We walked on to the Parsonage and saw a Yellow-browed Warbler and Pied Fly before moving on to Big Pool to see a very showy Richards Pipit. Ambling around Wingletang we came across this bizarre scene.
No they weren't looking for a lost contact lens. This tiny fern Least Adder's-tongue was the object of their search.
Scilly is the only site in the British Isles where this fern occurs.
The next couple of days were rather quiet rarity wise apart from a very confiding Spotted Crake in Lower Moors. However the number of birds was starting to increase with the first winter thrushes starting to trickle in from the massive falls on the East coast.
The 23rd was a classic Scilly day. We took the first boat to Tresco and had good though distant views of the juvenile Penduline Tit on the Great Pool. More thrushes were starting to arrive. We nipped across the channel to Bryher and had excellent views of the Buff-bellied Pipt on Rushy Bay feeding amongst the seaweed with Rock and Meadow Pipits.
An Olive-backed Pipit was reported on the radio near Veronica Farm and after a short hunt we had brief views of this bird before it flitted over a hedge into another field. Whilst trying to refind this bird another birder found a Little Bunting in the same small area and we found ourselves running backwards and forwards from one small field to another until we eventually managed to connect with the Little Bunting.
The next day we were back on St Agnes and saw at least 4 Yellow-browed Warblers, a showy RBF and caught up with the Rosy Starling at Coastguards Cafe.
The 25th was a day full of birds. There had been a major arrival of thrushes and there seemed to be birds everywhere. It was a great days birding even if no BB rarity turned up. However late afternoon saw us all heading hastily to Porthloo where a major Scilly rarity, a Great White Egret, had been found.
This was the final excitement of an excellent 2 weeks birding. Bring on 2013!
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