A late booked week on Scilly with the family and friends started superbly with a lovely purple heron, seen well in flight on the day we arrived at both Porthellick and then Lower Moors, before giving stunning views on LM pool yesterday afternoon. A fabulous bird and a pleasure to watch it painstaking stalking fish, swaying its neck and finally lunging. Awesome.
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| Stonking purple heron Lower Moors |
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| Photo by Paul Hackett, who came over from London just to photograph this bird - I can see why! |
A couple of days later, on Tuesday 10th April, news came through of a rock thrush on St Martin's, reported by a non birder and likely to have been present for several days. I was busy rock pooling with the family (which was great fun) and so ambled over on the afternoon boat. Lovely to be in the right place at the right time, with no pressure (as I'd seen two males previously), and to enjoy this crippler in glorious sunshine and stunning setting with a handful of friendly locals. Seen with a black redstart at one point too. Fab.
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| Much better image, care of Peter Tongue |
There was a red rumped swallow on St Mary's and both hoopoe and Subalpine warbler on Agnes that I didn't have time for. I did see a few common migrants including my first house martins and whimbrels of the year and it was nice to see a few greenshank too. Another perfect visit to these wonderful isles.
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