Thursday 24th August late afternoon I could no longer resist the temptation of twitching the Red - Footed Booby that had been around The Isles of Scilly. Due to the air pilot strike there the first Scillonion with space was on Sunday 27th.
Being the August Bank Holiday I set off at 4.45 am with the caravan in tow arriving at the ST. Agnes caravan club site at 2.00pm.
Leaving the campsite at 7.00 am on the Sunday found a free parking space along Penzance sea front and boarded the Scillonion with another 60 plus birders on a day trip to twitch the Booby. Pleasant to see Matt Eade on board.
From almost the moment we set off there were shearwaters on both sides of the boat all the way to St.Marys. Arriving at midday I was one of the first to disembark and get straight onto the Booby boat. Conditions on board were quite rough which didn't suit some. A 45 minute trip out to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse saw more Shearwaters but sadly despite hanging around for over an hour the Booby did'nt appear. Arriving back at St Marys at 3.30 pm we all got off and back onto the Scillonion for the trip to Penzance arriving there at 7.15 pm.
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's and Manx Shearwaters |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Shags on the Western Rocks |
Manx Shearwaters were the most numerous, then Cory's but also seen were sever Great Shearwaters, a couple of Sooty Shearwaters plus European Storm Petrel, Arctic and Great Skua.
The next morning feeling very disappointed I decided to book again to go on the Tuesday. Having done that I then heard that the Red - Footed Booby was back at the lighthouse and had been joined by a Brown Booby so was looking forward to the return trip. Spending time near the campsite I saw a pair of Choughs fly over and disappear into the chimney of the Lower Wheale Coates engine house.
After waiting for 10 minutes they both popped up
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| Choughs |
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| Chough |
After about 15 seconds they flew down over the cliff and not seen again.
Tuesday 29th the same as Sunday but sea conditions calmer except at the lighthouse where it was very bumpy and sadly no Boobies again - what a disappointment but still saw plenty of Shearwaters again.
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| Shearwater frenzy |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Shag on Lighthouse |
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| Bishop Rock Lighthouse |
Having dipped twice it was not to be, so I headed back home on the Wednesday. The Brown Booby was not seen again, however the Red-Footed has been seen again daily from the Friday onwards. (as of 4th September)
