With April having now faded away and May blossoming into a new era, what will the next month hold? This spring ahas been pretty good so far, with a great range of birds decorating our landscape, from the Bluethroat, the Forster’s Tern, Common Cranes, Black Kite, White Stork, Garganey, Red-rumped Swallow and so on, what will be next? Who knows, but the fact so many birders are out monitoring the area is worthy enough and shows just how exciting this landscape is. This morning up on Ballard a Hobby was logged coming in off the sea, plus 8 distant skua passed out beyond Durlston, likely Pomarine Skua, also 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Wheatear, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler and 11 Common Whitethroat were counted. A Lesser Whitethroat and french ringed Sedge Warbler were ringed at Carey Secret Garden this morning.

Lesser Whitethroat – Carey Secret Garden – Ed Betteridge

With the strong winds today it was a case of one in, one out of scarce birds as for the first time since late March, the Red-spotted Bluethroat wasn’t seen or heard at Swineham, suggesting it’s now started it’s migration, north towards (likely) northern Scandinavia. But whilst there was no sign of the Bluethroat, a fine Black Kite was found and tracked around the NW of the harbour, first being seen over Carey Secret Garden, then viewed from Wareham Walls, seen heading north and about 15 minutes later was seen over Upton, then Lytchett Fields before last being seen heading NW over the Bakers Arms towards Lytchett Matravers. The vigil from Wareham Walls also yielded a White Stork, seen circling over Wareham, before seen heading off west. There was also a moderate push of Swifts today with small groups of 4-6 passing through every 20 minutes or so this afternoon. The 3 Glossy Ibis were seen flying over the gravel pit at Swineham this AM, 2 Osprey were in the Wareham Channel this afternoon, one of which was definitely 2-year old male 5R0 and the other likely to have been 022.

White Stork circling over Wareham from Wareham Walls – Trevor Warwick

With a cold wind building during the day, it took the edge off the temperature but not the birding. All the usual ‘all stars’ were out in force with the Red-spotted Bluethroat still at Swineham Point, with the 2 Garganey just around the corner at the Stilt Pools, Swineham. The Forster’s Tern was in the Wareham Channel, a single Osprey was in the Wareham Channel, a lone Spoonbill was on Brownsea and 2 White-tailed Eagle were over Middlebere this afternoon. There was a decent supporting cast with 4 Swift over Greenlands Farm, where there were 2 Wheatear and 2 Common Whitethroat, a Spotted Redshank was on RSPB Arne Moors and a few Whimbrel were spread across the harbour on the low tide.

Female Garganey – Swineham Stilt Pools – Peter Moore

Male Garganey – Swineham Stilt Pools – Peter Moore

Another glorious day for birds and birders, but with some strong winds forecast for mid-week, everything was making the most of the calm before the storm. Not too much change in terms of sightings with the Red-spotted Bluethroat still at Swineham along with the 2 Garganey and 2 Little Ringed Plover on the Stilt Pools, but with the added bonus of a Common Crane seen flying over Northmoor, Wareham and heading towards the harbour. There was also some great news over the weekend when it was announced by Dorset Raptor Group that the first Poole Asda Peregrine chick had hatched and today, announced that 3 of the 4 chicks have hatched. This is great news and will no doubt provide endless entertainment later in the season when young Peregrines are bombing around over the Asda car park. More breeding news involved the Brownsea Sandwich Terns who have seen the first individuals settle on eggs today. Even more remarkable was a fully fledged juvenile Great Tit in Upton CP which is massively early for this species, with the more typical fledging date for this species being mid May! A Lesser Whitethroat was singing at Lytchett Heath, Lytchett Bay, this morning an Osprey was seen a few times in Middlebere and this evening the 3 Glossy Ibis were seen over Swineham GP.

Garganey pair – Swineham, Stilt Pools – Peter Moore

Garden Warbler – Wareham Common – Peter Moore

A nice (and long over due) first for the spring today with a pair of Garganey on the Stilt Pools, Swineham, as first seen from our Spring Safari Cruise this afternoon. There were also 3 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper here. An unusual record of 1 Spotted Redshank was on Arne Moors and then, in the mouth of the River Frome, on the low tide. The Red-spotted Bluethroat was still at Swineham Point. Up on Ballard Down this morning there were 3 Lesser Whitethroat singing. 3-year old male Osprey 5H3 was still active in the Middlebere Channel along with 2- year old 5R0 in the morning. There was 1 Hobby was hunting in the Wareham Channel along with 2-year old Osprey 5R0 this afternoon. On Brownsea this morning there was 1 Peregrine sat on the north west sand bank and 3 Whimbrel on the north shore. On the Lagoon there was still 1 Spoonbill, c10 Avocet, c15 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Turnstone (in nice summer plumage), 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin. Last night the first Nightjars of the year were logged at RSPB Arne and near Burnbake, Studland. A survey of the lower-Frome (Wareham to Swineham) by local birder Peter Moore produced 85 Reed Warbler, 42 Cetti’s Warbler and 7 Sedge Warbler.

2 Garganey and 1 Little Ringed Plover – Stilt Pools Swineham – Paul Morton

Spotted Redshank – Mouth of the River Frome from our Spring Safari – Joe Parker

2-year old Osprey 5R0 – Wareham Channel from our Spring Safari Cruise – Joe Parker

Nightjar at RSPB Arne last night on one of our Osprey nest platforms.

Today was a scorcher of a day, certainly for late April! The high pressure continued to dominate and as a result, birds were a tad harder to find, but there was still plenty about. It’s been a great spring so far for Pied Flycatcher and today another 2 were found, both females, with one at Swineham GP close to where the Red-spotted Bluethroat has been hanging out (and was seen today), and another was in Norden near the Half Way Inn. There were 3 Hobby over the Arne Road this afternoon, all hunting together, 2 Swift were over Wareham and 2 Red Kite were over Wareham Common, with 2 migrant Garden Warbler having a sub-song off right next to one another in that area. On Brownsea more and more Common Tern are arriving and the first Black-headed Gulls are on eggs now, plus a lone Spoonbill was still there. A potential adult male Honey Buzzard passed over Hartland and headed towards Brownsea and a White-tailed Eagle was seen over Hartland. In Holes Bay there were 12 Whimbrel and 2 Common Sandpiper and this evening the first 2 Nightjar of the year were singing and wing-clapping near the Burnbake campsite on the Rempstone Estate, between Arne and Studland.

Finally, the Osprey dramas continued today with local male 022 having now stepped away from the local argy bargy, leaving the two new arrivals 5H3 and 5R0 to sort things out themselves with a few tussles this morning between the two bachelors who seem to be fighting over prime real estate in the area. Both were tussling over nests around the Middlebere area this early morning, but then neither were seen for the rest of the day, until just before sunset, 2-year old 5R0 made an appearance leaving us wondering where 5H3 could be? No doubt he’ll put in appearance tomorrow, but we dread to think what might happen if a lone new female appears on the scene in the coming days…..it could be utter carnage as competition for both nest sites and mates increases!

Two Garden Warbler performing plastic song next to one another – Wareham Common

After yesterdays Osprey madness, things were a bit calmer today, but we still saw some interesting observations with 3-year old male Osprey ‘5H3’ visiting several harbour platforms during the course of the day. Since our project began we’ve been waiting for ‘new’ male Ospreys to start looking to to set up territory within the area and todays sightings certainly suggest that both 5H3 and 5R0 are quite keen to hang around. Sadly, there are currently no females in the area but that could change in the next week.

The Red-spotted Bluethroat was still at Swineham, a Spoonbill was on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Spotted Redshank was was in Lytchett Bay and once again there was a good push of Swallow, Sand Martin and a few Swift moving through. An evening sea watch off Ballard Down produced 100+ Manx Shearwater, 20+ Gannet, 6 Fulmar, a few passage flocks of Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Lesser Whitethroat were in scrub on the way out. On Wareham Common the 3 Glossy Ibis were feeding this morning, and just north of the railway bridge there was a Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat.

2-year old male Osprey 5R0 flying over Middlebere this AM – Mark Wright

3-year old male Osprey 5H3 visiting different harbour platforms today

3-year old male Osprey 5H3 visiting different harbour platforms today

Today was all about Osprey’s, and more specifically the multiple key moments that unfolded during the course of the day that signalled quite amazing progress for our Osprey recovery project. It started this morning when our local female CJ7 laid her fourth egg of the 2026 seaon, a feat she’s now completed three years in row. This is an amazing moment and incredibly significant because if all four survive and fledge this summer, that would mean CJ7 and 022 would have fledged 17 juvenile Osprey in to the population all on their own since 2022! As you’ll know we also saw our second successful Osprey nest establish last summer with male 374 and female 1H1 raising 2 juveniles. Both 1H1 and 374 arrived back earlier in April this year and started re-bonding, and this evening we checked our monitoring camera only to find that 1H1 has now laid 3 eggs in total, bettering her clutch size last year. The story for today doesn’t end there though, because from our Spring Safari cruise this AM we had 3 Osprey in and around the Wareham Channel which we initially thought may have been our recent new arrival, 2-year old 5R0 and possibly a couple of migrant individuals. However, this afternoon on a different harbour platform we got images of a new returnee….male 5H3, our 3-year old we’ve been wait for. 5H3 first came back last year as a 2-year old and spent a lot of time in the harbour, and now he’s back there’s a good chance he’s going to want to start looking at territory options. This means the three Osprey we saw this AM could have been 022, 5R0 and 5H3. The most significant fact here is that this is the first time we’ve ever had multiple un-attached males (excluding 022) present in the harbour which is just what we want, as its the males that stay close to their natal sites to set up territories. With a few weeks left yet for pairs to still be able to form, if any wandering females happen to appear in the next couple of days, things could get very interesting indeed.

Away from Ospreys the Forster’s Tern put on a good show again from our Spring Safari Cruise this AM, fishing off Lake Pier, Ham Common in the Wareham Channel, the Red-spotted Bluethroat was still showing well at Swineham GP, there was a lone Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon, 1 Whinchat was in Holes Bay north, 3 Red Kite were over the Lower Piddle Valley, a Little Ringed Plover was on the Stilt Pools, Swineham, more Swift were arriving and a Hobby was over Hartland Moor.

Female Osprey CJ7 and her 4 eggs this evening

3-year old male Osprey 5H3 back since his return last summer