What superlatives can we use for the magical Isles of Scilly? Renowned World over as a migration hotspot, and surely one of the best places in the Western palearctic to see species from ‘across the pond’ each autumn. October has long been the traditional ‘Scilly Season’, and this time of year still draws the crowds. With less people visiting these days, there is a greater opportunity for finding our own good birds, we have decided on a late October visit for our inaugural autumn tour. Standing at the edge of our archipelago, Scilly is geographically blessed to receive rare vagrants from all points of the compass. Unlike many migration watchpoints, weather is less critical here for producing something of interest. There can be few other destinations where good birds can turn up on any winds! Of course, those classic fast tracking Atlantic depressions are what we need for dumping a Nearctic mega, but each year Scilly also receives a plethora of American shorebirds too such as annual Pectoral and Buff-breasted Sandpipers and American Golden Plover. Scarcities such as Dotterel, Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper often appear at this time too, and we will be grilling any wader flocks for that White-rumped, Semipalmated or Baird’s Sandpiper! Passerines are high on the agenda, with late movers and shakers such as Red-breasted Flycatcher, Yellow-browed and Pallas’s warblers, Little Bunting and even Red-flanked Bluetail all possibilities. Firecrest and Barred Warbler are expected at this time and of course some top American land birds can also reach Britain during this period – Northern Waterthrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Black and White, Yellow and Blackpoll Warblers being some of the more regular. Who knows what will make landfall during our visit? You can expect to see around 120 species.