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Isles of Scilly - 2009: Page 1

The following images are a snap shot of the excellent birding trip I undertook to the magical islands in the second week of May with the wife. Here I landed a lifer, Little Bittern, which had some how managed to elude me over the years until now. I also added a couple of birds to my Scillies list and a couple to my finders list whilst also enjoying excellent views of many of the birds. A very enjoyable tip.

Scillies October 2009 has gone down as the quietest in all of the visits I have ever done since the mid eighties. I was lucky to basically get all the birds that were on offer with the exception of Yellow-browed Warbler, perhaps my first year of not seeing this species on the islands. The first weeks weather was hot and clear whilst the second week was unsettled and often very wet but brought in zero new birds. Many days I didn't take the camera out with me thus not all of the half decent birds were photographed. Here is a selection of those that I did photograph.

Cattle Egret, Porth Hellick Pool, St. Mary's

A Scillies tick. Just like the Little Bittern in the spring I was on St. Martins when this bird was found and had to make a mad dash back to St. Mary's where I saw it for a few minutes from the Stephen Sussex Hide. For more pictures of this bird click here.

Whooper Swan, Porth Hellick Pool, St. Mary's

Ten arrived on the pool a few days before I arrived and lingered well into the next week. Stunning. For more images of these birds click here.

Peregrine, Abbey Pool, Tresco

Water Rail, Porth Hellick Pool, St. Mary's

Jack Snipe, Porth Hellick Pool, St. Mary's

Got so close to the hide that at one point it was under it, stunning bird. For more images click here.

Long-billed Dowitcher, Abbey Pool, Tresco

Managed to get this bird onto my Scillies list on its last day. It was a difficult bird to photograph.