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1 ORIOLE BIRDING TOUR REPORT SCILLY PELAGICS 7 TH 10 TH AUGUST info@oriolebirding.com

2 TOUR LEADERS Neil Donaghy Dr Robert Flood, Ashley Fisher and skipper Joe Pender PARTICIPANTS John Bell Ian Bryant Neil Clayton Simon & Ernest Hunt Mark Jarrett Christabel Kynch Alice & George Liddle Andrew Little Nigel Penberthy Phillip Taylor William Webb 7 TH AUGUST 2017 The group met on the quay in Penzance for the sailing on the MV Scillonian to St Mary s on an overcast, but dry morning with a light westerly breeze. Before we set sail, we noted a few Great Black-backed Gulls, European Shags, Ruddy Turnstones, Northern Gannets and Sandwich Terns in and around the harbour. We had soon added the first of five Harbour Porpoises, as well as a couple of Bottle-nosed Dolphins and as we began to leave land behind, we started to encounter long lines of Northern Gannets, massive rafts of Manx Shearwaters that probably totalled four thousand altogether, a couple of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Northern Fulmars and at least three diminutive European Storm Petrels that amazingly kept pace with the ship. A couple of Common Dolphins were among one of the shearwater rafts and we also picked up the first of five Great Shearwaters as it took off from among the throng. None of these birds showed particularly well, though were all identifiable, though we will hope for better views later today. At least three Great Skuas were also noted with one bird giving us a nice fly by as it took off at close range while the others remained sat on the sea. As we approached St Mary s the sun came out and it felt pretty warm as we walked to our accommodations. Once everyone was checked in, we met a little later for a late lunch/early dinner before venturing down to the quay to meet up with the crew of Sapphire for our early evening pelagic. Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

3 The trip started rather modestly with just a few Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Northern Gannets following the boat as we steamed south. It took quite a while before we saw our first Northern Fulmars and Manx Shearwaters; small numbers that were joined by a majestic Cory s Shearwater that gave us a splendid fly past at close range and shortly afterwards, we enjoyed our first couple of Great and Sooty Shearwaters. All very promising, but we endured quite a lull after this point that produced just a couple of Black-legged Kittiwakes, Great Skuas and the first of many Common Dolphins. However, as is always the case with Scilly pelagics, always expect the unexpected, and what happened next will go down as one of the great pelagic experiences. We noted a small flock of feeding Manxies approximately two kilometres ahead of us and decided to head for it, but on arrival, we found a massive flock of around three thousand birds, though this was a conservative estimate; most of which were Manx, but there were also approximately one hundred Sooty Shearwaters and one hundred and fifty Great Shearwaters, as well as just ten or so European Storm Petrels, all of which took to the air as we steamed towards the flock. Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

4 Large numbers of Common Dolphins were also here and over the next hour or so a further twenty plus Cory s Shearwaters were also noted. It was a magnificent spectacle to see these special birds so close and in such numbers. This was by far the highest counts of any of these species we had ever seen on one of these trips, and we also found a small shoal of Blue-finned Tuna and a single fly past Arctic Tern. On top of this, a few distant blows eventually revealed a massive whale, which general consensus agreed was a Fin Whale, a rather uncommon visitor to British waters. This fantastic evening was rounded off by the most spectacular of sunsets and one of the biggest rainbows any of us had ever seen. We headed back to shore, accompanied all the way by more shearwaters to end a truly unforgettable evening. 8 TH AUGUST 2017 Our full day on the boat dawned much sunnier and breezier than last night, and with so many birds in the area, we decided to once again head south of the islands. Initially, this proved to be a very good move as first we encountered a feeding flock of approximately forty Common Terns off Annett, where there were also some Barn Swallows and Carrion Crows flying overhead. We searched for a feeding flock and were rewarded with another large mixed flock mostly made up of Northern Gannets and Manx Shearwaters, but in a reverse of last night s figures, there were approximately six Great Skuas, thirty Cory s Shearwaters, fifteen Sooty Shearwaters and five Great Shearwaters; it was very rewarding to see so many Cory s sat on the sea, sometimes in groups of four or five so that we could actually study them at close range. As we left, a very brief Balearic Shearwater flew along the wake of the boat, but this was not seen by everyone and was very quickly gone from view. We decided to head to the Poll Bank, a reef a couple of miles south of the Bishop s Rock lighthouse. After catching a few fresh Pollack, we started to drift and chum to bring in petrels. Slowly but surely, we drew in a total of thirty or so European Storm-petrels, all allowing very nice views, but we failed to attract any Wilson s during what was really a rather quiet couple of hours except for eight more Great Skuas, single Cory s and Sooty Shearwaters that drifted through, a couple of Harbour Porpoises, and plenty of gulls; most of which were Lesser Black-backed. A Blue Shark circled the boat a couple of times but we didn t catch it and as time was getting on, we decided to move on but other than more Northern Gannets and Manx Shearwaters, we didn t really see anything else other than four Dunlins Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

5 and seven Black-tailed Godwits heading towards the islands at great speed. However, today, we had the bonus of an additional evening shark fishing trip, which several of the group decided to join, so once everyone had chilled out for an hour, we met at the quay again at for a further five hours at sea. We spent this time chumming and drifting as this was all we could do on a sharking trip, and throughout the evening, we caught four small Blue Sharks, and saw four Great Shearwaters, eight Sooty Shearwaters, fifteen Cory s Shearwaters and three hundred Manx Shearwaters. We also noted ten European Storm-petrels and a rather distant Wilson s Storm-Petrel that amazingly almost everyone saw but which didn t linger, eight Great Skuas and many gulls and Northern Gannets before we headed back to dry land as it got dark. 9 TH AUGUST 2017 A rather windy day for our final pelagic on Sapphire. We met at the quay for a departure, adding several Ruddy Turnstones and a fly over Grey Heron to the trip list, and headed south east to try to stay in the lea of the islands and this worked very well, as although there was a bit of a swell over the tide, on the whole it wasn t too uncomfortable as we drifted and chummed. Once again, we were soon being followed by gulls and Northern Fulmars and a steady stream of Manx Shearwaters passed by all afternoon, totalling between four and five hundred individuals. There were less Northern Gannets today, but European Storm-petrels arrived much sooner than on previous days and finally stayed in the slick to feed, allowing excellent views. The first of six very close Cory s Shearwaters passed by and then we finally heard the words we had been waiting for all trip: - Wilson s Petrel close to the boat. And boy was it!! Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

6 A pristine juvenile bird that crossed the bow and entered the slick, allowing all relevant identification features to be clearly seen. The pale brown carpal bar, dark underwing, dangling legs and dancing feeding flight could be seen alongside its European cousin as it cruised the slick untroubled by the wind. The bird gave us three fly pasts as it departed when the large gulls that were also present came in and returned when they sat on the sea again, and on each occasion the views got closer and better; awesome!! Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

7 With everyone seeing the bird today, the pressure was no off and we enjoyed another hour or so here adding a couple of the bizarre Ocean Sunfish to the trip list, as well as a Great Shearwater; the only one of the day. As we started to steam back, a nice Sooty Shearwater flew past, and remarkably a further two Wilson s Petrels joined a sizeable group of European Storm-petrels in the ever lengthening slick. These were not so easy to see as the other bird as we were steaming into the breeze, so the boat was lolling from side to side. However, we all managed some sort of view. By now the sun was shining brightly and as we entered the waters near Annett, we added a few Common Terns. It had been a very enjoyable afternoon, and our farewells to the crew were heartfelt for all their hard work in helping us to obtain the best views, I have ever had of the big three on these pelagic trips over the ten years I have led them. The sheer numbers of large shearwaters is also the highest I have ever recorded, so for those reasons, this has to be the best trip we have ever done. We ended the day with all members of the group going out for dinner together at the Bishop and Wolf pub where an enjoyable evening was had. 10 TH AUGUST 2017 With no pelagic today and warm sunshine, some of the group opted to go and visit Tresco, while the remainder teamed up with Neil & Rob Jones for a walk around St Mary s. Several flocks of Greenfinches, Goldfinches, House Sparrows and Linnets were noted, as were other common species such as European Starling, Collared Dove, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Northern Wren, Dunnock, Sand and House Martins, and a couple of European Robins. A Little Egret and two Common Sandpipers were on the Old Town Beach, while the walk up to the airfield produced a few Northern Wheatears and Common Stonechats. Porth Hellick Pool always produces some nice birds for the tour and today we added Common Redshank, Northern Lapwing and a Green Sandpiper as well as Gadwall, Mallard and Common Moorhen. Our final stop at Lower Moors produced a further five Green Sandpipers, all showing remarkably well in fact it was the best views many had ever had of this notoriously skittish species, and we also added a single Sedge Warbler there. With time getting on, most people opted to eat before heading down to the quayside ready for the crossing back to the mainland where the tour would conclude. The crossing was made in glorious sunshine and in calm waters as the wind had dropped right back to a gentle breeze and we again enjoyed some excellent birding as five Cory s five Sooty and two Great Shearwaters were noted along with thousands of Manx Shearwaters. We Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

8 also finally managed to get most people a reasonable view of one of the two confirmed Balearic Shearwaters seen, but it wasn t easy as many passengers were standing up to enjoy the close up views of a pod of twenty or so Common Dolphins that joined us for a while. We couldn t believe our luck as a very close blow produced a couple of sightings of another massive Fin Whale and the journey was completed by a smaller but nonetheless equally enjoyable Minke Whale to round off an absolutely amazing few days birding and cetacean watching. SYSTEMATIC LIST 1/Northern Fulmar 2/Cory s Shearwater 3/Great Shearwater 4/Sooty Shearwater 5/Manx Shearwater 6/Balearic Shearwater 7/European Storm-petrel 8/Wilson s Storm-petrel 9/Northern Gannet 10/Great Cormorant 11/European Shag 12/Little Egret 13/Grey Heron 14/Mallard 15/Gadwall 16/Common Moorhen 17/European Oystercatcher 18/Northern Lapwing 19/Ruddy Turnstone 20/Dunlin 21/Eurasian Curlew 22/Black-tailed Godwit 23/Common Redshank 24/Common Greenshank 25/Common Sandpiper 26/Green Sandpiper 27/Great Skua 28/Black-headed Gull 29/Black-legged Kittiwake 30/Herring Gull 31/Lesser Black-backed Gull 32/Great Black-backed Gull 33/Sandwich Tern 34/Common Tern 35/Arctic Tern 36/Wood Pigeon 37/Collared Dove 38/Sand Martin 39/Barn Swallow 40/House Martin 41/Pied Wagtail 42/Northern Wren 43/Dunnock 44/European Robin 45/Common Stonechat 46/Northern Wheatear 47/Blackbird Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics

9 48/Song Thrush 49/Sedge Warbler 50/Blue Tit 51/Great Tit 52/Common Starling 53/Western Jackdaw 54/Carrion Crow 55/House Sparrow 56/Greenfinch 57/Goldfinch 58/Linnet CETACEANS Common Dolphin Bottle-nosed Dolphin Minke Whale Fin Whale OTHER WILDLIFE Rabbit Blue Shark Ocean Sunfish BUTTERFLIES Common Blue Holly Blue Small Tortoiseshell Large White Meadow Brown Speckled Wood Comma Red Admiral Painted Lady All images copyright Joe Pender Oriole Birding Isles of Scilly Pelagics