Thorney Island, Guided Birdwatching August 2024

Walking towards the harbour at Thorney Island we stopped to admire a tree festooned with herons. Shaggy and bright white young little egrets made up most of the numbers, while two teenage grey herons waited expectantly for a delivery of fish, and a cattle egret fed its three young chicks.

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret feeding its chicks

The path was bordered on one side by a thicket, within which long-tailed tits moved through, a blackcap called, and a lesser whitethroat put in a brief appearance.

At the harbour a large group of redshanks busily fed on the receding tide. A lone black-tailed godwit slowly probed for food, its plumage fading from the the rich red of the breeding season towards the brown tones of winter. A young common tern perched on a buoy, occasionally splashing into the water in pursuit of small fish. Whimbrels, curlews and oystercatchers were dotted around the mudflats, and a group of turnstones had congregated around a moored boat.

From within a large reed bed bearded tits and a water rail called. The reed-fringed pool held many ducks, gadwall, mallard, teal and a lone wigeon. A little grebe was accompanied by its two chicks. A female sparrowhawk shot low over the reeds and out across the grassland.

South of the reeds was a busy patch with a lesser whitethroat perched nicely in the sun, underneath which was a sedge warbler, common whitethroat, willow warbler and a wren. Meadow pipits and stonechats perched on a fence line. Behind this area a party of greenshanks were roosting on the edge of a pool, they started to call and flew off into the harbour to feed.

More greenshanks were roosting on the edge of a large water body, and a busy common sandpiper bobbed in one area before flying across the water to the other side. Its mind couldn't be made up and it proceeded to fly back and forth several times. In the close corner of the water a series of high pitched calls alerted us to two kingfishers facing off in battle over who gets the prime fishing territory. They stood side by side eyeing each other up with beaks open, after a good while they flew off with one chasing the other for at least 500 metres before we lost them from view. 

Walking away from the harbour a large raptor circled towards us, we were delighted to see it was an osprey with a fish. Fortunately it soared by close overhead, circling as it gained height. A great way to end the morning.

If you are interested in attending a guided birdwatching session such as this one, the upcoming events can be seen on the ‘Events’ page of this website. Or to stand the best chance of a space being available, you can get the information emailed to you prior to its publication online by joining my mailing list. To do so simply email me at baggaleyhugh@gmail.com

- Hugh Baggaley