Warnham Osprey.

Wendy thanks for your reply. I was almost sure because of the whiteness of it under belly and wings! I really hope it was one because it would be the first one Ive seen! I love Stodmarsh and often see hobbies and Marsh Harriers there. So it could well have been an osprey, exciting stuff!

Hello all, doing a spot of late night browsing and came across this thread. If you've been to Warnham in the past few weeks we may well have met... I've spent a good part of my life in the Heron hide recently! Just a quick update - I was there this morning and no sign. I'd half-expected that - now the wind has changed and temperature dropped I imagine it's finally on the way south. 

It's been a wonderful year for osprey sightings in the south. Regular spots at Arlington, Weir Wood, Thorney - all through the summer! Probably immature males wandering without the need to establish breeding territories, but wouldn't it be great if they came back with some girls in a year or two? :)

Just to try and settle the debate on whether it's the same bird as was seen on the Adur - here's a comparison. The top one is from Warnham a couple of weeks ago, the bottom one was taken near the A27 bridge/Shoreham Airport in the last week of August. That nick in the 2nd lp is fairly obvious, it'd be a pretty spectacular coincidence if two birds had that exact feature! 

Chris

Fab, Chris!  The distinguishing nick is so clear! :-)  Both the photos are such good "poses" :-)

Great photos Chris and Scylla, puts those from my little Canon to shame, as you say Chris we probably have met as I have been at Warnham a lot recently too.

Hi Chris

I may have seen you in the hide too, as I'm a local, and I did see the osprey on one occasion - my camera isn't good enough to take these sort of photos though!

This link to an SWT blog (bottom photos) shows what's clearly the same bird at Woods Mill back on 23rd August, though I believe the sightings on the Adur go back to about 10th Aug, so it was a long stay. Well it has probably gone, let's hope it survives the next 18 months in Africa as it will then be likely to return.      

Shane said:

Great photos Chris and Scylla, puts those from my little Canon to shame, as you say Chris we probably have met as I have been at Warnham a lot recently too.

I had to remove mine, SHANE, they were copyrighted.  I got carried away, seeing the little nick from a completely different source.

Great ID pics, thanks Shane and Chris.

Thankyou for the lovely pics Shane and ChrisM. I have been following this thread with interest for some time and it was about time I posted! It must be wonderful to live near 'osprey territory' and thanks for the effort you have put in to identifying this bird. I have to confess I cannot see a nick in the wing but that's due to inexperience, not your beautiful photos! Scylla nice to 'see' you again and what a pity I missed your pics :-((

Unknown said:

Some really great photos by Steven Whitehead, which I think were being taken while I was there on Tuesday; run the Slideshow.

From these, I think we can say:

• this bird has the "nick" in the second left primary, which is the identifying feature of the Adur/Warnham osprey
• it is unringed 
• it looks like a juvenile - especially in this one. This makes sense, as I don't remember any long-staying ospreys in this area in previous years, just short-term visitors. The first sighting on the Adur was on 12th August though, which suggests that if it's a juvenile, it was an early chick and also left the nest early. 

mims,

There is a link to the slideshow (taken on 2nd Oct) , which scylla mentioned, in the post I have quoted above. I was lucky enough to be in the hide while these were being taken!