So close, yet so far! The rarity roll almost continued this evening when a likely Caspian Tern was seen heading east over Bestwall toward the harbour. This large, bulky tern with a carrot for a beak is normally of south-east European origin with breeding also occurring up and around the Baltics. Sadly the bird was flying away from the finder and it couldn’t be clinched It was possible that being seen so late in the evening it could of headed to Brownsea to roost with all the Sandwich and Common Terns, but despite much searching with the lagoon webcams it wasn’t found. The good news was that the Marsh Warbler was present again for its 4^th day, singing well at dawn and showing intermittently. On the Brownsea Lagoon 1 Spoonbill was present this evening as were 7+ Avocet which will hopefully result in more nesting attempts. It seems both Sandwich and Common Tern are having a great nesting season with big numbers on all the breeding islands.

Oystercatcher – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

It’s nice to end the month with a rarity , especially one that now been around for three days meaning everyone got to enjoy it over the weekend. We’re of course talking about the Marsh Warbler which was still singing (and showing briefly) at Bestwall this morning. The surprise of the day however was a Short-eared Owl that seen at Swineham Point. Traditionally a winter bird here in the harbour, recent BTO tracking data has highlighted that non-breeding individuals and also breeding individuals that have just raised their first brood often go on large migrations around the UK before re-settling to raise a second brood, or even traveling to new countries to try and find a new mate. Today’s bird settled on the saltmarsh at Swineham briefly before being seen off by the local Redshank family that have 3 newly hatched chicks. Also around Swineham were 2 Cuckoo, including a lovely ‘hepatic’ (rufous morph) female that’s been around for several weeks now. On the Swineham Scrapes a single Little Ringed Plover was still present and c20 Swift were over the gravel pit. At Lytchett Fields yesterdays Green Sandpiper was still present along with 15 Lapwing. Up around Slepe Heath 4 different Cuckoo’s were still going for it and out over the Wareham Channel 2 Hobby, 1 Osprey (assumed to be CJ7) and 1 Marsh Harrier were logged.

Short-eared Owl – Swineham – Peter Moore

Marsh Warbler – Bestwall – Peter Moore

Sedge Warbler – Swineham – Peter Moore

Redshank chicks – Swineham – Peter Moore