Another scorching hot day with clearly quite a few flying insects about, as there were several big groups of Black-headed Gull and Mediterranean Gull hawking for insects in the thermals. Numbers of waders are steadily building in the harbour as showcased on the high tide at Lytchett Fields with 40+ Redshank, 15+ Lapwing, 6 Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 1 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel and 1 Oystercatcher. There was an intruder Osprey at the Carey Osprey nest today at 1pm, who was quite persistent in showing interest until CJ7 drove it off. Looking at the quite tatty plumage, this is likely ‘6C6’ the Lancashire female who has been hanging around for a couple of weeks now, especially in Lytchett Bay.

In other news, yesterday evening we ringed the 2 Osprey chicks on Nest 2, the second breeding pair of Ospreys in southern England. These were the juveniles of our translocated male 374 and the Rutland female 1H1. The chicks were ringed 5R7 and 5R8, both with intermediate weights of 1.64kg so sexes couldn’t be immediately determined, although that should become clear in the coming weeks.

Preparing to weigh one of the Osprey chicks at nest 2 yesterday evening