Thats it….August done. Nothing but the waft of autumn smells and steely grey sky’s over coastal sites to get birders hearts racing. Autumn migration has been well under way for weeks and weeks, but Sept, Oct and Nov autumn migration is the real deal, with the first Redwings due later this month, plus the opportunity for a multitude of other rarer scarcer species on the potential hit list. With the strong south-westerlies  the last week, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper…..Western Sandpiper all enter day-dreaming braincells, whilst passages of Swallows and House Martins stream overhead.

September got off to a good start with the (now annual) Forster’s Tern logged off Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne this afternoon. We have been keeping an eye out from our Osprey Cruises over the last few weeks, semi-expecting it to be back at some point, and right on cue, it showed up. Ospreys are still here in good numbers despite the weather with 3 in Lytchett Bay this afternoon and several around the Wareham Channel and Middlebere. There were 2 new White-tailed Eagles around briefly with a 2024 juvenile in the Wareham Channel this afternoon and a juv from this years IOW release which tracked just north of the harbour briefly. There was a Wigeon in Brands Bay, 2 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields, 3 Spoonbill at Middlebere and it was also good to see our 2023 male Osprey 5H3 is still in and around the harbour, which is excellent news for a potential 3rd nest next year!

Male Osprey 5H3 – Lytchett Bay – Mark Wright