TRANSFER FROM PENZANCE TO ST MARY'S - THEN A WALK TO LOWER MOORS AND THE STANDING STONES FIELD
WEATHER: Strong winds, heavy rain showers until 1pm then lighter winds and lots of sunshine.
The time of our ferry crossing was delayed by three hours to avoid the brunt of the winds but it was still an attrocious journey and not a pleasant experience for most of the ferry passengers. Many people got sea-sick but all of my group were OK, most of us stayed on deck to sea-watch and whilst it was very windy, and we got covered in sea-spray, we were happy to see to few birds.
it all looked fairly calm as we left the quay at Penzance, you can see St Michael's Mount in the distance
It was very hard to keep you binoculars dry and still when looking at passing birds but we managed it and we saw a few species to start off our 'Scilly 2024' list. From the harbour we listed Cormorants, Gannets, Mediterranean Gulls and not much else. The bird list was very slowly climbing, but not many birds were out there. Over the first hour we only saw a Razorbili, two Manx Shearwaters and lots of Gannets.
Once we were past Wolf Rock the boat began to 'rock and roll', some huge swells tossed us about, it was like we were on a Roller Coaster Ride for real. We did see a lot more Gannets, also Kittiwakes, Razorbills and some large shearwaters. We notched up 10 Cory's Shearwaters, a single Great Shearwater and one of the group got onto a Petrel which was later confirmed as a Leach's Petrel (I missed it). A Fulmar followed the ship for a while and we saw a Grey Seal.
The water calmed as we approached St Marys, we saw quite a few Shags in the water and on the rocks with Great Black-backed Gulls and some Herring Gulls. We docked at 2pm and set out on foot through Hugh Town, stopping to buy lunch supplies which we ate in the small park area in the middle of town.
After checking into our rooms at our guest house we walked down to Old Town and onto the Marsh called Lower Moors. From the Isles of Scilly Bird Group Hide we found the BLUETHROAT that had been present for almost a week, Phil got a reasonable shot of it. Other birds seen were Moorhen, Barn Swallow, Grey Heron, Little Egret (flyover) and Common Kestrel.
Photo of the Bluethroat (1st winter male) taken by Phil Naylor, he did very well to grab this picture because the bird was never still for more than a few seconds.
From the 'blind' at 'Shooters Pool' we found a few more species such as Moorhen, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Common Chiffchaff, Robin, Blackbird and we heard a Cetti's Warbler. Walking back towards Hugh Town we passed through the Standing Stones field where we saw more Goldfinches and a Great Tit. A flock of Linnets fed on the football field at the school and we saw a few Collared Doves on the wires back at our digs. A Blackcap fed on the Palm berries in the garden of our guest house.
a view down to Old Town Bay from the top of the hill near our Guest House
For dinner we walked into Town and ate at the Mermaid Pub, nice food but quite pricey.