Little-ringed Plover at Lower Moors

Female Little-ringed Plover at Lower Moors was only my 8th Scilly record

 

  Early afternoon and Big Al called to tell me that there was a Little-ringed Plover at Lower Moors. It was not until later that I could make a move and at 15.00, after returning from Bryher, I picked up Higgo. The plover showed well and was very vocal and flighty. Twince it flew off high only to return minutes later. Returning to me wagon, we heard and then got one of the Siberian Chiffchaffs on the path, but missed out on the single Swallow, Sand Martin and the first of the year, 3 House Martin. In this freezing NEE wind, I'm surprised that were seeing any migrants.

 

 

This Grey Wagtail was feeding with the plover and 2 Snipe

 

This Siberian Chiffchaff was feeding with 4 Chiffchaff at Lower Moors

 

This male Ring Ouzel has been at the Garrison campsite for over two weeks now.

Up to 10 Chiffchaff were in the campsite area

 
 Wills wife, Maggie, had a Hawfinch feeding on raisins on the window sill. While yesterday, it or another, was seen over Trenowth and feeding on nuts at Mcfarlands Down. On Bryher, Higgo saw over 40 Continental Song Thrush, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, female Merlin and a single Short-eared Owl. On Tresco there were 2 Short-eared Owl, 2 Firecrest, male Merlin and on the Great Pool the male Common Scoter and the 3 Ring-necked Duck


Can't get this song out of my head. Opening track to Nick Caves latest LP 'Push The Sky Away' As usual TOP CLASS!!

It's bloody freezing!

This Juvenile Iceland Gull at Porthloo kept it's distance Robin Mawer

   
  It came out on the pager this afternoon that there was a 3rd winter Iceland Gull at Porthloo. No one knows who found it and Robin and Chas put me on the bird resting near the shore when I arrived. By The Way strolled up and spotted my first Sand Martin of the year as it flew straight through. There were also 2 pairs of Black Redstart, a single Wheatear and 15+Chiffchaff on the beach. Later Robin saw a Swallow and over 40 Linnet at Lower Moors.

 

2 pairs of Black Redstart were sharing the beach with the Iceland Gull

While at the same time, this cracking male has been on Porthcressa for the last few days

  These freezing NEE winds that have been hitting the islands for the last week, are set to continue for another week. Today on Tresco Higgo and By The Way had the first Tree Pipit of the year as well as the 3 Ring-necked Duck on the the Great Pool.

Yesterday around the Garrison there were 2 Black Redstart, 10+Chiffchaff, male Blackcap and 2 Goldcrest

 

Also this female Brambling was in the same area as the male Ring Ouzel on the campsite

 

Up to 30 Sandwich Terns were off Bar Point

 

 

Still 4 Short-eared Owls roosting at Pentle Bay Max Rowe

Eddie Mair is the next Paxman. I'm afraid father Johnson, but your son 'IS A NASTY PIECE OF WORK' with the rest of his buddies. Remember, Boris agreed with Jeremy Clarkson that public sector workers should be excuted in front of their families. Watch this clip from the interview and discover why Mr Johnson is a nasty piece of work?

GOOSANDER at Porth Mellon and Cressa

This is only my 4th Goosander for Scilly and three of them were also stunning males Robin Mawer

  Just after 15.30, I got a call from Paul Semmens telling me that himself and Brian Dodds had just found a male GOOSDANDER close into shore at Porth Mellon. While Paul and Brian were making their way back to catch the Scillonian, they had a look out at Porth Mellon and to their surprise, a Goosander came in and landed in front of them. When I arrived a few minutes later, the bird was making it's way out into the harbour past the life-boat slip. I took a few shots and then I had to return back to work.

Top three pics taken by Robin Mawer

 

The male GOOSANDER flew off towards the back of the Quay after being flushed by a boat and later on Bob Dawson relocated it in Porthcreessa Bay

 

   Also today, 3 male Ring Ouzel were commuting with the golf course and the coastal path. Chiffchaffs were still around in good numbers with many of the Wheatear and Black Redstart moving on. Two days ago I saw my first Linnet of the year with another 3 birds today at work.

Love the keyboard playing on this. Aṣa (pronounced "Asha"; born 1 September 1982)^[1] is a Nigerian French singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her stage name "Aṣa" means "Hawk" in Yoruba. Born Bukola Elemide, Aṣa was born in Paris, France to Nigerian parents. She was two years old when her family returned to live in Nigeria. Aṣa grew up in Lagos, in the south-western part of Nigeria. her chance to test out her talent on the French musical scene, playing with artists, In the meantime, back in Nigeria, her first single, Eyé Adaba, then Jailer, were beginning to get airtime. Aṣa soon signed to the 'Naïve label'. Partnered by Cobhams, and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy, she produced her first album, Aṣha. The release of the album saw Asa win the prestigious French Constantin Award in 2008 as she was voted best fresh talent of 10 singers or groups by a jury of 19 music industry specialists in Paris

Grounded Chiffchaffs

Over 200 Chiffchaff were on st Mary's with another 40+ on St Agnes

  Today there was a large arrival of Wheatear (70+) and Chiffchaff with smaller numbers of Black Redstart (15+) on St Mary's. Chiffchaff were all over the shop and only a few sites were covered. Sheltering from the NEE blow, were over 200 birds including 65+ on the Garrison, 50+ in the Porthloo area and 38 between Buzza and Peninnis. Some 30 Wheatear were on the golf course with less numbers elsewhere on the island. A stunning male Redstart was in the fields at Carn Moval and Joe had a female Ring Ouzel just around the corner. On St Agnes there were 20+Wheatear, 15-20 Black Redstart and 50+Chiffchaff. The remains of the Hoopoe, that was seen on St Agnes yesterday, was found at Castella Down.

 

There 3 Chiffchaff on this pic if you look closely

 

Up to 30 Chiffchaff were in the camp site area

 

This male Redstart shared a field with a pair of Black Redstart and Stonechat and all were distant in the dull light

Up to 12 Wheatear were on the Garrison

 

I observed these 3 wheatear coming in off the sea at Porthloo in the early afternoon

 

 

If Britney Spears sang 'Toxic' like this, then I might of liked it. However, Spears could never be as good as this, even with all her dancing and gimmicks. Yael Naïm (Hebrew‎, born 6 February 1978 in Paris, France), is a Franco-Israeli singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 2008 in the US after her hit single "New Soul" was used by Apple in an advertising campaign for its MacBook Air. The song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100  At the age of four, she moved with her family to Ramat HaSharon, Israel, where she spent the rest of her childhood. She served in the Israel Defence Forces as a soloist in the Israeli Air Force Orchestra.