At Last.....

Finally caught up with the elusive Ring Ouzel on Saturday morning with the directional help of Monty Curtis. The bird showed well on the grassy bank, west of the main path at the entrance gates to the reserve. It appears we were lucky as it flew low east over the reserve shortly after and as yet has not been seen again. Heres the photo as promised by Steve Rogers. Spring was certainly in the air with 38 Sand Martins over the main pool and a superb male Wheatear nearby. At least four Skylark were singing and two or three Linnets sang. Shelduck numbers totalled nine on the main pool. A Firecrest was at Godrevy Point (Thanks Brian). A short visit in the evening of the same day produced seven Greylag geese on the island, a Little Grebe and two Ravens flew over.

There was no sign of the Ring Ouzel on Sunday 15th, but there were eighteen Purple sandpipers on the rocks at nearby Godrevy Point. These superb little waders occasionally get on the pools onthe reserve so are worth keeping a eye out for. Hopefully the first Little ringed Plover should be seen soon!

Ring Ouzel again.......

Steve Rogers finally caught up (after 10 attempts!) with the male Ring Ouzel on the reserve today (12th). Steve says the bird was on the left as you enter the reserve from the layby, on the grass bank and beside the shallow pool. It was badly disturbed, flushed by the bloody dog walkers on several occasions.
I will post photos on the site soon but in the mean time they can be found on Steves blog.

A belated Happy New year!

Firstly an apology that i've not updated this blog for ages! Been busy with Cornwall Birding and the new Isles of Scilly Bird Group website. Fortunately it is a relatively quiet time of year at St Gothian but there have been a few good birds worthy of going to look at. Your probably sick of seeing the photos of the Buzzard killing the Grey Phalarope on the main pool on the 11th January, so if you want another look, click HERE.

The Water Pipit has been around since the beginning of the year but can prove elusive. It was seen most recently on the 12th February, the same day as a cracking male Ring Ouzel (right) snapped by Steve Sargeant. This was probably the same bird seen by Tim Twiggs on 7th January.

Three Scaup are on the main pool at the moment and other wildfowl of note this year include Shoveler and Pintail. A Jack Snipe was also seen on 7th January.

Hope spring brings some more goodies and i will endeavour to keep the blog updated with your sightings!