September 2026
22nd. Chew Valley Lake - 5 spoonbills (2 adults), 15 cattle egrets ca. 30 great egrets, pectoral sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs 2 ruff and a spotted redshank.
10th. Return trip on the Scillonian III during its last summer. Fairly quiet - a bonxie with some red string tangled around its legs, and the a sooty shearwater and two Balearic shearwaters between Porthgwarra and Tater Du Lighthouse.
9th. Bryher - few birds, though a great walk and we saw some heather colletes bees and a probable helice clouded yellow.
8th. I stayed on St Mary's and walked around the north part of the island. I had decent views of the wryneck at Buzza Quarry.
I found 2 prickly stick insects at Farmer Brown's cottage.
Better views of the red-backed shrike at Carn Friars
7th. St Agnes. The Devil's Punch Bowl.
Curlew over Wingletang Down and little ringed plover on the Big Pool.
Lesser white-toothed shrew (Scilly shrew) at Per Askin.
Form helice of the clouded yellow on Wingletang Down.
In the evening I caught up with the juvenile red-backed shrike near Porth Hellick in the Carn Friars orchard area. It was elusive, and fed on a Scilly shrew in a bush.
6th. A day spent hunting for stick insects - I couldn't find any in the Old Town churchyard, but eventually found one outside Farmer Brown's cottage at Four Lanes End. It is the prickly stick insect Acanthoxyla geisovii from New Zealand. It was first recorded near Paignton in 1903 then on Scilly at Tresco Abbey Gardens in 1943 though it probably arrived before then as no plants had been imported from New Zealand since the start of World War II.
Ivy bees are abundant at present.
The fleshy yellow sorrel Oxalis mirbelii is established on Scilly as it is frost sensitive. It is native to Chile and Peru, and was first recorded in Tresco Abbey Gardens in 1940 and is now widespread.
5th. An early morning walk to the scrub on the east side of the airfield. The melodious warbler showed well. The 'Scilly 60' run around the islands takes place tomorrow, so I tried to see 60 bird species in a day. I managed 64.
Sedge warbler and whinchat were also present.
On Tresco I caught up with the citrine wagtail (seen for the last time), ruff, solitary sandpiper, common sandpiper, green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, buff-breasted sandpiper on Great Pool. The pectoral sandpiper showed well.
There was a water rail, curlew sandpiper and a grey wagtail on the Abbey pool, and a goldcrest in the Abbey Gardens.
Lots of red squirrel activity around the feeding station.
4th. I walked towards Porth Hellick from Old Town as a melodious warbler had been seen near the airfield. Another birder saw it briefly, but I didn't. I did see about 10 wheatear.
Whinchat
A kestrel and a wryneck were also present.
Heather colletes bees Colletes succinctus are still on the wing and feeding on heather Calluna vulgaris, though looking tatty.
Kangaroo apple Solanum lactinatum, native to Australia and New Zealand, is established on the islands. This plant was in the Standing Stones Field near Old Town.
3rd. I spent some time at Shooter's Pool trying to locate the greenish warbler, but it appears to have moved on. A spotted flycatcher showed nicely, and willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap were also present.
I returned to see the buff-bellied sandpiper, now back at the riding stables.
2nd. I cycled to see the buff-bellied sandpiper at the riding stables. I caught up with it briefly at some nearby fields the night before.
Some great birds on Tresco, including spotted crake, 2 green sandpiper, pectoral sandpiper, little stint and black-tailed godwit.
Curlew sandpiper 3 present.
Solitary sandpiper - found while I was there.
Female citrine wagtail
A red squirrel eating a leatherjacket.
On my return I went food shopping and missed what would have been the only new bird for me - a greenish warbler at Shooter's Pool, close to where we were staying. Hetty managed to get a good photo of it!
1st. We went to St Martin's though it was quiet on the bird front. In the evening I eventually saw the buff-breasted sandpiper near Mount Todden Farm around dusk.
