Every couple of years I embark upon a birdwatching pilgrimage to the stunning Isle of Scilly. Autumn is probably high on most people’s wish-lists when they think about spending time here. Anything can, and does, turn up here throughout the year, which makes the islands worth a visit in any season, but Autumn brings the added excitement of Scilly pelagic trips.This time I was accompanied by Kristian Wade and Carl, top bunch of lads.
Let's first start with the word, what does it mean? he the word ‘Pelagic’ is derived from Greek, meaning 'open seas.'Some of the most exciting pelagic birding trips can be experienced on Scilly pelagic trips where they are usually conducted out of areas where nutrient-rich waters are found close to shore.
We go out on the infamous passenger boat called the Sapphire skippered by Joe Pender who also runs these birding trips alongside a shark-tagging programme.
We booked these palagic trips about two months ago, after there had been regular reports of Scopoli’s shearwater I was keen to at least try for them. This species is closely related to Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris borealis), and is pretty difficult to separate.
One of the main ways and most reliable ways of separating Scopoli’s from Cory’s, is by observing the underwing feathers and pattern. Looking at it simply, Cory’s has a broader dark tip to the underwing, while Scopoli’s has a smaller dark tip, with more white on the primaries.
There is more to it than this as there usually is in birding, the lighting conditions can vary plumage, and then there is individual variation in the species as well so I knew it was going to be a challenge but with a bit of luck I was hoping to tick one while down here.
The seas around the Scilly's are currently teaming with Cory's, to put in into context when I came down and did the palagics back in August 2020 we only saw a handful of Cory's, this time I had literally hundreds.
Red-footed Booby: It is thought that the recent extreme heat across the contenant has had a real impact on these birds and they have extended their typical range. Cory's Shearwaters breed across the Atlantic archipelagos; the Azores, Canaries, Salvagems and Berlengas all have breeding colonies. Birds start to leave these colonies during August, with many heading for the Bay of Biscay.
Another bird that is likely been impacted by the unusually hot weather and rising sea tempuratres is this remarkable rare red-footed booby. Red-footed boobies are found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and they are one of three species of booby found in Galapagos!
This bird was spotted three weeks before I arrived on a pelagic but only for a short time and wasn't seen agin for another week or so, when the skipper Joe took the Sapphire out to a The Bishop lighthouse on the off chance that they might find it there.
Well, they did! the bird was roosting on the netting at the top of the lighthouse and thankfully remained there until we arrived. I thought out twitching it as many other did in the first few days after it was refund. But I thought I would take a gamble and wait, this time that gamble paid off.
Great Shearwater: This red-faced booby is the 2nd record for the UK after one rescued after being found in an exhausted state on the beach at St Leonards, Sussex back in 2016.
We were lucky enough to book on to four pelagic trips which maximised our efforts and likeliness that we could get something else, something extra special maybe?
Amongst the hundreds of Cory's where dozens of greats, this is another marvellous bird and one of the few species of birds to migrate from its breeding grounds in the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere for winter.
Across our trips we saw increasing numbers and large rafts out at sea and had several indidules following the wake of the Sapphire putting on a superb show.
Personally, I really like these shears much more than Cory's, I think they have a more pleasing plumage pattern and look more interning than their larger relatives.
South Polar Skua: During our Saturday pelagic, I was chatting to Scott Reid, an old friend of mine who lives on the island and volunteers on the pelagics. We were catching up, chit-chatting about bird when a small dark suck came in from the stern. Scott immediately saw it and started to get animated.
He shouted out to the entire boat that we need to get a picture of this bird and just like that everyone raised their lenses and fires away. Bob Flood (the doyen of pallid sea birds confirmed South Polar skua a few hours after we departed.
European Storm Petrel: We were straight in the Mermaid pub that night celebrating with a few pints joined by Jack Bucknall, Joe and Scott reliving the dream of an absolute mega flying over the boat. This skua will live long in the memory and will easily become the rates bird of the weekend and top-trumped the red-footed booby.
Wilsons Storm Petrel: Saturday also brought our biggest number of stormy's that came in to feed on the slick left behind by the chum, a fishy, oily bait that enrages shearwater and petrel closer to the boat but Friday during the shark trip we bagged a single Wilson's stormy.
We struck lucky here as this was the only Wilson's of the weekend and showed well at times from the back f the boat as it swept in up and down the slick.
European Storm Petrel: All the stormy's were incredibly difficult to photograph, these small black birds seemed to appear out of nowhere and disapeear over a wave. Cory's Shearwater: I didn't know where to look at times. There were dozens of shearwater surrounding the boat, and stormies feeding on the slick as we drifted and bobbed on the sea.
Manx Shearwater: Maxies were more numbers on the ferry crossing then the pelagics but we did have a few bird rafting with the larger shares that gave us an opportunity to get Perry close before they flew off.
There were time when the sea was pretty rough and were were getting rolled around on the large swells. I'm not particularly good on boats and have been known to get pretty severe sea sickness.
Cory's Shearwater: This time however I was fine, I always took some sea sickness tablets, Kwells are for prevention of travel sickness and made sure I ate a good breakfast before boarding the boat. this might sound country her productive but it's definitely a good idea.
Great Shearwater: Unfortunately we didn't connect with any Scopoli’s, others did while we were on the same boat, but I'm not claiming a bird that was togged and I may or may not have seen it, that's called cheating.
Arctic Skua: Apart from the massively mega South Polar skua we also had two Arctic Skua including this dark phased bird which was frantically cashing the gulls and shears that were following the boat.
We also had a pale phased bird that shot passed the boat, these birds have a well-earned reputation as avian pirates, stealing much of their food from other birds, chasing them down until they drop their food.
Cory's Shearwater: Shearwaters have an incredible capability to follow smells. It means that they can navigate in complete darkness without relying on their sight, making it easy for them to find their way to the colony at night. During daytime, seabirds are wandering the sea looking out for fish, squids or crustaceans.
Common Dolphin: Along with sea birds we had dozens of common dolphin and a handful of Risso's on the Sillonian Ferry crossing.
Red-baked Shrike: We stayed at the Garrison camp site on St Marys in a rede-tent, a pre-erected clamping tent with air beds and a stove. Pretty decent if you can't get any accommodation on the island.
This gave us the opportunity to spend some time birding on the Island.
Wryneck: we managed to catch up with a male red-backed shrike and a juvinile woodcut shrike, but the highlight was this striking wryneck that Ian Ellis relocated and we went back for on our last day.
This was a mega trip and a really enjoyable adventure with some great people and great birds, I'm defiantly looking forward to my next Scilly pelagic.
