Isles of Scilly - part 2 (11-16/10/2018)
These days were all about a weather system bringing very strong winds from as far south as North Africa - ideal conditions for rare insects to turn up - but apparently not great for birds at this time of year. Thursday 11th was largely fine and gave little indication of the stormy weather to come - but the Scillonian had cancelled its sailings for both Friday and Saturday due to the forecast weather. Friday and Saturday were very windy (60-70 mph) and the seas were dramatically rough, it also rained torrentially intermittently. By Sunday and Monday things were coming down and Monday night was virtually still. Tuesday 16th was back to sunny Scilly weather. During this spell we had seen species that had originated in Australasia, East Asia, subsaharan Africa and North America.
Thursday 11th: The first few images here are from a walk from Peacehaven (our regular cottage situated just to the left of the gap in the pines in the images above and below) to Pelistry a short distance around the coast. We had intended to do a much longer circuit, but when we reached the beach above Tolls Island, at Pelistry Bay, we found a large dragonfly, that we soon identified as the exceptionally rare Vagrant Emperor. I had seen a male during our Scilly trip last year - and this was the only new species (to me) of anything I saw last year - but it was new species for Ben. We watched it hawking over the beach, but then it flew over a high pittosporum hedge into an adjacent field. Miraculously, Ben managed to find it perched and we sent out the news. A few people came but unfortunately only one person was in time to see it before it flew off. Equally miraculously, 3 days later, after the storms had settled and the sun came out again we relocated it hawking over a sheltered field at Pelistry Farm.
Friday 12th: The wind and rain arrived and kept me in all the morning, though Ben went out hunting for birds. By the afternoon the rain had stopped and we went out for a windy walk, taking in Longstones cafe (right). There was much talk amongst the mothing fraternity about the wisdom of setting traps in such strong winds and heavy rain as were expected for this night - but we had all weather equipment and found some relatively sheltered spots.
In the evening of Saturday 13th we again set our traps, but the wind and rain had settled sufficiently that we were able to stay with them for a while. This proved highly rewarding as Ben was able to net a Silver-striped Hawkmoth. His excitement when he presented it to me was a joy to behold - and quickly shared. It is the first time this moth has appeared in the Isles of Scilly. Ben also managed to net a Porter's Rustic - which we had both seen before but never caught for ourselves. I netted a Box-tree Moth and, as I now get this species regularly in my garden, didn't think much of it - but this also turns out to be the 1st for Scilly. It is an East Asian species that has invaded much of Europe and devastates ornamental box trees.
|
I was frankly astonished at Ben's ability to find this Vagrant Emperor dragonfly perched in a weedy field at a range of ~50m. Although photographing it into the sun without proper equipment gives a poor quality image, it is possible to see the yellow costa (leading edge) and long yellow pterostigma characteristic of this species from sub-Saharan Africa.
Saturday 13th: In the morning it was far too wet and windy to open the traps outside so we brought them into the bathroom - which consequently filled with flies that we spent the next few days removing. We were rewarded with a very rare moth (in Britain) -Herpetogramma licarsisalis (Grass Webworm). This species is of Australasian origin, but has been introduced to the Canary Islands, from where it is presumed the few British records originate - this individual is the 15th record for GB and the 1st for St Marys (another was caught on St Agnes 2 days later).
Again I stayed in during the rains of the morning, while Ben ventured out. We did go out for a brisk walk together in the strong winds of the afternoon and while there was little good birding to be done, the experience of the strong winds and the sight of the high seas was exhilarating. Unfortunately, I did not manage to obtain any images to do it justice. |
Sunday 14th: Again we stayed on St Marys. When we put out the news that we had trapped a Silver-striped Hawkmoth there was much interest - so we arranged a viewing for this evening. About 25 people turned up to admire it and the selection of rare moths we were able to display. I also had communication from Dave Grundy, professional moth-er on St Agnes, asking if I could bring it over for those interested to see - but they were unable to offer a fair exchange at the time, so I declined with the suggestion that they would need to come up with something better.
Monday 15th: The outstanding star when we opened the traps this morning was an enormous Death's-head Hawkmoth. Our most 'liked' tweet of the trip so far was the picture below, taken by Ben, with the caption "every moth-ers dream", or something similar.
|
We had planned to go to Tresco today, but Dave sent me a message at 03.15 saying we had better change our plans because he had obtained a Wedgling and thought this might provide the incentive we needed to take the Silver-striped Hawkmoth on tour. I replied "Yep, that'll do it"
|
The evening was very still and fairly warm for the time of year. My first round of the traps, while Ben was cooking dinner, produced our first Gold Twin-spot. The second round of the traps just after dinner produced our first Uresipheta gilvata - we were very pleased with our good fortune!
|
So we set off for St Agnes and soon bumped into Dave doing his trap round. I managed to get a photo of the Wedgling, which was extremely uncooperative and flighty. This is one of very few North American lepidopteran species that has been able to survive a transatlantic crossing - this is the 3rd record for GB. About 15 people turned to see this, but our hawkmoth was the bigger draw.
After enjoying a Troy Town ice cream (no visit to St Agnes would be complete without one) we did a circuit of Gugh. We found 4 Black Redstarts, but little else.
|
Tuesday 16th: The traps proved to contain our best catch of the trip so far with 450 moths of 54 species - but there were no other species new to us.
There had been a report of a Bobolink on St Marys last night so we again decided not to visit Tresco, however the bird was not seen again.
There had been a report of a Bobolink on St Marys last night so we again decided not to visit Tresco, however the bird was not seen again.
It was a fine sunny morning. We set off to see an Eastern Yellow Wagtail on the airfield. This is a recent split and would have been an armchair tick for me had I realised it had been afforded full species status, as I saw the first one on Scilly 2-3 years ago - but it as a new bird for Ben.
En-route we visited the Carreg Dhu gardens and found the season's first Red-breasted Flycatcher. |