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Before my 7.30pm appointment with one of my clients this evening, I took a look over Thorney Island for some more month ticks and came away with quite a few. I parked up by the road that led to the Barracks and walked across the road to view the fields looking east. The weather was looking decidedly ‘iffy’ with predicted thunderstorms and heavy showers forecasted for the rest of the day. I made sure I wasn’t too far away from the car and so kept within walking distance from my vehicle. Within the fields, a male Pheasant poked his head out of the long grass. The lake in the distance held at least three Wigeon, which included two males and a female. According to Barry Collins, the Warden for Thorney Island, there has been up to four birds over summering here. Nevertheless, a good month tick for July. Close to the Wigeon, my first Great Black backed Gulls of the month were seen, two birds resting quietly by the water. A female Shoveler swam on the water amongst several Mallards.
Good numbers of both Skylark and Meadow Pipit were seen within the fields and a male Sparrowhawk drifted low over the fields to hopefully catch one of these. Heading towards the main road, I watched the raptor as it slowly drifted just above the grass, hoping to flush out an unexpected victim. A male Kestrel was seen earlier hovering over a patch of grassland too. My first Goldfinches of the month flew past then the rain came and so I had to rush back to the car to avoid a soaking.
I parked up at the end of Thornham Lane but some bloody dog walker got to my spot first, overlooking the fields. So, I turned round and headed back and parked up overlooking the pony field from the side of the road. From here, I noticed a flock of seven Little Egrets huddled together standing by some vegetation within the field. The usual flock of Black-headed Gulls held no ‘Meds’ amongst them so I checked the small ponds for waders. I was in luck as I found up to four Green Sandpipers feeding around the edge of the pools. These turned out to be year ticks although I am sure I saw some earlier this year. It got even better when a Turtle Dove flew by and then returned to rest on an overhead power cable. Ten minutes later, it flew towards me and landed on the ground just behind two of the Green Sandpipers. I cannot recall ever having these two species in the same field of view before!
A Black-tailed Godwit flew onto the pool and a pair of Teal flew by and also landed on the pool, then disappeared within the reedbeds. By now, it was nearing 7.30pm so I headed off to my final appointment of the day. I found out later that up to 55 Cory Shearwaters had been seen off Porthgwarra, Cornwall that is a little earlier than expected. My birding colleagues, Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher still need this species to add to their respective life lists. Shame. Unbelievably, a Cory’s Shearwater was seen flying past Hayling Island this evening also!
