It was good to get that dank, yucky murk out of the way, which allowed for some new birds to push on through this morning. There were 4 juv Willow Warbler ringed at Carey Secret Garden this AM, along with another migrant Garden Warbler, 4 Reed Warbler and 2 Sedge Warbler. There was what looked like an adult un-ringed Osprey in Middlebere this morning where the 3 Spoonbill and 1 Great White Egret remained. In Brands Bay the early forming Great Crested Grebe started with 4 there today along with 3 Whimbrel, 50 Curlew, 39 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, c50 Redshank, 6 Dunlin, 1 Osprey distantly over Goathorn/Ower, 140 Med Gull and an increase to 7 Common Gull. The Brownsea Lagoon logged a juv Little Ringed Plover (scarce here) along with 2 Grey Plover, c15 Turnstone, c150 Dunlin and c300 Oystercatcher. the Holes Bay Wigeon was still there and both Peregrines were on the Asda Flats this morning.

(Un-ringed?) Male Osprey – Middlebere – Kate Plater 

You should never right off a good days birding because of the weather, because you just never know. Despite this mornings (and most of the days) foul weather there was plenty to be enjoyed if you were willing to brave the murk. From our Summer(!!) Safari Cruise this AM we logged 3 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, c200 Black-tailed Godwit and c100 Curlew  in the Wareham Channel with 3 Common Sandpiper and 1 Common Snipe in the mouth of the Frome. Female White-tailed Eagle G466 gave great views on the Gold Point shoreline at RSPB Arne and a Marsh Harrier was over Swineham GP. The Brownsea Lagoon was busy and saw 3 Spoonbill, c220 Dunlin, c30 Ringed Plover, c30 Turnstone, 1 Avocet, 2 Grey Plover, 17 Curlew, c70 Redshank, 4 Common Sandpiper, c50 Sandwich Tern, c20 Common Tern and 4 Med Gulls. Later this afternoon there were 3 Spoonbill (the same Brownsea birds?), 3 Spotted Redshank, 4 Green Sandpiper and 4 Greenshank. This morning there were 2 different Wigeon at two different locations, one in Lytchett Bay and one in Holes Bay suggesting there has been a minor early arrival of a couple of birds…well over a month early. Also on Lytchett Fields were 45 Black-tailed Godwit, 70+ Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 3 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, 4 Common Sandpiper and 1 Dunlin.

Black-tailed Godwits – Wareham Channel

Today was a special day as it was the day our fourth and final Osprey chick ‘5H6’ properly fledged. This signals the beginning of the end of the 2024 Osprey breeding season, with the grand total of ZERO chicks roosting/sleeping on the nest tonight. Although they’ll be back a fourth for food over the coming weeks, we’ll now see less and less of the quartet as they start taking food off to various trees to eat, rather than on the nest. The season won’t be considered a total success until each of the family of six all migrate away safely towards the back end of August and early September, so until then, we’ll carry on enjoying their presence on the nest cam while we can, before loud begging calls get exchanged for autumn gales!

In Brands Bay this evening it was much of the same in terms of local waders with 14 Whimbrel, 107 Curlew, 49 Black-tailed Godwit, 47 Redshank, 11 Dunlin, 11 Med Gull and 3 Common Gull. Likewise in Holes Bay NW where there were 124 Black-tailed Godwit, c50 Redshank, 6 Oystercatcher and 6 Curlew which were joined by single Whimbrel, Dunlin and Turnstone in the morning. Also a Common Tern was flying around the NW sector and a total of 68 Little Egret were across the whole of Holes Bay. Last night there were 2 Nightjar and a single Barn Owl in the Upton CP SANG area.

Osprey chick ‘5H6’ listing off for his first proper flight

Up, Up and away Osprey chick 5H6 fly’s off over the woodland on his maiden flight

It was nice to be back to something more mild and dry, rather than damp and cold, and with it, lots of nice sightings from across the area. Starting chronologically, early this AM at Lytchett Fields 12 Greenshank was a season high for this year, also there were 75 Redshank, 14 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Curlew and c40 Lapwing. Also a morning watch at Brands Bay provided 84 Curlew, 5 Whimbrel, 32 Black-tailed Godwit, 61 Redshank, 2 Dunlin, 23 Med Gulls and 2 Common Gull. At Middlebere 2 Spoonbill remained plus there were still 5 Spotted Redshank and a Great White Egret there. At Swineham a Marsh Harrier was seen along with 4 Bearded Tit and 3 Whimbrel. From Rock Lea View, Lytchett Bay this afternoon one of the White-tailed Eagles was seen flying, a Hobby went over and a few Whimbrel were in the Bay. Male Osprey 022 was really out and about today being seen fishing in Middlebere several times during the day, as well as from our Sunset Safari Cruise this evening where CJ7 was also seen heading back up the Piddle Valley with a fish, plus, what we think was ‘new’ female Osprey ‘1H1’ getting chased by a Peregrine over the RSPB Arne shoreline. Plus, we think she was back at the nest site again this afternoon as CJ7 and 022 defended the nest for about 45 minutes from an intruding Osprey. Also from the cruise were plenty of Common Sandpiper on the north Brownsea shoreline, c200 Black-tailed Godwit in the Wareham Channel, c80 Dunlin plus an arrival of 40+ Turnstone. On the Stilt Pools at Swineham 3 adult Yellow-legged Gulls were still loafing about. Finally, our fourth and final Osprey chick ‘5H6’ (semi) fledged today, leaving the nest empty for a period of time, the first time it’s been empty since late March!! It didn’t take long for food to be delivered and there was soon a busy scene again as frantic feeding took place, but over the next few days we expect ‘5H6’ to fledge properly, and we’ll begin to see less and less of them on screen as they start taking fish to nearby trees instead of eating on the nest…..Sad times!!

Man about town – Male Osprey on parental fishing trip, Middlebere – Mark Wright

(Same) Man about town – Male Osprey on parental fishing trip, Middlebere – @twamers (Twitter)

Super sweltering today which saw more Osprey excitement and a potential mystery solved. Earlier in the week our new male ‘374’ returned to the harbour, and was joined by an unidentified ringed female. We weren’t able to read the ring on Wednesday of the new arrival, but since then, a mystery Osprey has been hassling our pair at the nest site, and at around midday our Osprey engagement officer, Mya, got a great photo as the mystery bird flew over our viewing platform, revealing leg ring number ‘1H1’. This is  a 2022 Rutland born female who actually visited us about a month for the first time. Is this who was with ‘374’ on the nest platform on Wednesday? He himself then appeared this afternoon in Middlebere, and although he didn’t appear on any nest platforms, it’s great to hear he’s come back! All eye’s to the sky’s this weekend and lets hope they encounter each other again and find a nest platform to settle on. Also this evening there were 5 Spotted Redshank in Middlebere.

2022 born Rutland female Osprey ‘1H1’ causing mischief at the nest site

After yesterdays excitement, it was all quiet on the western front toady, with no re-sightings of the new Osprey pair anywhere in the harbour. However, this afternoon, an intruding Osprey appeared at the nest site and spent the late afternoon and early evening pestering CJ7 and the family, which resulted in several quite incredible aerial battles, before the new arrival was soon seen off. We’re not sure who the intruding individual was, but hopefully it will visit another nest platform over the coming days. Elsewhere the White-tailed Eagle pair were in the  Wareham Channel area all day, a Hobby was calling at dusk near Slepe Heath and there were a minimum of 8 Nightjar tonight during over Nightjar walk. The first migrant Garden Warbler was ringed at Carey Secret garden this AM with another juvenile Sedge Warbler.

Whimbrel – Middlebere – Mark Wright

A really interesting day today in many regards. Firstly, a Wigeon appeared out of nowhere in Holes Bay NE this morning, which is over a month earlier than the ‘normal’ first returning individuals, which don’t normally appear until the last week of August. Perhaps this is a wandering over-summering individual, or perhaps breeding success has been so poor in northern Europe this year that birds are already beginning to arrive back??!! Our Summer Safari Cruise this AM was a busy raptor-fest with a fly over Osprey in the Wareham Channel (more on that later), 2 White-tailed Eagles, 1 Marsh Harrier over Swineham, 3 Hobby (2 Arne Moors, 1 Swineham), 1 Peregrine, a few soaring Buzzard and 2 Kestrel. Not a bad haul! The Brownsea Lagoon held 3 Avocet, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover , 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew, 4 Greenshank, 16 Turnstone, 21 Dunlin and 2 Common Sandpiper. A new ringing site at Carey Secret Garden has just started operating and this morning the team there caught the first autumn migrant Sedge Warbler of the year and the first migrant juv Willow Warbler of the autumn.

Then, this afternoon, we received some photos from one of our trail cameras on another harbour nest platform of an Osprey eating a fish. Our resident male 022 has been using various platforms over the last few weeks, so we assumed it was likely to be him. However, when we recived the HD images we were thrilled to see it was our ‘missing’ three-year old male 374! He was last seen in the harbour about 3 months ago, and had only been sighted a few times in Hampshire since, so his whereabouts has been quite a mystery. Then, to our shock, an hour later we recived another photo of not 1 but 2 Ospreys on the nest, one which was definitely 374, the other which was an unidentified ringed female! Frustratingly, the HD image didn’t allow us to read the ring number, and we weren’t able to ID her, which is a real shame. Hopefully they’ll come back to the platform again tomorrow and we’ll get a positive ID on who this new arrival is.

There is an extra element to this story. We also caught our resident male 022 on the same nest cam, giving new kid on the block ‘374’ a hard time, which may account for why ‘374’ hasn’t stuck around this spring and summer. We hope that because there’s a new female on the scene, it may give 374 more cause to stay around and hold his ground. Or….will he/they just disappear again in the blink of an eye, just like he did earlier in the spring? This evening there was also a report of an Osprey flying off north over Nuffield in Poole, heading over Canford Heath……was this 374 leaving again? We’ll just have to wait and see. Regardless, this is another exciting development of the Poole Harbour Osprey saga!!!

Male Osprey 374 arriving back earlier this afternoon

Male Osprey 374 being joined by a mystery female about an hour after arrival

Resident male 022 coming and sticking his beak in where it’s not wanted and seeing off the ‘new pair’

Early returning Wigeon – Holes Bay – Tony Furnell