Star Castle

Tree Pipit at Lower Moors

2 White Wagtail were on the football pitch

 

 

Yesturday on the golf course I counted up to 4 Ring Ouzel and Will Scott had a high total of 167 Wheatear

Female Chaffinch

Male Stonechat

 

  Azorean Yellow-legged Gull? My ass!! Sunday just gone, I came across a messy looking 1st year large gull on the airfield. I questioned if it was a Yellow-legged Gull, but thought it was too dark above. I called everyone up to come and have a look. All agreed that was an interesting gull and the darkness of the bird, questioned me to think maybe a possible Azorean YLG. No one, including myself , had really no idea what to look for and after some time it was decided to put the news out as a possible Azorean YLG. The only reason for this, so birders visting the island could come and have a look themselves and make their own minds to what they think it is. I sent the pics to Martin Elliot and he identified it as a YLG but thought that it was possibly from the Atlantic region. ie, Portuguese coast, Canery or Madeire Islands.

With only one or two sightings a year, this Yellow-legged Gull was still a good record

 

Over a month ago 'Match of the Day' played the great intro to 'Stagger Lee' while showing the faces of  various managers in slow motion. However, they stopped the music just before Nick Cave was just about to sing. If  you have a listen to this one hell of a song, you'll understand why. A long time ago my band played this song a lot.

SORA RAIL at Lower Moors

This is the best I could do of the adult SORA RAIL

   Today Nigel Hudson came across a BEE-EATER in trees at Nowhere carpark. Just before dark I made a visit to Lower Moors and while observing the Spotted Crake at very close range I heard the Bee-eater. I rushed out from under the Willow and found the bird hawking above my heard before disappearing behind the willows. It reappeared a few times after this and every time returned behind the willows infront of me. When everyone arrived it was late and it had more than likely gone to roost nearby.
  Also today Phil found a Wryneck on the main path towards the Great Bay, St Martins and there was a fall of both Ring Ouzel and Wheatear. On St Mary's there were 14 of the former species with singles on both Martins and Agnes.  A count of 167 Wheater were on the golf course with over 60 on the airfield. A Green Sandpiper was at Porth Hellick, I had a female Redstart on the Garrison and the Rook I had yesterday over Hugh Town ended up with the yesterdays CHOUGH on St Agnes where there was also a Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Tree Pipit and 3 Common Sandpiper.

If only the Sora peformed like this Spotted Crake

There were also 2 Brown Rat knocking around with the rails and crake

 

After not seeing it in October last year and dipping out on it in Febuary, it was on the 9th April when I finally caught up with the adult SORA RAIL feeding under the flooded isolated willow between the Shooters Pool and the two hides at Lower Moors. The following day I had much better views in the early afternoon and after this it was never seen again. However, birders continued to seaching for it and Paul Varney was rewarded with a Spotted Crake the following day. The crake showed superbly a few meters away infront of all the birders. Over a week ago Will Wagstaff had a flyover CHOUGH on Bryher. Yesterday it was rediscovered on St Agnes and by the colour rings it proved to be from Cornwall. I had a single Common Sandpiper at Porthloo while in the Twince fields, Robin counted up to 8 Ring Ouzel feeding together. 3 Dotteral also turned up in the Chapel fields on St Martins.

 

The SORA always showed well but was a devil to get any good pics of it

 

 

Little Egret at Lower Moors

 

The 2 adult Greenland White-fronted Geese are still present on Porth Hellick and were briefly joined by these 2 Canada Geese. Last week 6 Canada Geese were in the harbour

 

Mark William Lanegan (born November 25, 1964) is an American alternative rock musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Ellensburg, Washington, Lanegan began his musical career in 1984, forming the grunge band Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band, Lanegan also started a low-key solo career and released his first solo studio album, The Winding Sheet, in 1990. Since 1990, he has released a further six studio albums and has received critical recognition and moderate commercial success. This is a song that both Elle and I really dig.