Never Enough Birding: Almost old school Scilly (7-14 October 2019)

But not quite.

I was initially booked to go to a Fetlar with Phil W, Jase Atkinson and Mark P this October; a consequence of the terrible fire that destroyed the Fair Isle Bird Observatory earlier in the year. However, events at home left me feeling less enthusiastic about the boot camp birding that is autumn on Shetland. So when Andy Carroll offered a room on St Agnes plans were changed and I prepared for a more gentle (but likely birdless week) on the beautiful isle, in the good company of friends, the regulars and some of the ex Cape May folk.

I barely looked at the forecast in the preceding days, but others did the buzz on social media was endlessly optimistic about the charts. Things were looking good for the south west, in fact very good. Perhaps I'd made a good decision, was a Yank year coming? Early signs were certainly promising with the French Atlantic coast scoring Ovenbird and Blackburnian warbler (both national firsts). Red- eyed vireos appeared in Ireland, then best of all Scilly scored a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. A Baltimore Oriole appeared in Ireland too.

So we headed off to Cornwall on Sunday 6th October. News of a red-eyed vireo at Porthgwarra was promising, but by the time we arrived it was late and there was predictably no sign. News of a Nighthawk in Northern Ireland was a little sickening (a glaring list omission for me and a great bird), but I put that to one side. The Yanks were certainly coming thick and fast now, it was game on.

And so it proved to be - everywhere except St Agnes.

It was Karen's first trip to Scilly, and I had waxed lyrical about the beauty of the isles and the typically tropical weather. Frustratingly that wasn't the case this week, and we ended up on the Scillonian rather than the plane. Always a joy, but still the journey was fine and we made it in good time to St Agnes and met up with Andy and Caroline for an opening pint.

There were many good birds on other islands - Black & White Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, more vireos (and a Blue Rock Thrush). Surely Agnes was next. Well, erm, no. Agnes was painfully birdless. Nothing of any real note was found whilst I was there, or indeed this autumn. So my St Agnes highlights were limited to -

Blue-winged Teal. One on the Big Pool shortly after I arrived. It seemed a good omen, but next day it moved to St. Mary’s so perhaps it was more prophetic! My second of the year (after the Glasgow bird in the summer).

Photo by Loz @beachybirder

Subalpine Warbler. A rather drab immature in the Tamarisks at Cove Vean tea rooms on my final evening. Early attempts to turn it into something rarer were quickly thwarted once photos were obtained. Nice to see watch it sharing a hedgerow with a couple of Firecrests, my only ones of the week.

Subalpine Warbler (@magnusphotog)

After that pickings were very slim indeed. No Yellow-browed Warblers, not even a Black Redstart! And definitely no American landbirds.

The weather was pretty grim throughout. Whilst that should have been good for birds (and was elsewhere), for some reason everything missed Aggie. Graham called this his 'nightmare scenario'; great conditions for bringing rare birds, rare birds all around you, but nothing where you are.

So I twice resorted to trips to St Mary’s in an attempt to see some decent birds. Even this was hard going and most eluded me (especially that bloody cuckoo), but in the end I managed to see the Old Town Red-eyed Vireo and nearby juvenile Red-backed Shrike. Both are always great to see, and it's my first UK vireo in a very long time so it could also have been much worse.

As always with Aggie it's a punt, and it's just as much about the company and the holiday as it is about the birds (ish!). Andy and Caroline was excellent company as ever, and there were plenty of positives despite the dearth of avian entertainment.