Not Quite Scilly: Pale & Interesting

Today was mostly earmarked for work, but following two days of wind, rain and very little birding I couldn't resist a quick look at West Bay first. A couple of notable highlights...

A Shoveler with the River Brit Mallards was my first there, and probably quite a good bird for West Bay. Unlike the Mallards, it was a teeny bit skittish...

...and was soon up and away.

The female-type Black Redstart was a lot more obliging than usual, feeding around the West Beach rocks. The weather was a lot more obliging than usual too.

Little did I know that the day was to be book-ended by chats, one a lot less predictable than Black Redstart...

Shortly after starting work I noticed a message from Ian M on the local WhatsApp group. 'Wheatear Colyford Common', it said. Just a Northern Wheatear he reckoned, but even so, I cannot recall ever seeing a Wheatear in December. Momentarily I was tempted, but a full schedule and not much daylight stayed my hand. If it's still there when I've finished, then maybe...

Around 2pm I began my last job of the day, quite a big one, certainly an hour plus.

At 14:01, this message on the WhatsApp group:

'Has come up on BirdGuides as Isabelline. Is that correct?'

This was followed by a rapid flurry of messages and photos. By 14:11 the identification was in no doubt, and I had shifted into a working gear that is engaged very, very rarely. For sure, I have never completed that particular job so quickly. Did I mention that it was just half a mile from Colyford Common? No, I don't think I did. By 14:54 I had taken the first of many photos...

Isabelline Wheatear, an object lesson in 'pale & interesting'.

There were a few birders already present, mostly locals, and a steady trickle of arrivals from then on. Like me, almost all of them had turned up expecting to see an Isabelline Wheatear. Yep, the tricky ID stuff had already been sorted out by others. But that was not the case earlier in the day. In some ways I am glad I resisted that temptation to go and see a 'December Wheatear'. Would alarm bells have rung sufficiently loudly? Would I have sussed it? Or would I have been more concerned with buzzing off back to work, and mucked it up? I sympathised with those who saw it in the morning. A very different kettle of fish for us latecomers - when a bird has already been identified for you, it is so much easier to note all the subtle features that collectively nail it.

I have seen two Isabelline Wheatears before, the most recent on Gugh, Scilly in 1991. My first was the year before, also on Scilly. And that one I found, kind of. I've told the story too many times before, but, briefly, this is it...

Sandra and I had just arrived on Scilly with our two young sons. Walking across the golf course in search of an Upland Sandpiper we spied a crowd of birders peering into a field, with their backs towards us. Assuming they were looking at the Upland Sand (they weren't, but rather a Red-throated Pipit) we headed over. En route we passed several Wheatears, and hopping about the fairway right behind the crowd was a rather obviously pale one. Pale enough to make me stop and grill it. 'Why isn't this an Isabelline?' I thought. I glanced across at the crowd. Nobody was looking at the Wheatear. Why not? 'Perhaps it's just an oddly pale Northern Wheatear that's been here all week and is already known about?' I wondered. But I couldn't tear myself away. Surely it must be Isabelline? But I wasn't sure, and didn't have the courage to say anything out loud. Ray Turley had been in our tracks across the golf course and had almost caught up. He too was now grilling the Wheatear. At that moment it flew a short distance, displaying a strikingly whitish underwing, a terrific feature in favour of Isabelline. Ray had a CB radio, and instantly announced the bird's presence. You could hear his message crackling out of the radios carried by some of the Red-throated Pipit twitchers, and there was a massive clattering of tripods as the crowd about-faced.