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One of this mornings Cuckoo’s perched on overhead wires on Thorney Island.
I was working this morning in Southbourne, Emsworth and before I arrived at my client’s house, I took a look over the Pony Field on Thorney Island. It was a beautiful day with hardly any wind and a cloudless, bright blue sky. The sun was really beating down and so I was glad that I had my hat on!
I didn’t do any birding yesterday, and so tried to make up lost ground to get my month list total up and running. I clocked up 124 species for May and that will be a tall order to achieve in June, but I will be happy with 100. So, kicking off overlooking the Pony Field, I notched up a fair few species. Notably, the Turtle Dove was on show, perched on overhead wires over the footpath near the copse. A Cuckoo joined it moments later with another Cuckoo seen further south in a dead tree. Bird of the moment went to the drake Garganey sitting alongside a drake Teal (never saw one last month!) on the small stream at the southern end of the Pony Field. That was a real bonus for the month, a species that I have seen here every spring for the past three years. I then sent Barry Collins a text about the bird to keep him informed.
A couple of Sedge Warblers were seen within the field including one bird sunning itself on a fencepost! A couple of Common Whitethroats were seen along the footpath and an adult Med Gull flew overhead heading north. A lot of common birds were present which helped the month total but my next trip was to do my clients ISA’s.
I found out that four Storm Petrels were lingering off Selsey Bill this morning and with good numbers being seen from our southern coast (including 100+ in Lyme Bay, Dorset during the week), I was interested in adding this exciting species to my year list.
So, after finishing off with my client, I drove down to the Bill and joined two fellow birders who I recognised but didn’t know their full names (One of them is called Tim!). They had been birding here since 8am and had seen up to four Storm Petrels, a Balearic Shearwater and a Great Northern Diver! The Storm Petrels then had been fairly close but now, they were distant, but I did manage to see two birds flying fairly distantly heading west low over the water. This put a smile of my face and was also rewarded with a brief sighting of my first Bottle nosed Dolphin swimming past, albeit very distantly.
Also seen, just before the Petrel sightings, was, remarkably, my first Eider of the year. Despite many fruitless searches off Hill Head, I was happy to see a female bird swimming at speed heading west on the water. I also managed to see an adult Gannet flying west but again, at some distance. Good numbers of both Sandwich Tern and Common Tern flew past which also contributed towards my month total. The sun was now beating down and with no sun cream on me; I felt my skin get a little raw and so called a halt to my sea watching and headed home.
I quickly had a good look on the Ferry Pool but nothing of real note on there. Apparently, some Glanville Fritillaries were showing well on Hurst Spit near Lymington and so I texted Geoff Farwell so he could tick them off. The long staying Squacco Heron is still on Erith Marshes, London today and the very long staying Killdeer is still on the Shetlands. Please come south!!!
The Turtle Dove with a Wood Pigeon on Thorney Island this morning.
