With this long period of good weather it was inevitable that a heathland fire would occur somewhere around the harbour, but we weren’t quite expecting it to be Arne. Despite the number of visitors that visit the Arne peninsular each summer, fires here are (thankfully) very rare and it usually tends to be the urban heathlands of Poole Harbour north that suffer this time of year. Regardless, please remember that having any kind of small camp fire or BBQ creates an extreme high fire risk, so to reduce that risk simply don’t have one and certainly not on, in or near any heathland sites. Luckily fire crews were able to get on top of it and extinguish the flames fairly quickly, but a few avian casualties were found sadly. On a slightly happier note, 2 Osprey were seen again over the Arne peninsular. At Lytchett Fields there were 6 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin and 37 Black-tailed Godwit. Nightjar are certainly back in numbers with birds vocal at all traditional breeding sites, including on Lytchett Heath where their presence has been a bit sporadic over recent years.

Fire damage at RSPB Arne today – Photos RSPB Arne team