Good start / Good End

Headed to st. Mary's this evening for an hours sea watch before dusk. Arrived as most of the others had left, with only Mark L and Alan J on watch - first bird through the scope was a close-in Sooty shearwater!

Gannets predominated viewing, with lesser numbers of kittiwake. 25 Brent geese headed north and a few wigeon. Skuas seen consisted only of Arctic, while the highlight of the watch was almost missed by Alan, as a storm petrel fluttered north in line with the yellow buoy! The investment in the new scope is paying off...

Legs Eleven

It was a lovely sunny day, so after a relaxed breakfast I headed north to Hauxley for another crack at the greater yellowlegs. Decent views were had, but all were distant as it kept to a limited area on the eastern shore.

Reports of common crane heading south over Warkworth, then attempts to land at Hadston gave enough reason to divert on the way back mid afternoon, but no connection was made. A single brent goose was with the grey-lags on the reclaimed opencast at West Chevington...

Chevington

I spent a couple of hours at East Chevington on Monday afternoon - just after a little egret had met it's demise on the south pool - all that was left was a lifeless heap of white feathers on the mud near top corner. Good start eh!

On the south pool (and still alive) were plenty of lapwing, three bar-tailed godwit, 2+ greenshank, 5 dunlin, 1 common sandpiper plus plenty of black-headed gull and a few grey heron.

The north pool was busier - two 1s little gull, plenty of arctic/common and sandwich tern, 12 knot (one colour ringed - white on right, red/green(flag)/yellow on left.) ringed plover, cormorant and most surprisingly - a single brent goose... winter is here already??? The presence of reed warbler and grasshopper suggested it may still be summer.

Looking forward to the pace picking up soon...

Again no photographs... I'm sure I caught my camera trying to ring the Samaritans to talk about abandonment...

Quick video clip below is of a new cure show soon to be released... Paris 2008. Bit like my July birding... it's never enough.

St Mary's Island in the rain

Spent a couple of hours in the drizzle looking for migrants. No sign of any LEO in the "gut" or bushes at the north end of the wetland, but 1 woodcock was compensatory. A few tame goldcrest and robin in the area but not too much else passerine wise. An obliging 1st winter dark bellied brent goose was feeding close to the island causway, a few photographs were taken prior to leaving (just as the sun broke through...).

Arriving home, the mail had arrived and to my delight the Isles of Scilly 2007 review was amongst the bills. The Isles of Scilly Bird Group must be congratulated for another fine report - very much worth the subs alone.

A text from Mark Armstrong was less pleasing - a 1w red-flanked bluetail had just been found on Holy Island (along with Pallas's Warbler) ... and I start work in just over an hour. One to watch.