Red Arrows return to Scilly!

A very rare moth for Scilly is this Black Arches and including this one, this is the 5th that Mick Scott has trapped in his Longstone garden.

 After work I went to see the Pectoral Sandpiper at Lower Moors and then made my ways to Mick Scott's to see some interesting moths that he had trapped in his garden at Longstone including a probable Oncocera semirubella, common name Rhubarb and Custard Moth, a Black Arches and 2nd Scilly record, semirubella.
  
  Earlier in the day at 15.00, the Red Arrows arrived for the second year running and took over the skies. They did some fly passes tightly together but Unfortunately after 15 minutes it was cut short as low cloud stopped play and they flew back to Cornwall where they had come from.

semirubella

Rhubarb and Custard Moth

Black Arches

Took these this evening in the dull light of the Pectoral Sandpiper at Lower Moors

I took all these photos of the Red Arrows from the golf course

 On the morning of the morning of the 25th I heard a Dotterel over the Garrison and spotted high up flying NE towards the golf course. Two days before I found a Wryneck on the track by Standing Stones field where a few connecting with it during it's three day stay. Otherwise for the this time of year it's pretty quiet and highlights have included a Hoopoe found by Graham Cundale, 25th, A Night Heron at Porth Hellick, 26-27th and up to 5 Wryneck have been noted in the last week and from the 19th, 2 Pectoral Sandpiper were at Porth Hellick one moving to Lower Moors. Yesterday, 2 Dotterel turned up at Shipmans Down Bryher and the Osprey over the Garrison the day before was at Porth Hellick.

A heavily cropped photo of the Dotterel high over the Garrison, 25th

Volucella zonaria

This vocal Night Heron spent two nights at Porth Hellick, 26-27th

Hobby yesterday over the Garrison

Yesterday I had 2 Spotted and 1 Pied Flycatcher on the Garrison. Also 4 Tree Pipit and a single Swift.

Up to 3 White Wagtail were at Lower Moors

There been up to 11 Grennshank at Porth Hellick

A warn out Song Thrush

What a song!! Eefje de Visser (Voorburg, 8 February 1986) is a Dutch singer/songwriter. She won the Grote Prijs van Nederland, a national competition for musicians, in 2009.[1] She released her first album, De Koek, in 2011, a breakthrough year in which she performed (accompanied by a four-man band called Most Unpleasant Men) at three major Dutch festivals:[2] the Oerol Festival, Lowlands,[3] and the Uitmarkt.[2]

Gulls taking ants on the wing!

Mediterranean Gull just about to snatch a flying ant at Carn Morvel yesterday 

  Yesterday in the afternoon sun, I was observing a Hobby with Ren catching flying ants on the wing at Carn Morvel. Ren wasn't catching the ants with Hobby. I know he's called Wren but that would be stupid as he can't fly! A small number of Black-headed Gull arrived and one of them pushed the Hobby off and that was the last we saw of that. Ren also moved on and I stuck around for another 30 minutes. Now there were 4 Mediterranean and over 50 BHG all feasting on the flying ants that were all over the shop around the carn area. Both Herring and Lesser-black backed Gull were also attempting to catch the ants but gave up easily and flew off.

 Sunday morning just gone and Higgo called to tell me that he was two miles south of St Mary's on Joe Pender's pelagic and there were good numbers of Cory's Shearwater moving. Between 10.00 - 12.00 I was at Giants Castle with 5 Cory's Shearwater close in sitting on the water. Twenty minutes later there were 14 hanging out with others moving west with 2 Sooty Shearwater. A scan further out to the SSE and there were 100's of both Cory's and Great Shearwater feeding with Bluefin Tuna that I observed out of the water. Joe was to the SW and I called Higgo and told him there were over 800 large shearwaters some two or yhree miles to your east. He came back with 'We've had 4 Wilson's Petrel and there are large shearwaters everywhere!' In total they had an impressive 2 Balearic, 200 Sooty, 4000 Manx, 1200 Cory's and 550 Great Shearwater with 100 Bluefin Tuna and 5 Minke Whale!! Including my birds I saw to the SSE there were over 2000 Cory's and 750 Great Shearwater!! I also got single Wheatear and Whimbrel and in off the sea 3 Swift..
  At 18.00 I returned with 'Rocky' Robin and John Headen but the wind had picked up a frac making it little more choppy out there. As a result we only got 35 Cory's, 5 Sooty, 200+Manx Sheaterwater and a single Great Skua in an hour.
  The only other birds of note were a Melodious Warbler showing well in Mick Scotts garden at Longstone, 14th, and the Lapwing still at Porth Hellick.

I was hoping the Hobby would stick around but this BHG quickly moved it on.

Gone a bit crazy on gull pictures. OK, I went over the top. Observing Lesser and Greater black-backed, Herring Mediterranean and Black-headed Gull twisting and turning to snatch an ant in mid-air!

And here's another gull. Dave looking messy after getting some grub down her neck after I just fed her! Also, helping me out with cleaning me wagon or maybe making it dirtier.

And here's Rosie the Collard Dove who is just about to make her ways into my room. She can hang around for around picking around on the carpet for quite some time not bothered about me when I mve to get on with whatever I'm doin.

Lapwing still showing well at Porth Hellick

Juvenile Dunnock

House Sparrow

Sounds very like the band 'She keeps Bees'Sharon Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter from New Jersey.