Tresco seemed a good idea on a rainy day like this, and for once the plan came together. Devoting time to a colourless 'yellow wagtail' on the Great Pool and later among
Meadow Pipits at Borough Farm delivered a crucial sound recording and an extensive set of images of what has now been established as a first-winter
EASTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL. The bird exhibited a pale base to the lower mandible and showed not a hint of yellow on its entire plumage, as well as giving the all-important raspy call which I managed to capture on my iPhone (as my sound recorder had failed to charge). There was another (Western)
Yellow Wagtail on the Great Pool which looked a good candidate for
Grey-headed Wagtail to me but I'm not sure I'll be able to recover the images from my broken iPhone.
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Borough Farm |
The Great Pool and surrounds also held five
Cattle Egrets, a
Wood Sandpiper (possibly injured - hence the late date?), a
Whooper Swan, a
Yellow-browed Warbler, four
WaterRails, seven
Snipe and a loose group of four
Grey Wagtails. 41
Gadwall, 11
Teal,
Mute Swan,
Buzzard and
Stock Dove were trip ticks. Also noted on the island were five
Black Redstarts, two
Redstarts, several
White Wagtails, two
House Martins, four
Swallows, a
Greenshank, two
Redshanks and a flock of 70
Linnets. The usual
Red-legged Partridges were around and six
Little Egrets were on nearby rocks.
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| Cattle Egrets near Pool Road |
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| adult Whooper Swan on the Great Pool |
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| Wood Sandpiper on the Great Pool |
Back on St. Mary's, a twitch to the airfield succeeded with nice views of
Richard's Pipit and
Lapland Bunting. The juvenile
Bar-tailed Godwit was still on Porthcressa beach, a
Sandwich Tern was near the harbour and Lower Moors had 80
Swallows, two
Water Rails and a
Snipe.
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| Richard's Pipit on the golf course |
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| Lapland Bunting on the golf course |
