It’s been an exceptional year for large ‘shears’ in the south-west approaches. We’d seen a few Cory’s from Pendeen so were in eager expectation when we boarded the Scillonian on Wednesday, for our day trip to the Scillies. We hadn’t got out of Mounts Bay before we started seeing more Cory’s Shearwater. There was a reasonable showing of Manx but we couldn’t find Balearic or Sooty. Half-way across – somewhere around Wolf Rock – we encountered a mixed raft of Manx, Cory’s and three Great ‘shears’. A little further on an adult Sabine’s drifted past us. During the out-bound trip we also had around 25 Storm Petrel and several species of cetacean: Common & Risso’s Dolphin, Harbour Porpoise and the ‘blow’ of a Fin Whale. The return trip gave us more of the same but perhaps in lesser numbers. Not one skua was the most notable record. Away from the Scillonian the only other sea-bird of special interest was a colour-ringed Mediterranean Gull at Hayle, which I managed to obtain details for – ringed as a chick in June last year, near Leipzig. Details below:

On our way back from Cornwall to home yesterday we took a slight diversion, via the Tees estuary – it only added 250 miles to our journey, and boy was it worth it! We arrived at the end of the road which passes the former Teeside steelworks, on the south bank of the river, in failing light and gentle drizzle. A quick enquiry of a local birder confirmed that we were in the right spot and that the bird had been there ten minutes ago – but had then flown out to sea! Luckily ten minutes later it flew back, did a circuit of the estuary before coming into roost on the pilot pier directly in front of us. A superb adult (female) Brown Booby – last seen in April on the Dry Tortugas, Florida – a distance of nearly 4,500 miles, as the Booby flies. Two Booby species added to my UK list in a week 😉 . It was late by the time we got home…

A couple more record shots of it in flight.

It was another quiet day in the valleys yesterday, to finish off our Cornish holiday. Very few birds of note. We did however manage to catch up with the Hoopoe in Nanquidno – the undoubted birding highlight of the day. Only topped by our best insect – a lovely Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Well distributed along the western side of the country, from Cornwall to the Scottish highlands, but completely absent from the east. We finish our Cornwall list on 120 – a pretty respectable total for a rather unpromising birding week. Birding highlights have included: Citrine Wagtail, Buff-breasted & Pectoral Sandpiper, Cory’s & Great Shearwater, Sabine’s Gull, Cirl Bunting (though not counted on the Cornish List), that elusive Hoopoe – oh and not forgetting the unforgettable Booby, of the Red-footed variety! We’ve really enjoyed re-visiting some old familiar spots, eating pasties, meeting up with birding friends from Norfolk and seeing some lovely birds – the whole experience made better in the company of Neil & Nicola. We’ve had unseasonably warm / dry weather for the whole week, but as I write this blog it’s pouring with rain – a good time to be leaving.

One of the main objectives for an autumn trip to Cornwall is the possibility of connecting with ‘yankees’ – North American birds caught up in the hurricane systems which track across the Atlantic, bringing these rare birds to our shores. That’s the theory – in practice it’s hardly ever worked! Over the 25 years I’ve been coming I’ve only ever seen one American land bird – Red-eyed Vireo – but we have had more success with waders and wildfowl. This trip began with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and yesterday we bumped into another American shore bird. Fed up with flogging the valleys we were lured to Stithians Reservoir, a little further east up the Land’s end peninsular, by a reports of a couple of waders to add to our trip list. We’d just got in the hide (invited in by John doing his WeBS count) when the first of our target birds fell – a juvenile Little Stint was running around on the mud in front of us. The mixed flock, which contained Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, and Dunlin was further scrutinised. A large ‘peep’ on the opposite bank with a breast-band and yellow legs was immediately recognised as Pectoral Sandpiper! We got reasonable views before it was flushed by the corvids and flew off strongly north. Still a nice yankee in the bag. Later we were looking for more target species – which we found from the Golden Lion causeway – including a smart Wood Sandpiper, when Neil noticed a close wader on the mud. It was the Pec again which gave even better views. We let local birders know before putting the news out on the bird information services. Our wader count for the trip has now reached 22, with the possibility of more to come?

Ever since the Red-footed Booby was first seen off the Isles of Scilly on 7th August – only Britain’s second record of this tropical oceans wanderer – I’ve been willing it to stay long enough so we might get a chance to see it during our pre-booked holiday to Cornwall. Fortunately the bird has remained and adopted a pattern of roosting on Bishop’s Rock lighthouse. When we arrived on Saturday I started making enquiries of the local boat-owners on Scillies about possible trips out to see the bird. Unfortunately the special birders excursions have stopped – the boats being used for more general wildlife and whale watching – and other than special charter, the options looked bleak. Day trips on the Scillonian only arrive at mid-day and give you around four hours on the St Mary’s before departing back to the mainland. The bigger charter boats don’t go very fast, so even if one became available during the time window available it would be tight to get out to the rock and back in time. The only options that seemed remotely viable were an overnight stay on St Mary’s during peak holiday season or, according to some, viewing Bishop’s Rock distantly from St Agnes with a scope! Then came the break-through we were hoping for, Dave McBride had a fast rib and a two hour break in his schedule. So yesterday we boarded the Scillonian in the hopes of finding more ‘tail-end Charlie’ birders who wanted to see the bird and would share the cost. Eventually – between some excellent sea-watching from the boat – we found four other takers and I confirmed our booking with Dave. The Scillonian docked in St Mary’s, we transferred to the rib and within twenty minutes we were circling Bishop’s Rock – and the Red-footed Booby roosting on the top! A whoop of relief (plenty of birders have required multiple trips to connect with the bird), a few record shots from the boat and it was back for a celebratory pint in Hugh Town. Thanks to Dave McBride for making it happen, Dave (incredibly a fellow NENBC member!) & Keith and their partners for sharing the hire but most of all to the Red-footed Booby for staying around!

Heading for Bishop’s Rock on the rib – with growing nervous anticipation

A couple more record shots taken from a ‘rubber-ring’ rib bouncing on the Atlantic Ocean!

We’ve spent the past two days working the valleys around Lands End. It’s been hard work with very little reward. We’ve neither found much ourselves or caught up with the better birds reported by others. The Hayle estuary, on the right tide, has produced a bit of interest with Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel and Mediterranean Gull being new for the list. We did manage a brief sea-watch from Pendeen yesterday afternoon when several close Cory’s Shearwater was the highlight. Today we’re on the Scillonian for a day trip to The Scillies – better luck there I hope.

Our first full day in West Cornwall got off to a good start with the 1st winter Citrine Wagtail on the beach at Marazion. We then spent the rest of the day searching the valleys for migrants. In the end we did see a few including: Pied & Spotted Flycatcher, Firecrest and Willow Warbler as well as Wheatear & Whinchat. The day concluded with reasonable views of Red-backed Shrike at Pendeen and Osprey over the Hayle estuary.

After the events of the past two weeks we’re taking a well-earned break in Cornwall. On Friday we drove as far as Bristol, completing our journey to Hayle yesterday- via a couple of birding spots. Cirl Bunting have, apparently, had a good breeding season and have been expanding their range. We found them in reasonable numbers around Budleigh Salterton. An update on the bird info. services included a report of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Davidstow airfield from Friday. We decided we’d give it a go. The old airfield is a vast tract of grass criss-crossed by disused runways. We drove around until I saw a couple of Ringed Plover at the edge of the main runway, with them was a very smart and approachable Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Nice to get the week off to a good start!

It took longer than w’ed expected to get to Boston airport because of heavy traffic on the approach but the hire car hand-over, check-in and security were very efficient and we were sitting in the terminal with a beer in plenty of time for our scheduled departure. We were a little late in boarding but nothing the captain assured us which would delay our arrival back in the UK. We pushed off the stand and were just taxiing to the end of the runway when an announcement informed us that a passenger was feeling unwell and we were returning to the stand! It took two and a half hours before we eventually took off! Apparently – I was asleep at the time – due to a strong tail-wind and the need to make up time for those with connecting flights our aircraft actually reached supersonic speed over the Atlantic! A straightforward if somewhat lengthy train ride and we were home by mid-afternoon.

It’s been a superb six week journey, up the east coast of America from Florida Keys to the Bay of Fundy, following Spring bird migration. The inspiration for the venture came from our first Great American Birding RoAd Trip, a few years ago, when we followed the birds from Texas to Washington State. There have been many similarities but some significant differences. Whilst our west coast trip was mainly desert, once we left the Rio Grande all the way to the Pacific coast at Monterey, on this trip it was woods and wetlands which dominated. Most of the birds were familiar to us from our first trip but there were still plenty of new ones to watch out for. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this years migration was running late – three weeks we were told by birders on the Dry Tortugas – and it only just caught up with us at the end. During our last couple of days in Massachucetts we were still watching birds, which were destined to breed in Canada, feeding up along the coast and many of the wintering sea-birds remained. As far as variety was concerned we saw far fewer species on the east coast – just less than three hundred – whereas on GABRaT l we saw more than that in Texas alone and our overall list reached over 460. This time we visited more States – 13 in total, plus a few days in Ontario. America is a country of contrasts and we were struck again by the huge number of people who live in make-shift homes and, on the other hand, the opulence of the ‘haves’, with their ‘week-enders’ from Florida to Maine. In the east, particularly in New England, there is more visible history and culture with stronger echoes of European influence – perhaps less visibility of native American culture than in the west. The ‘gun thing’ is prevalent everywhere, even in National Parks in the north with signs telling you to keep firearms locked up – it’s much more overt in the south. Cannabis is legal in the ‘liberal’ States away from the south. The effects of Covid are still evident – a down-turn in the economy, fewer visitors, hotels being used for the homeless and everywhere a labour shortage. Yet the people were universally friendly and welcoming – with birders very keen to engage and share. By far the largest concentration of birders was, not surprisingly, at the The Biggest Week in American Birding – centred around Black Swamp Bird Observatory and Magee Marsh. For sheer atmosphere, anticipation and excitement it couldn’t have been better. We saw loads of good birds close-up and enjoyed much birding banter along the boardwalks – a great experience. The most notable omission from our bird list was Kirtland’s Warbler which we failed to see at Magee and elsewhere. They are generally a late warbler to arrive back on their very restricted breeding grounds and with the delay in Spring migration we were too early – the first one turned up in Ohio the night before we left for Canada! But overall it’s been a great birding road trip, reinforcing our love of American birds and birders. It was really nice to be joined along the way by our good friends Bob & Sue, Andy, Phil & Carolyn and Neil & Nicola – some great birding moments shared. A huge thanks goes to Jane for doing the lions share of the organising. Until the next time – possibly a trip up ‘the middle’ New Orleans to North Dakota?

It’s time for our journey back to the UK, after an amazing few weeks travelling from southern Florida to the north-east tip of Maine – a total distance of 5414 miles – following the Spring bird migration. We were joined along the way by old friends Bob & Sue, Andy, Phil & Carolyn and Neil & Nicola, saw some great birds and made many happy memories. We’re still checking the lists but it looks like we got pretty close the 300 mark, with 30 new species for America. Not too shabby. Today we did manage to squeeze in a couple of hours birding at two small reserves along the coast, north of Boston. Nothing outstanding but we did see some old familiar friends – a dozen warbler species, vireos, waxwing and more. The only contender for ‘new bird’ were several very dark looking juvenile gulls – American Herring Gull perhaps? After some pretty lengthy delays getting into the airport we are happily checked in, the flight is supposedly on time and we should be back in the UK tomorrow – home to Norfolk, fingers crossed, by the evening. I’ll do a finally round up of the trip when I’m back – signing off for now.