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THE GARRISON ST MARY’S – FLIGHT TO LANDS END TRAIN TO YEOVIL

WEATHER: dry with sunny spells, windy again. Temp. 14C

Our last morning was as exciting as our first and my group was just as enthusiastic as that first afternoon when we arrived. There is always something good to see on Scilly and today was no exception. A RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER had been found on the Garrison which is just a few minutes walk from our guest so we opted to go and look for that. The path takes you along the Lower Broom battlements which overlook Hugh Town and large cannon mounts offered excellent protection in years gone by. As we walked through an area of woodland we heard Yellow-browed Warblers and Goldcrests, we saw three of each over the next 15 minutes.

Looking from the Garrison over Hugh Town

The Flycatcher stakeout was manned by a dozen or so birders who had seen the bird not 10 minutes ago, we joined for a while before moving back along the path to a more sheltered area. Over the next 30 minutes we had lots of sightings of the RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, some excellent views and some fleeting glimpses and eventually all of the group had it in their bins, a great result.

Hugh Town and Porthcressa beach

In addition to the flycatcher there was a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (blythi) still showing on the other end of the garrison, we had all seen it before except for Brenda, so we walked round to the site near the Pottery and stood in anticipation. We didn’t have to wait long, the bird showed in the same place as before and this time we had better views and even Brenda got it in her bins.

a Stonechat and a rainbow

Whilst watching the Whitethroat a message came up of a Ring Ouzel sighting back at Lower Broom so we walked back round there and had even better views of the Flycatcher and of two more Yellow-browed Warblers. The Ring Ouzel did not re-appear whilst we were there.

Our time was soon up, we had to walk back to the guest house, load our luggage onto the bus and set off for the airport. The flight was on time and we landed perfectly, a heavy rain shower greeted us as we disembarked and gave us a soaking, perhaps a reminder that we had been spoilt somewhat for the last few days as far as the weather was concerned.

my last photograph of the trip - a Ruddy turnstone outside the train station at Penzance

We said our goodbyes at Penzance, the group disbanded, the trip was over. Our bird tally was typically around 100 species including half a dozen excellent  rare or uncommon birds. The tranquillity, the colours and the magnificent scenery of the Isles of Scilly was enjoyed by all and along with our bird sightings made for a wonderful trip. I love the Isles of Scilly and will most definitely return next year for another wonderful autumn break.