Isles of Scilly - 16th October 2020

An interesting day with the thoughts of leaving looming large on the horizon.  A long walk was planned today in the hope of kicking up something along the way.  Finding a Red-breasted Flycatcher along the slopes of the allotments on the west side of Porthcressa heightened hopes for the day.

This interesting yet rather bedraggled Meadow Pipit resembled features of the Icelandic race appearing much darker than its warmer counterparts.

Making slow and deliberate progress was reaping its rewards in modest ways.  At least three House Martin were associating with Swallow as seen from the Penninis Trail.  Pausing for a while at the Old Town Churchyard, a male Blackcap, two Firecrest, and a flyover Grey Wagtail kept hope bubbling away.  There was a notable increase in Goldcrest numbers.

While checking out the sallows in the standing stones field, a Yellow-browed Warbler popped out - a lovely bird of course but there was hope of something a little scarcer.  Four more were seen/heard later along the Lower Moors trail.  Four Snipe flew over and a Chiffchaff was also present there.  Four Wigeon were resting on the pools.

Heading up through Carreg Dhu gardens, a very vocal Firecrest was present there.  Pausing at Longstones for coffee while failing again to locate the Red-backed Shrike was standard Scilly fare for this trip.

Second-hand news of an Olive-backed Pipit near Carn Friars farm was not corroborated until around a quarter of an hour later where a long walk was the precursor to a frantic hour or so.  Well it felt like a long trek where again a large crowd had gathered, but the OBP was showing intermittently in the long grass of a set-aside close to the farm.  

While gathered, two Great Egret distantly cruised by heading toward Porth Hellick that were then seen later heading toward Higher Moors.  A surprisingly rare bird for the Scillies.