Still not great on a boat but it was ok. A fair scattering of seabirds passed by the Scillonian, that included Cory's shearwater, a couple of great shearwater, at least four storm petrel and singles of arctic skua and great skua. Stepping onto St. Mary's was simply joyous, it was great to be back.
Briskly heading over to Albany to park the case, I legged it up to the airport where a painful five-hour vigil didn't really provide the hoped for views of
bobolink. A curious bird that stayed hidden in the weedy field below the airport despite the occasional passing of the Skybus and a monstrous Airbus A400M military aircraft that performed three circuits of the airfield. It took a single-engined aircraft to excite this bird into a brief flight before dropping back down into the vegetation - a mere three and half hours after arriving at the site. A repeat performance took place around half an hour after this monumental event, a slightly longer fly-around and slightly better views but it was all very underwhelming and a little tiring after the Scilly crossing.
Also of note was my first Scilly marsh harrier, a 2nd year male that circled around the area and a decent record for a number of Scilly listers. A common rosefinch was frequently on view, and the glossy ibis flew past on a couple of occasions.
Steps: 11,269 (8.9 km)
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