TeamTiny Hit Scillies - Part 1

Apologies straight away, for this is not a Skyecentric blogpost in the slightest.

I'm going to share with you an account of my week on Scillies earlier this month. Because what a week it was! In truth I'm not certain I could handle another similar week anytime soon. But I dither, on with the tale...

Rewind back to sometime in early September, I think. I was idly chatting with The Ghost regards work, lockdowns, our ongoing Beetle and Fly Challenge, the need for a break etc etc. I suggested we meet up for a week before the world as we know it ends and we're all consigned to our rooms for the rest of eternity. He agreed, a break was very much needed right now - but where? I gave it a few minutes thought and suggested Scillies in October. To my utter surprise and delight, he instantly agreed and, after a quick phonecall to my old boss Ted at Garrison Holidays on St.Marys, I had secured us a three bedroom cottage with a full £500 knocked off the going rate - huzzah!!! This meant we had space for one more nutjob hardcore pan-species lister... We both agreed as to who that third person should be so I sent him a FB message and waited with baited breath. If this worked out we were guaranteed a week like no other. Amazingly, the third nutjobber came back with a "count me in" and our adventure was on!

Prelude and Day 1 (8th - Sat 10th Oct)

I worked an eight day shift and, with day eight duly completed, jumped into my car and hit the road. I entered England just before midnight and kipped in a layby somewhere just beyond Carlisle. The following afternoon I was in Penzance where I found a parking spot close to the quay and spent a comfortable second night kipping in the car. In the morning I spotted my fellow adventurers whilst I was waiting to board the Scillonian, much socially-distanced merriment ensued as we jubilantly boarded and found ourselves seats on the open deck. The Ghost and I are old hands at Scilly visits, but it was a first time for our travelling companion. Okay, okay, I've left you in suspense quite long enough. The third person involved was none other than (are you sitting down?) the one and only TinyRecorder! I first met TinyRecorder, or Tiny as his friends call him, in February of this year. It was a memorable occasion, and I'd been quietly hoping to spend time in the field with him again. To be taking Tiny on his first tour of Scillies was definitely a bit special (curiously, many folks looked at us as though we all three of us were a bit special that week...) and I hoped my bragging of securing him half a dozen plant lifers before reaching our accommodation would prove to be true. Heck, we weren't even out of Penzance harbour and already I was starting to feel the pressure building (should have gone before we left, I guess).

As it happens, Tiny had his first Scillies lifer before we'd even berthed at Hugh Town. We approached St Marys from the north end, thus passing Bar Point and allowing Tiny decent views of his first Cabbage-palms Cordyline australis several of which are naturalised in the dunes here. En route to our cottage, he added Cliff Pasty, Four-leaved Allseed, Cineraria, Giant Viper's-bugloss and witnessed the first example of my overall ineptitude when it comes to naming the various 'cape/seaside daisies' that proliferate throughout Hugh Town. "So are they all Cape Daisy?" he enquired. "Yeah, but er... different ones... umm... ooh look this is Mind-your-own-business, do you need that too?" came my rather evasive response. I probably should have revised my Scilly plant ID skillz before we arrived. 

We arrived at The Garrison and, whilst I booked in with the staff, Tiny bagsied the only double bed (I mean, WTAF) and The Ghost set up his MVL trap in the garden. Then it was TWITCH ON! as we hurried down to the quay and off to Bryher for an elusive Swainson's Thrush in Popplestones fields. This would be a bittersweet moment for me, my only previous Swainson's attempt was on Bryher some years back. The bird failed to show that particular day and was subsequently found dead beneath a bush. Would this be second time lucky for me? The Ghost and Tiny needed it too, no pressure then.

Sadly, we dipped. The bird hadn't been seen after showing well at 1pm. We'd caught the first available boat across after our arrival, but were already a couple of hours too late. We gave it a while, Tiny signed a few autograph books, then we moved off in search of alternative goodies. As was often mentioned throughout the week, birders miss out on so much! Our pan-species approach meant we were never far from making amazing discoveries and finding new species. Tiny had by now discovered "Piptosporums" (Pittosporum) and leaves with breathing holes on the underside (Tree Bedstraw) and The Ghost was grumbling about the tickability of Melianthes major at the dump. The Ghost did a lot of grumbling, in fact, but then we realised that he'd developed a headache which went on to last for nearly three days. I guess I can do that to some folks....

Birders not seeing a Swainson's. And not looking at/for anything else...

Day 2 (Sun 11th October)

Today we decided to hit Agnes in search of Least Adder's-tongue, then changed our minds once at the quay and decided to go to Martins instead. So The Ghost was understandably baffled when at the last minute we boarded the Tresco boat! Poor chap had gen for an island we weren't visiting in his pocket, zero gen for the extensive array of plants to be found on Tresco that we were visiting and a continuing sore head. I guess at least he hadn't physically injured himself else he'd have been insufferable...

At Tresco we experienced a ludicrous lack of efficiency at the store (previously we'd abandoned plans to hit the co-op in Hugh Town due to the ridiculously long queue to enter) but eventually we all managed to purchase food and drink without resorting to violence on my part. Cocky twats. We headed into Abbey Woods with a plan to find weird plants naturalised from the Tresco Abbey Gardens. We also needed to visit the bird hides at Great Pool in an attempt to find a spider that occurs there. We then intended to hit the dunes in search of more ridiculous plants and in order to vacuum sample the marram tussocks and open maritime sward. Finally, we were keeping loose tabs on John Martin, birder and botanist extraordinaire who was also on Tresco, and Bob Goldenballs Dawson was planning to come across on the afternoon boat. Bob was keen to catch up with the big fella that travelled with Tiny. I think he was in the wardrobe department, or in camera work maybe. I never actually caught his name, a weird kinda scruffy chap really, but Tiny put up with him, so we did too. We let him carry most of the heavier stuff like the suction sampler, nets, sieving tray etc. Useful, even if he did constantly reek of cheap coffee. Anyway, Bob is into spiders and harvestmen amongst other things, and wanted to chat with the big hairy lump. Fair enough. 

We started off by stringing a bizarrely-calling Wren for an American warbler inside a dense thicket which we actually crawled into. We then spotted this plant which I've yet to identify. In fact, I'd forgotten all about it until reviewing which pics to insert here! Any ideas folks? Remember, this is Tresco so it could be pretty much anything...looks to be a Senecio ragwort though? Stood about three feet tall if memory serves (though I did earn the nickname TinyRecall halfway through the week, so it could be two inches tall for all I know....)

We passed along the edge of Great Pool, scanning the bushes for signs of the Black and White Warbler that had been here up until a few days ago. No joy, sadly. The bird hides here are still open, unlike those on St Marys which have been closed due to the ongoing covid propaganda. Inside the hide we found a few of these

This is the spider Cryptachaea veruculata, discovered new to Britain on Tresco in 1960. It's originally from New Zealand, hence was undoubtedly introduced with plants from that country that were brought into the Abbey Gardens. It has more recently spread from Tresco and occurs on St Marys as well as parts of western Cornwall. It's a pleasing, if probably romantic, notion to think that visiting birders have inadvertently carted them from site to site in their hair/rucksacks/whatever. Certainly these spiders occur mere inches above folks' heads in the bird hides, but I suspect the actual mechanism is ballooning, that's how most spiders travel distances. 

With the spider safely in the metaphorical bag (Tiny used a glass tube), it was time to hit Abbey Wood in search of various alien plants that have been dispersed beyond the Abbey Gardens. Whether via birdsown seeds, windblown pappus or just pure magick, as long as the plants haven't been deliberately planted (wooden support stakes and plastic name bearing tags being a big giveaway) they're generally good to tick. To be fair, there's a bit more to it than that, but essentially there's a big long list of plants that have naturalised that we hadn't seen. The Ghost had all the gen. Unfortunately, it was back in our cottage because we'd been heading to Agnes when we left.... something The Ghost pointed out to we numpties just once or twice (for 'just once or twice' read 'lots'). 

Obviously, we still found loads of stuff including one plant that remains a complete baffling mystery. First up, Tresco is utterly fantastic for ferns. Here's a quick few for you, all growing happily in Abbey Woods. We simply wandered along newly created rides where Rhododendron has been clear-felled and stopped whenever we found something clearly non-native. Such as these

These are Chilean Hard-fern, big buggers!

This is Kangaroo Fern scrambling up a...damnit, we didn't check the tree!  

This beast is Australian Tree-fern, many 'sporlings' occur throughout the woods here

We found a massive number of  seedlings/saplings of a tree that exhibited pale, wrinkled-edged leaves. It's abundant throughout the woods yet doesn't appear in the Flora. This year I was determined to suss it to species. And I did! 

There's a Pittosporum that looks a bit like this, there's an Oleaster that looks a lot like it too. But this is Myrsine australis, aka the Red Matipo. It's endemic to New Zealand, is not listed in Stace and isn't on the BSBI database. But that's what it is! It's used for hedging inside the Abbey Gardens where it self-seeds prolifically. Much detective work was required for that, including reading blogs from folks who worked in the gardens. Got there in the end though. Wish I could say the same for this 'creeper'

Absolutely NO IDEA!

If anybody reading this recognises this plant, or knows somebody who may, please comment below! The leaves are glossy and almost plastic-like they're that tough. In fact, I did briefly wonder if I was being pranked and it was a replica plant! But it's real. And baffling. 

Edit - today, 5th Dec 2025, I have sussed it. This is Semele androgyna, which is grown in the Abbey Gardens. Can't believe it's taken FIVE YEARS to name this! It's not listed on the USKI or BSBI Lists.

We also found a commonly self-seeding tree in the undergrowth. We clocked the leaves but it wasn't until we found one in flower that we could figure the identity. Although even with flowers it was quite a puzzler, as can be seen here

This is African Hemp (Sparmannia africana) and widespread in the woods

According to the BSBI Maps, Sparmannia africana has its sole British outpost on Tresco. That's it! There are plenty more alien plants I could bore you with that occur in Abbey Woods. Sod it, if you're still here at this point you may actually be interested. Here goes for another bucketload of alien oddities

Woad-leaved Ragwort - sadly without the purplish flowerheads

Tasmanian Fuchsia - nice pale velvety undersides to the leaves

Crassula multicava - a recent escapee that is starting to form carpets on the woodland floor

These bottom two pics are the same tree - is it a Melaleuca perhaps???

Edit - this is Narrow-leaved Bottlebrush Callistemon linearis and was first found growing in these woods in 1995. Many thanks to Jonathon Newman for the ID.

We'd managed to lose track of John (turns out he'd seen an American Golden Plover, headed into the gardens for lunch with his good lady and jammed into a Radde's Warbler) and hoped to meet Bob somewhere in the dunes as he arrived on the afternoon boat. So...off to the dunes it was! We had a spot of excitement when Tiny picked up a weakly stridulating bush-cricket that we old duffers couldn't even hear. This was very bad news for me, I know all about folks losing some frequency range as they age, but I didn't suspect that it had happened to me. Sad times indeed. Tiny was leaping about like an agitated grasshopper, trying to triangulate a fix on the hidden bush-cricket. Ghost and I just stood there like lumps, unable to help. Tiny was blethering on about there being at least three of them calling, I was feeling morose and miserable. Suddenly the wind dropped and I could clearly hear one brokenly stridulating away somewhere behind me - joy!!! It went silent as I approached, before kicking up again as I departed. This went on for some time, I never glanced the beast in question, but at least I could hear it! Tiny also failed to track one down. By now I was confident that we were hearing Great Green Bush-cricket and not a species new for Britain. Tiny wasn't convinced, but nothing else fitted. It was about this time that Bob arrived and immediately said he'd be back with a bat detector on his next visit and that Great Green Bush-crickets do occur here. Presumably the stridulating individuals were just having a last blast, this is very late in the season for them and full-blown stridulation probably finished some time back. Mystery solved. Hopefully.

The Ghost was officially fuckered, he collapsed on a dune and opted to sit out any more shenanigans for at least as long as it takes to sneak in a quick nap. To be fair, he did look pretty unhealthy. Even for a ghost, I mean. Tiny and Bob were discussing suction sampling, spiders, surveyworks etc. I cast my eye around, had a brief Hobby go through and found some more plants for that low-listing Tiny fella for when he'd finished chatting. A selection of which follows

Spanish Dagger - Yucca gloriosa

Balm-leaved Figwort photobombing a Jersey Lily Amaryllis belladonna

Tresco Rhodostachys Ochagavia carnea with African Lilies Agapanthus praecox

Tresco Rhodostachys

Common Rhodostachys - also on Tresco!

Back with Bob and Tiny, the suction sampler had turned up the goods with some nice spiders captured, along with various tiny beetles which I collected for later (maybe much later...) identification

Tiny hoped that these would prove to be the hugely range restricted and massively under-recorded Clubiona pseudoneglecta, but they turned out to be Clubiona terrestris which is a common species. I'm rather pleased with the outcome of these next pics, animals in tubes look so...captive!

This is the teensy jumping spider Euophrys frontalis

Looks as though she's sucking on one of Tiny's nuts....

Tiny gave a "Feckin shit, come look at this!!!!" cry and we found ourselves hurtling through the marrams to see what he'd discovered. It was this....

Yet another alien! This is Red Cage Fungus, and a total surprise find

Somehow, and I can't immediately recall the exact details right now, but somehow it was my job to describe the smell emanating from this bizarre structure. See that brown gloopy stuff inside the cage? I think that's the bit that stinks. So, down on my belly, nose to the cage, hoping nobody was taking pics of my exposed arse-crack, I took a deep whiff... PHEW!!!!!! "Smells like someone has sprayed a dogshit with cheap perfume" was my exact description. If ever you find yourself nose to nose with a Red Cage Fungus I can only suggest you sniff carefully and cautiously. Or, better still, not at all.  

As we were heading back towards St Marys, Bob kindly invited us for a quick tour of his garden in the hope of finding Dicranopalpus larvatus, a very small harvestman that he added to the British list just last year. The Ghost politely declined, apparently preferring to gouge his own eyes out with a rusty spoon than to delay his falling straight into bed. Poor chap, we'd never seen him like this before. Tiny was quite worried, I figured the old bugger just needed a decent nap and a can or six of V. Bob asked what was a can of V.

Unperturbed, Tiny and I followed Bob to his multi-level back garden and began turning stones and boards in search of goodies. One of Bob's dogs bit my cuff and tried to rag me, then the other dog started humping it and I was left unmolested from that point on. We didn't find the target Dicranopalpus but we did unearth some nice stuff, ranging from the slug mite Riccardoella oudemansi scurrying across Tandonia budapestensis slugs, female Ochlerotatus detritus mosquitoes landing on our hands to feed, to the leafmining fly Amauromyza verbasci all over Bob's mullein plants, Least Duckweed in the pond to this lovely looking Puccinia on Daisy leaves

This is Puccinia obscura, one I very often see on Luzula and not the lifer I hoped it would be

Nelima gothica - "the Garden Warbler of the harvestmen" as Bob put it, but a lifer for me!

Amauromyza verbasci mines on a mullein - loads of these in Bob's garden

Tiny realised that we hadn't eaten, Bob's lovely lady decided we looked hungry and forced us to accept homemade soup and bread to take back up the hill with us. We politely refused several times, but when she waved a stick at us and mentioned setting the hounds loose... 

Back at the cottage we found The Ghost to be alive and feeling marginally better. Cheeky bugger had even found a pizza for himself! Tiny and I absolutely demolished the soup, best thing ever! So ended our first two days on the Scillies. Tiny was suffering from lifer overload and constantly muddled up species and places names with each other. He's a bit crap after about 4pm and tends to invent words as he goes along. Sheesh, coupla lightweights or what? We (ie they...) decided for an early night. I needed to make a start on the specimens I'd collected before I lost track of which tubes belonged to which sites. What would tomorrow bring us, I wondered....