We liaise with the ringing team in the Lower Piddle Valley, Carey on a daily basis and we discussed a challenge for this autumn ringing season to see what date the earliest migrating Grasshopper Warbler could be caught. These small secretive warblers no longer breed in Dorset (as far as we know), so the occurrence at any site at this time of year will be a passage migrant. Traditionally ringing efforts haven’t started until much later in July, and we’d often catch migrant ‘Gropper’ in the first few sessions, so we didn’t know if they actually passed through earlier. Well, the team started their efforts earlier this year, and the reward came today with our earliest ever caught Grasshopper Warbler of the autumn! and its only July 7th. It’s mad to think that this (and many other birds) are already on their southward journey. Also ringed at the same site this AM were a few more passage Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler. Elsewhere male White-tailed Eagle G463 was active in the Wareham Channel all morning and eventually caught a large Mullet in central channel. The Swineham Marsh Harrier family were carrying out food passes to the 2 newly fledged juveniles and 5 Common Sandpiper were in the mouth of the River Frome along with 2-3 active Bearded Tit. On Swineham GP 2 Cattle Egret were roosting on the island and a Hobby drifted over. The Brownsea Lagoon held 7 Spoonbill, 2 Avocet, family decent numbers of fledged Common and Sandwich Tern and 1 Greenshank.

Grasshopper Warbler – Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge

Mid-summer annually sees a ‘heron’ arrival into the harbour. Not just Grey Heron, but a range of species which are suspected to often be Continental arrivals, most notably Little Egret with numbers having really increased right across the harbour over the last 2-3 weeks. Well, the pattern continued today with a staggering 20 summer plumaged Cattle Egret seen flying over Swineham GP this morning and news odd news yesterday of a Purple Heron thats apparently been in Middlebere for 2 weeks, although no photos have emerged yet. Also today was a Goshawk with prey over Giggers Island, 2 Marsh Harrier around the mouth of the Frome including a newly fledged juvenile, male Osprey 022 was hunting in the Wareham Channel this morning and this afternoon and female White-tailed Eagle G466 was also in that area for much of the day. The Brownsea Lagoon saw 4 Avocet, 6 Spoonbill, 1 Common Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Greenshank. There were 2 passage Green Sandpiper at Sunnyside plus 2 Common Sandpiper at Holmelane GP. Finally, as autumn migration continues to build, young birds are starting their first dispersal movements and this morning saw the surprise catch of a fresh juvenile Marsh Tit in the Lower Piddle Valley, a species that is in fast decline in Dorset. Although we know they still breed in the Upper Piddle Valley a few kilometres away it would be nice to think that todays bird fledged slightly cloers, perhaps within our Poole Harbour recording area?

Juvenile Marsh Tit ringed Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge

Today saw a hat-trick of surprises which sadly didn’t allow for further indulgence, but were surprising none the less. The first shock was when local residents (and birders) in Upton were sat at home and heard a few snippets of what sounded like a Golden Oriole in the woods opposite their house near Lytchett Bay. They heard a few calls and snippets of song but sadly not for very long and despite some searching nothing could be found. Perhaps an early morning visit tomorrow could yield some results?

The second surprise was when an Osprey was photographed down in Devon this morning with a ring number that possibly read ‘5H5’. If correct, then this would be another of our 2023 birds back, and interestingly was ringed as a female in the nest, but the photos suggest otherwise highlighting that if it is 5H5, then it could actually be a male. Frustratingly the photo isn’t quite sharp enough to confirm, but hopefully he’ll appear again over the coming days/weeks and perhaps even visit the harbour before the summer is out?

Finally, another Osprey return story with an Osprey photographed up at Leighton Moss, Lancaster recently which clearly shows ring number 5H4…..ANOTHER Poole bird back. The photo shows what looks to be an adult female, which would make sense if she’s been seen t’up north.

If we can confirm that todays Devon bird was 5H5 that would mean we’ve seen six ‘Poole’ chicks return out of a possible eight (1 in 2022 as 5H2 was killed by a Goshawk prior to migration), 3 in 2023 and 4 in 2024) averaging an incredible 75% return rate!!!

Other sightings from today included a Honey Buzzard over Organford, 7 Spoonbill and 10 Common Sandpiper on Brownsea, 4 Cattle Egret, 2 Spoonbill, 1 Osprey and 1 White-tailed Eagle over Middlebere and a totally fresh juvenile Common Redstart was ringed at Lytchett Heath suggesting local breeding somewhere close by.

Juvenile Common Redstart ringed at Lytchett Heath this AM – Shaun Robson

A stunning morning welcomed us in today, with a huge low tide just after dawn where there were plenty of waders out across the mudflats. Curlew numbers were at 100+ in the Wareham Channel this morning along with 20+ Redshank, c30 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Whimbrel, plus a few juvenile Lapwing were on Giggers Island with a Great White Egret in the mouth of the River Piddle. Also in evidence were the first returning sinensis Cormorant with a small group feeding in the Wareham Channel on the low tide. Brands Bay also saw a good return on the low tide with 7 Lapwing, 67 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, 13 Black-tailed Godwit and 52 Redshank. The Spotted Redshank was still on Lytchett Fields along with the patches first Common Sandpiper of the autumn. This evening a White-tailed Eagle stole prey off a Marsh Harrier on the Gull Islands in the Wareham Channel, and an Osprey was hunting between Shipstal and Lytchett Bay.

Measuring the gular pouch of a Wareham Channel Cormorant this AM highlighting a likely sinensis Cormorant

It’s apparently going to get warm again this weekend, although not as hot as last week, and today seemed to be a bit of a pre-curser for the weekend. Bird-wise it was pretty reasonable today, with a pretty standard affair in various areas with 6 Spoonbill and 2 Common Sandpiper on Brownsea, 3 Marsh Harrier around Swineham, 2 Little Ringed Plover on RSPB Arne Moors and an Osprey in Middlebere. From the Carey Secret Garden Osprey platform a White-tailed Eagle passed over as did 2 Hobby, 1 Goshawk and 2 Crossbill.

Osprey ringing 2026 update

Can you believe that we’re now into our fifth year of breeding of Ospreys here in Southern Britain! When the project started back in 2017, thoughts of ringing wild hatched Osprey chicks seemed so far away, and it was! With breeding not occurring until 2022, we had to wait five years before that opportunity became a reality, but here we are in 2026 with not just one, but two nests to visit each summer to ring the Osprey chicks.

Carey Ospreys being ringed at the nest

Yesterday (July 1^st 2026) we went and ringed both nests on the same day as all chicks were of ringable size, so we thought we may as well get it all done in one day. The day started early with the ringing of the four chicks of male 022 and female CJ7 at Carey Secret Garden which is always a privilege but also a challenge due to the size of the 30m+ tree. In 2022 we lowered the chicks to the ground to be ringed, but have since opted to ring the chicks in the nest as it reduces any risk whilst lowering them. Ringing the chicks in the nest also presents a slight challenge due to the fact that four large chicks often take up much of the space, with ringing and measuring space being rather limited. We had an extra dilemma this year too due to the fact that the recent storms had seen our webcam microphone break, meaning we had to order new parts to fix it, which we couldn’t do until we went to ring the chicks. Ideally we would have ringed the chicks on either June 28^th, 29^th or 30th, but the new microphone parts didn’t arrive until late Tuesday, meaning we had to wait 2-3 days longer than normal, and 2-3 days growth in Osprey terms is a lot. On the whole they were mostly well behaved, despite some nipping, and angered wing flapping and for the safety of the birds (and the ringer!) quickly each of the chicks were ringed, measured and weighed, albeit with the blue darvics being put on the wrong way round….doh!

So for this year the ring numbers and sexes are…….

Carey Osprey Nest

6T6 – Presumed female

6T7 – Presumed female

6T8 – Presumed female

6T9 – Presumed female

After ringing the Carey nest we made our way to the ‘Nest 2’ site, where our male 374 and his mate, Rutland 1H1 are now in their second year of breeding. Last year they produced two young, and we’re thrilled to announce that this year they have three healthy chicks in the nest. This is a great result and means that (hopefully) by the end of this summer, SEVEN new Ospreys will have fledged from ‘South Coast’ pairs this summer, making that a combined total of TWENTY TWO since they established in 2022.

Nest 2

7T0 – Presumed male

7T1 – Presumed male

7T2 – Un-sexed but possibly male

It’s also important to remember that it’s not just our south coast Ospreys that are producing young which are contributing to the wider population recovery across the UK. There are also several females that have originated from Poole Harbour which have gone on to nest elsewhere with Poole females 014, 019 and 372 all breeding at sites across Wales, and our first ever chick to fledge from Carey, female 5H1, who is now an established breeder herself close to the Rutland population and is now in her second year of nesting.

So, as we enter the latter part of the nesting season and we wish our chicks a safe fledging process (and eventually) a safe southward migration, thoughts of next year already come to mind and with three new males of ours desperate to breed locally (it seems), will our ringing efforts return double digits next year? Who knows, but one thing we do know is that Ospreys are fast becoming a favourite and permanent fixture to our already stunning south coast landscape.

Nest 2 chicks being ringed

The start of July and some great news that 2 Avocet chicks have appeared on the Brownsea Lagoon. Numbers of Avocet had dropped from 14 in the last few weeks to just these 2 and hopes were running out for any breeding attempts this year as chicks normally appear in May or June. Great news that two have hatched and the Dorset Wildlife Trust team will keep watching over the coming weeks to see how they get on. There were also 6 Spoonbill on the Lagoon.

The start of July is bringing more wader passage with a summer plumage Spotted Redshank in Lytchett Bay on French’s Field as well as 4 Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and 12 Bar-tailed Godwit. In the Wareham Channel there’s a growing flock of c75 Curlew and 1 Osprey was hunting here. On Arne Moors there were 4 Little Ringed Plover. Some late news as well of a Turtle Dove in Sandford in a private garden on 30th June but no longer present.

Female Goshawk – Wareham Channel yesterday – Annabel Sharpe

Another great day with more comings and goings across the harbour. This morning 3 new summer plumaged Cattle Egret were on the island at Swineham GP and 3 Little Ringed Plover were on RSPB Arne Moors. The Brownsea Lagoon held 7 Spoonbill, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Avocet and a small number of Black-tailed Godwit. Male Osprey 022 was caught a huge fish in the Wareham Channel this morning and an intruder male visit the Carey nest mid-morning. This evening 7 Cattle Egret flew up the Frome Valley, a White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier and Goshawk were enjoying the gull islands this evening (poor gulls), and another migrant Sedge Warbler was ringed in the Lower Piddle Valley.

Male intruder Osprey at Carey Secret Garden this AM

More signs of Autumn migration today…..yes we know, we’re constantly mentioning Autumn and it’s only June. We’re sorry, but it’s not us….it’s the birds! At the Carey Secret Garden ringing station the team caught the first ‘departing’ / ‘dispersing’ juvenile Sedge Warbler of the autumn season which is a species that doesn’t breed on site there, so must be a migrant, along with the 2 Common Whitethroat which were also ringed today but don’t breed on site. Last year the Carey ringing station ringed 2170 Sedge Warbler, so hopefully this is the first of many. The team there also caught 34 Greenfinch today which is exceptional considering that once again, none breed on site. Both juvenile male and female Greenfinch can look very similar, but when in the hand the amount of green visible in the primaries allows for youngsters to be sexed easily. The Spotted Redshank was once again at Lytchett Fields along with Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 25 Redshank, 73 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Lapwing and 1 Curlew. On Brownsea Lagoon 7 Spoonbill were present today, the Yellow-legged Gull was in Middlebere again and an adult White-tailed Eagle flew over too.

European Nightjar on Osprey perching branch last night as the moon was rising – RSPB Arne 

First migrant Sedge Warbler of the autumn – ringed in Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge

Male (left) and female (right) juvenile Greenfinches – Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge