6 September.Osprey Thornham Harbour and an awesome days seawatching

Osprey, digiscoped at hopelessly long distance from the other side of Thornham harbour !!!! Saturday's seawatching was rudely interrupted by news of an Osprey fishing over Thornham Harbour. Initially located on the ground it then proceeded to put on a superb flying display over the harbour and marsh. The sea had offerd up an early autumn Red Throated Diver as well as a single Great Skua amongst a respectable tally of Arctic Skuas, Terns and Gannets. On Sunday the floodgates opened....... more Arctic Skuas, and with over 100 Great Skuas moving west. Not for the first time while seawatching from the dunes, these sometimes came directly overhead, drifting high over the dunes and the beach. The Skua prize of the day was a juvenile Long Tailed Skua passing close along the shoreline, making a brief pass at a Tern, before flying underneath a Great Skua. An amazing view, and a nice opportunity to contrast the 2 birds... In spite of the early morning mist and rain Manx Shearwaters were picked up shearing the waves further out, and a lone Black Tern flew west, not easy to pick out against a dull sky and sea. A juvenile Sabines Gull drifted into the mist early on, and news of more loitering offshore at Tichwell meant much scanning of horizons in anticipation, picking up an airborne Red Throted Diver and more Skuas, Terns and Gannets along the way .... an amazing few hours .... there really is no place like Holme to be beside the sea !!!! words and photo Ray Roche