Today we hosted our first ‘Up with the Lark’ Poole Harbour bird boat of the year which saw a great range of species in a stunning sun-soaked Wareham Channel. As we cruised up the Wareham Channel numerous Sandwich Tern were fishing close to the boat as both Mediterranean Gulls and Black-headed Gulls busily ventured back and fourth from the nesting colony of the Holton shoreline. A flock of 12 Brent Geese also departed the Wareham Channel having likely just settled there for the morning as we now understand may birds use the channel as a staging site in late April. As we made our way up the river good numbers of Reed Warbler and a coupe of Sedge Warbler were singing and 5-10 Cetti’s Warbler were blasting out songs close to the boat. Sadly we missed 2 Osprey by a matter of minuets, one being CJ7 and the second being an un-ringed individual which then went on to pass over Lytchett Bay as it headed north. On the Brownsea lagoon there was a single Spoonbill, 12 Avocet, 12 Grey Plover including 3 summer-plumaged individuals, 1 Knot, 17 Dunlin, c20 Bar-tailed Godwit, 24 Common Tern and c100 Sandwich Tern, 1 Greenshank and c30 Med Gulls. At Lytchett Bay a Red Kite passed over and on the fields were 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Redshank and c30 Black-tailed Godwit. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was photographed on a house roof in Parkstone and more Cuckoo reports came from Stoborough Heath, Arne, Swineham and Godlingston.

Yellow-legged Gull – Parkstone – Pete Smith