Scilly 2015 - Day 4

Things calmed down again today. The morning was spent getting a stiff neck between the Broome platforms on the Garrison with many others. The Arctic Warbler was reported again. Various "phylosc's" were seen at various points. Personally I didn't see anything that fitted the bill. One major problem was that the birds kept high in the canopy. This together with high activity meant views of the birds were partial.

After lunch we had a walk down to Lower Moors again. When we reached the standing stones field we joined the 4 birders present. They informed us there had been no sign for a good hour. Within 5 minutes I managed to pick one up on the right side of the second woodpile. A lucky break.

After a while in Old Town Churchyard were nothing was seen, we returned through Lower Moors and had a break in the IOS hide. A smart Greenshank was feeding actively...

Then a Water Rail ran across the open mud...but I was too slow for a pic. The bird I hoped to see was a Jack Snipe. I eventually found a Common which appeared briefly from behind the reeds. News came over the radio (I finally took the plunge last night and bought one off Vaughn Ashby at the Scillonian) that the Jack Snipe was showing from the "other" hide...Hilda Quick to be precise. Fortunately there was a small gap in the reeds and I managed to get a record shot despite the strong wind blowing the reeds...

There appears to have been a small epidemic of RFB's! At least Scilly got the first!!

The weather isn't looking great for American birds BUT this is Scilly...you just never know...