Scilly Pelagics 4 (Foggy Sunday 19th August 2018)

An early start for my final pelagic of the trip was greeted by fog. Not thick, but dense enough to stop us seeing and hunting down the shoals of feeding Tuna. The plan was to head out and drift with chum over the side to draw some Wilson's Petrels. It worked and we were treated to close passes, their speed, small size and unpredictability made them a nightmare to try to photograph.

Wilson's Petrel

Wilson's Petrel

Wilson's Petrel

Wilson's Petrel

Wilson's Petrel walking on water

Alongside the Wilson's were British Storm Petrels.

Storm Petrel

Storm Petrel

Storm Petrel

We also passed a couple of Ocean Sunfish .

Ocean Sunfish

Later the fog lifted and we were able to hunt out some feeding Tuna. The frenzied flocks of gulls and Gannets were visible from miles off.

Feeding frenzy

Again we had cracking views of Cory's, Great and Sooty Shearwaters.

Cory's and Manx Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Fulmar

Fulmar

Manx Shearwater

Sated we headed back to shore. From there it was straight to Lower Moors where the juvenile Citrine Wagtail that had been found while we were at sea was still around. Initially elusive, it eventually showed superbly at close range.

Citrine Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail

The next day I had a few hours to kill waiting for the boat home. I spent some more time with the wagtail as it fed just in front of the hide.

Citrine Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail

Water Rail

A trip to Porthellick gave a distant, yellow-legged 'common ' Sandpiper, but without a scope I had to leave it. Luckily a little later it dropped in front of fellow pelagicers Stu and Gary, who's cracking photos confirmed the id of a juvenile Spotted Sandpiper.

Spotted Sandpiper (Gary Hobson)

A tremendous few days!