And so the last day on the Scillie arrived, and in the end the week seemed to go so fast. My time on the Islands ended in a blink of an eye, and soon all those places I had just discovered were now going to be behind me. It had been a busy couple of days, so much packed in and so many birds seen. Its strange sitting at my computer, in Ipswich, looking back to something that happened three weeks ago, it kind of makes me feel fairly nostalgic, wishing I was back there on the Islands.
The Scillionian didn't leave until 16:15, which gave us plenty of time to have a look round the the main island, St Mary's. Happily after the blank drawn yesterday, a rarity had been called in today, and this was a mega, an extreme rarity: a WILSON'S SNIPE. Being the Scillies, this bird was from America, and its basically their form of our common snipe. Its pretty much the same bird, almost identical, except for some really anal plumage differences, like the number of feathers in its tail, and the colour of its primaries.
The bird was found at Porth Hellic pool, a lake by High Moors, among a flock of COMMON SNIPE, in some muddy areas on the margins of the water. The area was looked over by small rickety hide. Opening the door to the hide, I pushed into someone's back, and then was able to find a standing position. Around ten people were packed like sardines into the hide, scanning for the bird, with plenty of others waiting outside. And we would wait for an hour and a half of extreme discomfort for that bird to finally appear. The WILSON'S SNIPE decided to spend its time in a little channel, not to far away, but out of sight. Someone claimed they could see the bird from the beach a mile away, but they must have been telling fibs, or else they had superhuman vision.
The bird finally emerged and despite what everyone said, was actually quite distinctive. It had a distinctive tear drop of white below its eye, and its plumaged was more subdued, the browns less vibrant, than the common snipes around it. This is a very rare bird in the UK, with a handful recorded in the country every year, so it was a decent bird to act as a send off from the islands. A KINGFISHER was also seen on the Pool, and there were a few WIGEON, GADWALL, TEAL and COOT on the water.
From Porth Hellic Pool it was a short wander through the Holy Vale to Carreg Dhu Community Gardens. In among the exotic foliage several FIRECRESTS were flitting about in the tree tops, occasionally showing themselves. After that it was a short walk back to Hugh Town to get some lunch and to wait for the ferry back to the mainland.
The Scillonian
With some high winds feared, it was possible that the voyage back to the mainland might be cancelled, but it wasn't the case, and the boat sailed. As it was the journey back was pretty hairy. Gently leaving the calm of the islands the boat came out into the main sea. There it lurched from side to side on the waves and the rain came down, soaking us all. Most of us hardier types stayed outside, but there came a point where we had to go in, with all the sane people, as the waves undulated over the sea. Being so choppy, not many birds were seen but a GREAT SHEARWATER was a decent spot, low on the water and over to the horizon.
The boat docked safely and I stayed at the Dock Inn near the quayside overnight. The next day it was a simple train journey to Paddington, then from Liverpool Street back to Ipswich and safely home, leaving behind a world of adventure to reenter a world of routine.
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