Scilly Pelagic Birding - Magical Marine Life and Moths (Day 2)

The next day thankfully dawned with beautiful periwinkle blue skies and a cloudless horizon –perfect weather for enjoying a boat trip out to sea but less than ideal conditions for drawing birds in (for which a stiff breeze is needed). Despite this however, we still had a fantastic days outing, and we more than made up for the lack of birds with a variety of interesting marine life.

Having hoped to catch up with at least one Ocean Sunfish whilst down in the Scilly Isles, it was great to see at least 5 of these incredible fish during the day. First observed as just a large dark fin flapping on the surface, we later got great views as several individuals floated serenely past the boat on their backs before swimming swiftly away once they had caught sight of us.

Dolphins also made an appearance throughout the day, and we watched in awe as a pod of Common Dolphins joined us to bow ride for around 10 minutes, splashing playfully at the front of the boat just metres away. We also spotted a pod of larger Bottle-nosed Dolphins, easily identifiable by their much bigger size and more curved shaped fins. Not quite as approachable as the Commons, they kept their distance, and are apparently more uncommon in these waters.

Common Dolphins

Bottlenose Dolphins

With a spot of fishing taking place, we also got good views of some sea fish, most notably a Gurnard and a Garfish - a pelagic needlefish with extremely elongated jaws that was fascinating to see as it was brought on board (both released back in to the water afterwards). 

Despite the less than ideal conditions, we were still able to attract a large number of European Storm-petrels to the boat, and a trawler several miles out to sea provided a great opportunity to see what species of birds were present in the slick. With gulls and Gannets in turn attracting shearwaters, we were hoping for both the large shears that we had yet to connect with – Cory’s and Great. Sadly we were unable to get on a very brief Great Shearwater that only a handful were able to connect with, and despite the bird seeming to land amongst the Gannets, we weren’t able to relocate it on the water’s surface when the boat went in for a closer look.

A very obliging Sooty Shearwater performed incredibly well however, sitting on the water and allowing a close approach from the boat for around 10 minutes, giving fantastic views and revealing the silver tinged sooty underwings each time it took off and landed.

A first year Long-tailed Skua also provided my closest ever views of this species, again sitting on the water and allowing a close approach. While originally posing some questions as to whether this was an Arctic or Long-tailed and highlighting the difficulty in separating young birds of the two species, the cold coloured outlines of the feathers and overall very small and slim build pointed to Long-tailed.

With time pressing on, it was time to return to shore after 7 hours at sea, and the beautiful weather combined with continuous interest off the boat ensured I thankfully didn’t feel the effects of seasickness like the previous evening! Despite the best efforts of Bob Flood and the crew however, the constant steaming and chumming back to shore failed to produce any of our target shearwaters or Wilson’s petrels, and not being on the Sunday pelagic, this just left one more evening to connect.

The many gulls on the way back!

As well as birds, the moth life on Scilly was also extremely interesting. Zac, staying just two B&Bs down from us, had brought his moth trap, so each day we headed over to check out what delights had been caught the previous evening. Being so southerly, Scilly is a great location for migrant moths, and we were hoping that over the weekend we would get some interesting species. Here are the highlights:

Grass Eggar

Marbled Green

Rusty Dot Pearl

Ruby Tiger

Marbled Coronet

Broad-barred White

Blood-vein

Bloxworth Snout

Early Thorn

Another Ruby Tiger on a shop window after a pelagic - maybe even the same one!

Several Hummingbird Hawkmoths buzzing around a Buddleia were also fantastic to watch – my best ever views of this migrant moth. Busily feeding from flower to flower and darting round exceptionally fast, it was hard to get photos as they whirred above our heads, but I managed a few record shots of these brilliant day-flying moths. 

Booted Warbler - Gramborough Hill, Norfolk

After a great day out on the Saturday at Birdfair, news broke during the afternoon of a Booted Warbler found at Gramborough Hill in Norfolk. Being just over 2 hours away and having exhausted the stands at Birdfair, it would have been rude not to pay a visit, so me, Alex and Chris Bridge headed off over to Norfolk. With south easterlies forecast for the night and through to Sunday, this also seemed a good place to base ourselves for a fall of easterly migrants.

Making good time and arriving at around quarter to 7 (special thanks to Alex for driving to Norfolk unexpectedly!), we sprinted the short distance over the shingle and up the hill, joining the small crowd of birders stationed watching the patch of scrubby bushes the Booted Warbler had been frequenting. Having just missed an appearance by seconds (I was now regretting that toilet stop) we now faced a tense wait to see if it would reappear, especially as Chris had a train to catch at Sheringham in around an hour. Being at Birdfair also meant we were totally unprepared, with just a single pair of binoculars and scope between the three of us! Potential nightmare situation waiting to happen if the views were brief.

Luckily, I soon spotted a bird pop up on the small Sycamore tree it had last been seen around. Having no optics, I quickly told Alex to get on the bird, especially as a Pied Flycatcher was also knocking around the same bush. With the other birders now on it, it was indeed confirmed as the Booted Warbler, and with Chris managing to get on it in the scope, that just left me with eye-only views. Waiting for a reappearance and now armed with Alex’s bins, the bird thankfully reappeared after around ten minutes, allowing me to get great views as it flitted from branch to branch feeding on flies.

Chris's record shot

Quite drab and brown in appearance at first glance, perching out in the open allowed us to see the most notabe features well – the strong head pattern stuck out the most to me, with a distinctive short pale supercilium and quite dark lores. Similar to both Olivaceous warblers and Sykes’s Warbler, Booted Warblers can be separated by the shorter bill, strong supercilium and darker colouration – the extremely similar but rare Sykes’s being the general colour of a milky tea and having very weak head markings in comparison.

Recorded annually but with the majority of records coming from Yorkshire, Norfolk and the Scillies, Booted Warblers are not really a bird that is recorded in the North West, and with no records in the midlands, we were lucky that we didn’t have to make a mammoth journey to connect with one, especially after last year’s only mainland record being in Lothian, Scotland.

Happy with our views, this was a great bird to catch up with, that even though might fall under the category of “Little Brown Job”, is subtly beautiful in its own way. 

Scilly Pelagic Birding - the quest for large Shearwaters and Wilson's Storm-petrels (Day 1)

With a wealth of fantastic seabirds regularly reported from the Scilly Pelagics each summer, me and Alex booked ourselves on to a weekend of the famous birder special pelagic boat trips running from St Marys harbour on the Scilly Isles. Organised and run by seabird expert Bob Flood, we were hoping for breath-taking views of majestic large shearwaters, with an outside but very realistic chance of a glimpse of one of the tantalising Wilsons Storm-petrels regularly seen from the boat.

Running from 2000 onwards, the Scilly Pelagics offer some of the only chances of seeing this scarce species in British waters, and Wilsons Petrels are regularly and reliably recorded during the weekends. Offering the highest success rate (54% connection rate) on the second week in August, we thankfully booked well in advance, as the trips soon become fully booked with no spaces available as the year progresses. With records of Fea’s Petrel on some years, as well as mouth-watering sightings of such monsters as the first British records of Scopoli’s Shearwater and Madeiran Petrel, there is always the very real prospect that something magical could unfold from over the horizon.

Staying in Penzance overnight and getting the early 9:15am ferry crossing to Hugh Town, the near 30 mile journey resulted in my first two lifers of the trip before I had even reached the Scillies! A Sooty Shearwater cruised past, its huge wings cutting through the waves as it soared by, the gorgeous soot-black plumage framing the silvery patches on the underwing whilst a number of European Storm-petrels fluttered past at regular intervals, gracefully darting over the water’s surface and reminding me of small swallows of the sea. Whilst distant, I wasn’t too worried, as the evening’s pelagic was guaranteed to provide much better views that night.

There also appeared to be a steady stream of Manx Shearwater passage taking place near to Penzance, and 3 dusky Balearics amongst the many crisp black and white Manxies were excellent spots, and our only ones of the week.

Arriving almost 3 hours later in a torrential downpour and feeling a little worse for wear after seasickness took hold (which didn’t bode well at the prospect of 17 hours at sea over the weekend!) there was no real opportunity to explore the islands before our first pelagic of three began that evening.

With evening trips taking place on Friday and Monday night and day trips on the Saturday and Sunday, the weekend offers a back to back opportunity to get to grips with the bird and marine life of the Scillies. We’d booked ourselves on to the Saturday 7 hour day trip and the two evening excursions (apparently the most successful for Wilson’s), so were definitely in with a fighting chance of seeing our main target bird. Having already seen Storm-petrel and Sooty Shearwater on the ferry, our other main targets now were the two large shearwaters (Cory’s and Great), and we were hopeful of getting good views after two Cory’s were seen the night before.

Setting off from the harbour, the boat left behind an enticing trail of bread and popcorn as we steamed through the water, attracting a number of gulls, Fulmars and Gannets that quickly approached from all angles. Several more Manx Shearwaters also provided great close up views as the boat cruised past, and I had my best ever views of these beautiful seabirds.

With a touch of wind, we headed over to a reef system to begin drifting and chumming – the boat stationary as a manner of fish pieces were thrown overboard hoping to attract large numbers of Storm-petrels, and hopefully our Wilson’s. Using Pollock caught that night, scraps of fish and oil were thrown off the back of the boat and it wasn’t long before our first inquisitive visitors were drawn in.

Using the wind to carry the scent, the tubenoses are attracted from all around the area to take advantage of this abundance of food. Eventually, around 50 Storm-petrels were swarming around the boat, dipping in to the water to feed on the scraps, and providing a great show for everyone on board.

Extremely agile and with the light now fading, they were especially hard to photograph, and a rocking boat on a choppy sea certainly didn’t help matters!

A Sooty Shearwater also made a brief appearance, investigating the boat at close range before flying off out strongly to sea, offering much better views than the flyby on the ferry over.

The classic silver markings on the all black underside are clear to see

As well as birding, the pelagics also offer a great chance for fishermen to explore the seas around Scilly, with many fishermen on board to take advantage of the pickings whilst the boat is stationary. The Sapphire is also involved in a Blue Shark Tagging programme, where individuals are logged and tagged if caught, before being released back in to the water. Luckily, a Blue Shark was caught whilst we were on board, and we were able to watch the process of landing the catch, all the way through to the tagging and releasing. 

It was fascinating to watch this magnificent beast on board, and having never seen a shark before it was an interesting opportunity to get some close up views of one of the species that can be found in British waters. With Blue Sharks often caught on the trips, as well as the occasional Porbeagle, the pelagics offer a great opportunity to get close to creatures that you otherwise wouldn’t see.

However, with time now pressing on, and sadly no Wilson’s in sight, it was soon time to head back to shore, the sunset providing a fitting setting to end our first taste of pelagic birding and with hopes high for the following three days.

Sabine's Gull - Pennington Flash, Manchester

When a cracking adult Sabine’s Gull turned up at Pennington Flash last Tuesday, I was keen on seeing this extremely beautiful gull, especially as this particular individual had been flying to within touching distance at times. Just 45 minutes from my house, I soon made the journey after work the next day, with the bird having been showing well and coming to bread throughout the day.

Frequenting the patch of water outside Horrocks Hide (handily just a few paces from the car park) we immediately caught up with this stunning gull, showing amazingly well and sitting happily extremely close to the side of the lake. Having been coming to bread that morning, we brought our own brown loaf to tempt it for a snack even closer to the bank, and sure enough as soon as the bread hit the surface it flew towards us, inquisitively wondering what morsels had been provided and flying to within just a few feet. Sadly, the Sabine’s mustn’t have had a taste for brown bread, as it quickly lost interest, floating a little further away and allowing the resident Mute Swan to gobble up the leftovers.

This is only my second Sabine’s Gull after seeing a juvenile a few years ago at Belvide Reservoir in Staffordshire (which bizarrely showed even closer, coming to within touching distance of the side) but I was really keen to see an adult plumaged bird. With the jet black head, yellow tipped bill and beautiful diagnostic black and white patterned wings, Sabine’s Gulls are unmistakeable in flight and definitely one of our most attractive species of gull. Usually a pelagic species in the UK, breeding in the arctic and only passing through during the autumn when strong gales bring them closer to shore, I have yet to see Sabine’s Gull on the sea. Individuals are often reported from the nearby Wirral coast and the North Wales shoreline during autumn gales in September, so it is definitely worth looking out for birds during strong Northerly and North Westerly winds.

The Pennington Flash bird seems to favour the left hand side of the lake before Horrocks Hide, where there is a small fenced area going down to the lake side. Present now for over a week, it has recently suffered an attack by a Pike, with visible damage sustained to the belly after having been reportedly dragged under the surface of the water. Luckily, the gull made an escape, and looks to be settled here for the time being.