Scilly is pricing itself out of the market, its lost me as a regular at last. And overall I have to say they must be losing money they could get hold of - I remember the boatmen taking over 900 people for Philly Vireo on the Sunday: think of that, 900 birders with accommodation needs, food needs, beer needs (especially after that vireo!) transport needs - that wasn't by any means the only decent rarity that year.
Last time I stayed on there (two years ago before the prices drove me off) there were no more than 250 birders in total and it was probably less. And the average skill level had dropped by 90%.
The regular price hiking is killing the golden goose: the inter-island boats are now too much for people to island-hop to look for birds, its not worth visiting off-islands unless you know something is there. The accommodation is ludicrously expensive, which is why so few birders are staying compared to the mid-eighties. You can always find a table in the Bishop, Mermaid or Atlantic: I remember when you had to let the bloke next to you know you planned to raise your glass to your mouth so he could shuffle out of the way a bit!
You can't tell me that the islanders are making more money from the number of visitors they get now. They take more off each individual but they don't get the total they used to.
Which is why, sadly, I am reduced to twitching the place when I would rather be enjoying a fortnight of trying to find my own rarities and shooting the breeze with the guys in the pub of an evening.
John
