Another windy, blowy day with a short focus on the sea this morning which didn’t yield much other than 20+ Gannet, c50 Sandwich Tern, c30 Common Tern and 5 Mediterranean Gull. However all three hirundine species (House Martin, Sand Martin and Swallow) were all logged coming in off the sea highlighting that migration is still underway, plus 8 Swift also came ‘in off’. This afternoon our new Osprey arrival ‘5H6’ (aka the Mighty Titch) visited a harbour nest platform.

Adder – Purbeck Heath 

Male Osprey 5H6 on harbour nest platform today

Another windy,

A blustery day making birding difficult, but 2 Little Tern in the Wareham Channel today was a good reward, also 2 Osprey in the Wareham Channel,  several parties of Swift were over Swineham, 9 Avocet were on the Brownsea Lagoon, a 2nd cal year Kittiwake was in central harbour, plus 2 random Wigeon were on the Brownsea Lagoon this morning, also 7 Avocet including what looked like a couple ‘sitting’ individuals which would be great news for the island. A Whimbrel was on the Brownsea north shore, c150 Dunlin were settled on Shag Looe Bar, the Wareham Channel and 3 Gannet were near the harbour mouth.

Also, there was a positive update from Dorset Wildlife Trust volunteer Martin Adams providing an update on the Brownsea Lagoon terns: Encouraging signs with 106 Common Terns sitting (up from 68 on Friday,) 81 Sandwich Terns (up from 55,) and 87 Black-headed Gulls (up from 66) with 21 chicks now. The Black-headed Gulls have returned to the tern islands in small numbers where there were hardly any on Friday. 10 Great Black Backed Gulls on nests.

Whimbrel – Brownsea north shore – Kate Plater

Not much going on today on the general birding front, however we did get an exciting update from one of our harbour nest platforms this afternoon when an Osprey landed on it just after lunch. It’s been quite usual for the current two present males (5R0 and 5H3) to visit these platforms over the last few weeks, so we just assumed it was going to be one of them, or potentially local male 022 who also visits the other nests to see off local competition. However, we couldn’t quite believe it when the bird turned, showing the ring number which read ‘5H6’. This is incredible news, not only because this now means we have THREE eligible male Osprey present in the local area, which is fantastic for the project, and just what we need to see the the newly established south coast population evolve even more. Plus, without being biased, 5H6 was most definately a fan favourite due to his plucky bravery as he was dwarfed by his three older brothers. 5H6 was the last to hatch out of a clutch of 4 back in 2024, and due to the staggered hatching dates, he was half the size of his siblings for several weeks, until he finally caught up and was able to compete for food. Due to both CJ7 and 022 being such incredible parents, it meant all four chicks fledged that year, and as a result, we already have TWO back from that year, 5H6 and 5R0.

Other sightings from today included a Spoonbill flying up the Piddle Valley this morning, on Hydes Heath, RSPB Arne Tree Pipit, Cuckoo and Crossbill were logged, 2 Hobby were hunting over the Arne Road, Arne Moors area, an adult White-tailed Eagle was out in the Wareham Channel on Shag Looe Bar and a Little Ringed Plover was on the Stilt Pools at Swineham. There were other Osprey sightings too with 2 in Lytchett Bay, including 5H3 and local male 022 was seen seeing off todays new arrival over near Middlebere.

Male Osprey 5H6 (smallest on right) resting with his siblings in late May 2024

Male Osprey 5H6 (smallest on left) battling for food with his siblings in late May 2024

Touchdown – 5H6’s return this afternoon after being on his wintering grounds for last 2 years

Male Osprey 5H6 assessing the landscape this afternoon from a harbour nest platform

With a gentler head wind today, various areas saw and heard some grounded migrants arrive with a late female Wheatear on top of Hartland along with 3 grounded Whimbrel there feeding in a horse paddock, plus a flock of 6 Whimbrel over Middlebere Farm. Also a pair of Spotted Flycatcher arrived today at Carey Secret Garden and there were 2 Reed Warbler and 1 Lesser Whitethroat up on Ballard. A new adult female Osprey was seen in Lytchett Bay this morning and was noted to be a Scottish ringed individual, but annoyingly there was no sign of our current two available bachelors, males 5H3 and 5R0. There was a sighting of 2 Osprey over the Wareham Channel together which were then seen heading towards Holes Bay, so no doubt one was local male 022 escorting a potential new coloniser out of ‘his patch’!! Yesterday there were 4 summer plumaged Cattle Egret in Lytchett Bay, along with a nice mixed wader flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. There was a Cuckoo in the Frome Valley near Swineham, one in the Piddle Valley and 2 up at Scotland Farm.

Cattle Egret – Lytchett Bay yesterday – Ian Ballam

Dunlin and Ringed Plover flock – Lytchett Bay yesterday – Mick Brooks

A mixed day weather wise, but a day with a fantastic result. We were due to survey the harbours important gull islands early this morning out in the Wareham Channel, but decided to delay for several hours due to the cooler air temperature at dawn. Anyway, having got under way by late morning/early afternoon we were thrilled when the combined totals of both nesting islands produced a Poole Harbour record total of 369 Mediterranean Gull nests. This is a fantastic result, but highlights perfectly the nomadic and often quite unpredictable behaviour and occurrence of breeding Mediterranean Gulls in southern England. We’ve heard anecdotally that other populations along the south coast and east cost have fluctuated massively this spring with a site in Kent having had c800 nests last year have only c150 this year. Below are our survey results and totals of Mediterranean Gull nests from the Poole Harbour islands, starting in 2008 indicating a similar, variable fluctuation in population. Todays result is great news as Med Gulls are a Poole Harbour SPA (Special Protection Area) feature species, meaning the harbour is specially protected because of their presence here.

Number of Med Gull nests

2008 – 87
2015 – 64
2016 – 38
2017 – 33
2018 – 155
2021 – 109
2023 – 278
2024 – 179
2025 – 43
2026 – 369

Sadly, hidden amongst the elation of the Med Gulls success, is the concern for the Black-headed Gulls demise. During the same survey today, we only logged 2823 Black-headed Gulls nests, which is a continued decline for this species. Below are our survey results and totals of Black-headed Gulls nests from the Poole Harbour islands, starting in 2008 highlighting the steady decline. There are probably several factors involved here, the main being habitat loss. In 2008 there were three main nesting islands, now there are only two, due to erosion. Predation levels have increased with regular visits from newly returned Marsh Harriers, Peregrines, Ravens, White-tailed Eagles and Goshawk. Also, Med Gulls tend to be more dominant and can take over areas of suitable habitat on the islands, restricting areas for Black-headed Gulls.

Number of Black-headed Gull nests

2008 – 8951
2015 – 6400
2016 – 2589 (year the colony was ‘egged’ / had eggs stolen)
2017 – 5736
2018 – 4115
2021 – 3706
2023 – 3568
2024 – 3174
2025 – 2901
2026 – 2823

Elsewhere today a great count of 4 Roseate Tern were on the Brownsea Lagoon mid-afternoon, with sightings of individuals around the harbour entrance this evening. On the gull islands during teh survey a good count of 130 Dunlin were counted, plus an Osprey was hunting in the Wareham Channel, a White-tailed Eagle flew over Shipstal,

Newly hatched Black-headed Gull chick – Gull Islands

Mediterranean Gull eggs and nest

A cold and windy day, always making the birding tricky. An Osprey (presumed 2-year old male 5R0) was out hunting in the Wareham Channel this morning, a small number of passage waders were dotted around the harbour on the low tide including several small flocks of summer plumaged Dunlin and Ringed Plover, with just singles of Avocet and Sanderling on the Brownsea Lagoon.

We also received a sad but fascinating dose of bird migration mixed with reality with the below Woodcock we ringed in Poole Harbour on Nov 20th 2019 having been hunted ‘for the pot’ on it’s breeding grounds in the remote region of Klimushino, Verkhovazhye, Russia on May 6th 2026! This highlights just how far our winter Woodcock are travelling to over-winter in the UK, some c3000km each autumn. It’s estimated that about 1.2 million Woodcock arrive each Oct/Nov, but as they’re an incredibly hard bird to survey that total could be way higher.

Woodcock, ring number EY18750 the night it was ringed on Nov 20th 2019

The marked location of where it met it’s sad end having been hunted by a Russian hunter. 

It seems to have been a good week for Honey Buzzard with a few logged coming in off the sea around Portland plus a couple of harbour records, including a late report from yesterday of an adult male high over Middlebere plus one was reported over Lytchett Bay today. There were Goshawk sightings on Hydes Heath and at Middlebere and an Osprey was feeding in the Wytch Channel this morning. Also early this morning a Hawfinch was sound recorded over Oakdale during the latter part of a noc-mig sound recording session.

Male Honey Buzzard over Middlebere yesterday – Kate Plater