Old Town church sits just above and overlooks Old Town Bay. It is a very small and old church with a delightfully rambling churchyard. In the past it has been a good area of St Mary's for birding. It's old Sycamore trees attracting amongst other things, Firecrests and Yellow-browed Warblers. I didn't find either of those birds (despite ALOT of looking). I did find opportunities for some photography though..... 
This church notice was funny, click to enlarge and read the last paragraph. (-:
It was lovely to sit in the sun on these steps for a while and take in the peace and quiet.
Wandering amongst the gravestones, there were many showing the harsh difficult times from living on these islands in the past. There were many lives lost at sea, both very young and old. Below is one that was still quite legible.
This deep red succulent was thriving in the churchyard. I know this plant begins with the letter O, but can't recall its name. Any ideas?
Beautiful with the sun shining through it.
Where I live in the relatively mild south west of England, this plant would still be unlikely to survive the winter without protection. Here, it grows like a weed.
One plant the churchyard had in abundance was ivy and the flowers were humming with life. Bees, flies and butterflies were taking advantage of this late nectar source. This Small Copper was taking a break and basking in the sunshine.
A Speckled Wood trying to blend in with the leaf litter.
And a Red Admiral from various angles. It covered this flower pretty comprehensively.
One bird that is in big trouble on the mainland, but that seems to be doing very well on the Scillies, it the Song Thrush. 
Apart from doing well here, they also tend to be quite tame, allowing the photographer some close ups.
Still a bit more to come from the Isle of Scilly in my next post.
While I was on the Scillies, I managed to photograph some beasties, both wild and not so wild. I also managed quite inadvertently, to get some good mooning shots of which the photo below is a particularly good example! These contented pigs were somewhere on St Mary's, I can't recall where exactly.
This is my new desktop background photo (for a little while anyway). I've named this pig, Portia the porker! 
Here's a close up of her. I think she's adorable , if in slight need of a bath! (-:
Another wonderful backside! These two seemed happy together at the farm on Peninnis just up the road from our house.
This handsome chappy was on the island of Bryher. Well, I think he thinks he is handsome! That's a proper goatee.
This was quite sweet (I think). I was in Lower Moors looking for a reported Firecrest (similar to Golden crowned Kinglet) when I noticed a very shy Rat in the tree above me. He knew I was there and just wouldn't show his face. Eventually I moved back a few paces and he raced along the branches and was away into the undergrowth. By the way, I never did get to see the Firecrest. 
This tiny bundle of fur was scampering across the golf course on my second day on the Islands when I was trying to see my second ever Dotterel (to appear in a later post). I'm not sure what type of mouse it was, does anyone out there know?
On the steps just outside our house one morning, we found this prickly ball of spines trying to get away from the road by climbing our steps.
It was a bit of a struggle.........
......but eventually he made it up one step. After taking a couple of photos, Dave wrapped him in his jacket and gave him a helping hand into the garden. 
Finally, there was one wee beastie that was discovered wandering the woods and footpaths on St Mary's. Slightly wild with strange plumage and bizarre accoutrements hanging from its neck! Obviously a new species to science. We'll call it Troglodytes minimus.
Just one or two, or maybe three more posts from Scilly before normal blogging resumes! (-:
This church notice was funny, click to enlarge and read the last paragraph. (-:
It was lovely to sit in the sun on these steps for a while and take in the peace and quiet.
Wandering amongst the gravestones, there were many showing the harsh difficult times from living on these islands in the past. There were many lives lost at sea, both very young and old. Below is one that was still quite legible.
This deep red succulent was thriving in the churchyard. I know this plant begins with the letter O, but can't recall its name. Any ideas?
Beautiful with the sun shining through it.
Where I live in the relatively mild south west of England, this plant would still be unlikely to survive the winter without protection. Here, it grows like a weed.
One plant the churchyard had in abundance was ivy and the flowers were humming with life. Bees, flies and butterflies were taking advantage of this late nectar source. This Small Copper was taking a break and basking in the sunshine.
A Speckled Wood trying to blend in with the leaf litter.
And a Red Admiral from various angles. It covered this flower pretty comprehensively.
One bird that is in big trouble on the mainland, but that seems to be doing very well on the Scillies, it the Song Thrush. 
Apart from doing well here, they also tend to be quite tame, allowing the photographer some close ups.
Still a bit more to come from the Isle of Scilly in my next post.
