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Another first of the month and the race is on to see another 100 species for the month. I clocked up 107 species for June, which I felt wasn’t too bad considering how busy I was work wise. July is notably quiet with birds hiding away and keeping quiet but the unusual do turn up, especially waders and seabirds. Talking of seabirds, a Yellow nosed Albatross of all things was found on Brean Sands beach over the weekend but promptly released the following day, in private in might add! What would be the megatick of all megaticks was done secretly and quietly to avoid the mad scramble of thousands of twitchers I assume? Lets hope it is still around (although not poorly) for a potential super twitch. I dipped on the White tailed Plover last month and this would easily make up for it.
The weather has been bloody awful this last week with some towns being under several feet of water, especially in Yorkshire and Worcestershire. Hampshire seemed to escape the worst of it but consistent heavy showers and strong winds are not what the so-called weathermen predicted! Sunshine and showers for the forthcoming week is what is predicted but it might bring in something unusual.
Today, I took my dog Scruff for a walk on Thorney Island to claim as many month ticks as possible. The weather was overcast with occasional sunny spells, but with the strong southerly wind blowing, rain was imminent and surely, we both took a good soaking on the way back to the car.
Out in the pony fields, the stream held a couple of Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the shallow water and a pair of Teal was a most welcome addition to my month total. No Shoveler was present though but plenty of Mallards. The Black-headed Gull flock contained at least one adult Mediterranean Gull but nothing else unusual. Other waders within the fields included several Lapwings and just the one Redshank.
The walk to the Little Deeps provided plenty of commoner birds though Common Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler were all added. I did hear a Chiffchaff and a Cetti’s Warbler but no sighting im afraid. It was high tide within Emsworth Harbour and a quick scan revealed bugger all! So I continued on to the Little Deeps where I was welcomed by a singing male Reed Bunting holding territory. On the water, several Little Grebes were seen including a couple of juveniles swimming with a parent.
The Great Deeps was relatively quiet at first but a Common Sandpiper livened things up when it flew from the west end and then settled on the shoreline opposite. Barry Collins texted me to say that this was the first record for Thorney Island this year and congratulated me so! No Greenshank were present, but plenty of Lapwing and Oystercatchers resting nearby. A Sandwich Tern flew in and began fishing on the water and showed very well, diving close to where I stood. The rain then soon came in and so it was a hasty wet walk back to the car and home again.
