13/09/2014 Thorney Island for Osprey

Saturday 13th September 2014
Thorney Island
Paul James and group

Six of us made the long journey to Thorney Island, on the West Sussex/Hampshire border, in lovely weather conditions.  The target bird was the Osprey which usually shows up here in September.  Our day was structured around the high tide time of 3.40 p.m. with the aim of being at the half way point at Pilsey Island to observe the waders as they congregated to sit out at the high water point.

• We met our main target after about 2 hours when we saw an awesome Osprey, with fish in it's talons, flying over the water between Thorney Island and Hayling Island.  It soon settled on a post in the water before heading off east.  The views were excellent.  I have done well with Osprey's this year but this was my first in Sussex and as such was rather special.

• Another highlight was the sheer number of Whinchats on show with something like 8-10 seen - the best ever for me .  At one point I could see the awesome sight of a couple of Whinchats, a Stonechat and a Wheatear in the same field of view of my telescope.  

• A couple of Kingfishers provided a lovely slot towards the end of our 7 mile walk with one of them, perched on a post in the water, giving superb views.

• We also had a good show from the raptors with a surprise appearance from a Red Kite.  They do not normally stray this far down from the South Downs.  A Hobby, a couple of Buzzards and many Kestrels completed an impressive list.

• The high tide spectacle at Pilsey Island lived up to expectations with an impressive variety of waders on show including a Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderlings, Ringed Plovers and a male Eider.

• On the way back to the car we came across 17 Grey Partidge in the field.  This also was a surprise as they are rarely seen anywhere else but The Burgh, some 20 miles away.

  

• To add to the delights of the day we also saw 17 Common Seals.     

Today's Species List:
Wren
Long-tailed Tit
Bearded Tit   (heard)
Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Whitethroat
Cetti's Warbler   (heard)
Sand Martin
Swallow
Stonechat    (10)
Whinchat
Robin
Wheatear
House Sparrow
Dunnock
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet
Meadow Pipit
Yellow Wagtail   (20)
Starling
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Kingfisher
Collared Dove
Stock Dove
Rock Dove
Woodpigeon   (30)
Grey Partridge
Ringed Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Dunlin
Sanderling
Common Sandpiper
Turnstone
Redshank
Greenshank   (40)
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
Oystercatcher
Whimbrel
Curlew
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Moorhen
Coot
Little Grebe   (50)
Great Crested Grebe
Teal
Wigeon
Mallard
Eider
Brent Goose
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Sandwich Tern
Black-headed Gull   (60)
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Cormorant
Kestrel
Hobby
Buzzard
Red Kite
Osprey

Another superb outing, in good company and a quality species list!