Citrine Wagtail on Bryher

14th April 2021

My first spring Citrine Wagtail on Scilly turned out to be this cracking male that I kayaked twitched and was found by Higgo and Wayne Coingham at Stinky Porth, Bryher

A change in wind direction to light ESE and you know that it’s goin to be good on Scilly. While out with the pigs this morning, 3 Yellow and a single alba Wagtail flew SE over the garden followed by ‘Billy’ the Iceland Gull and my fourth Black-headed Gull dropped in to take scraps from the pigs food. Yesterday Jo Pender had a Bee-eater fly over from Porthloo towards the golf course. Just before 13.00 this afternoon, Martin Goodey had it or another at Porth Hellick/Carn Friars. It wasn’t long after that I was observing the Bee-eater at the far side of the pool viewing from Carn Friars very briefly to see it flying off in the direction of Salkee. I was just about to make my ways over when Higgo and Wayne Coingham discovered a male Citrine Wagtail on Bryher! I’ve seen many autumn Citrine Wagtail but a spring job would be like a new species.

Record shot of Bee-eater taken by Martin Goodey at Carn Friars before I saw it distantly over Porth Hellick

I left Porthloo at 15.10 in the kayak and thirty minutes later I was at Rushy Bay, Bryher. Ten minutes I was watching both the Great White Egret and Citrine Wagtail on the Big Pool. The egret was in my face but the wagtail was at the far side and before I knew it, it was up and away out west to sea until I lost it! I was devasted and thought, oh well, at least I did get on to it before it moved on. It was ten minutes later, while taking pics of the egret, that I could hear the Citrine Wagtail and it sounded like it pitched down on nearby Stinky Porth Beach. Sure enough, a quick scan along the north side of the beach, found it feeding with 3 White Wagtail. In the next hour, it switched with the beach and the pool but didn’t really allow me to get all that close to it. It was while kayaking over to Bryher that I reminded myself that I in fact seen summer plumage Citrine Wagtail in Nepal and Oman. Also while kayaking, 7 Wheatear and 2 Goldfinch flew from the south in off the sea towards Tresco. There were some 10 Wheatear also around the pool but returning to the kayak, there were a single Tree Pipit, Redwing, 2 Whitethroat and Blackcap, lots of Chiffchaff, all in the Rushy Bay area. It was while scanning through the 15 Wheatear that a female Ring Ouzel flew from the west over Samson Hill.

Again the Great White Egret was very obliging on the pool but it was the wagtail that I was more interested in.

Although I spent a good hour with the Citrine Wagtail, it proved to pretty active on both the pool and the beach and wouldn’t allow me to get close to it but well worth the kayak twitch.

There were also up to 3 White Wagtail on the beach

While spending time with the wagtails, the Great White Egret flew overhead towards Rushy Bay where I caught up with it later on

At the latter sight I also had this Tree Pipit

Also over 20 Meadow Pipit

And some 15 Wheatear nearby

I had time to nip over to Samson in the kayak and here there were 3 White and a single Pied Wagtail, 2 Chiffchaff and Whitethroat, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit and including the individual above, 2 Whimbrel. On the west side in the sun, over 20 Wheatear and 3 continental Song Thrush

Unfortunately out of the sun on the east side of the island, was this smart Dunlin

Yesterday I had this Ring Ouzel with 6 Wheatear at Pungis Lane

And this distant female Marsh Harrier later on in the evening distant over the reeds at Porth Hellick