A very exciting day all-round! Today we announced that we now have a second breeding pair of Osprey in southern England, Rutland female 1H1 who fledged from their Manton Bay nest in 2022 and Poole Harbour male 374, who was translocated in 2021 as part of our Osprey project in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. We are delighted to announce that on April 24th, 1H1 laid her first egg! A clutch of three eggs were laid in total, and on June 3rd their first chick hatched quickly followed by a second on June 5th: an excellent result for first time breeders! You can read further about this fantastic news here: https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey-news/breaking-news-second-breeding-pair-of-osprey-in-the-south/

It was all action on the Carey Osprey nest during our Carey Osprey Tours today. Female CJ7 began alarm-calling at 9am this morning, closely followed by an adult female Honey Buzzard appearing behind the nest and landing in a nearby tree. CJ7 then went in pursuit and we had a fantastic aerial display of both birds, with the Honey Buzzard eventually being driven away. 4 Red Kite were also seen from the viewing platform. There were more signs of autumn migration in the harbour, with 4 Green Sandpiper and 2 breeding plumage Spotted Redshank seen at RSPB Lytchett Fields, all fresh in today. Also present were 8 Redshank, 9 Lapwing, and 9 Teal. A Marsh Harrier was seen over the breeding Gull islands in the harbour this morning. From this evenings Sunset Safari, it was all go, with male White-tailed Eagle G463 seen chasing down male Osprey 022 for his fish, which he promptly dropped and the eagle dropped down to retrieve from the water. We also had an adult Hobby cross the Wareham Channel and what looked like a fresh juvenile Marsh Harrier was around Swineham. There were more signs of autumn passage getting underway on the Brownsea Lagoon with 8 Avocet, the first 8 Common Redshank and first Greenshank of the autumn, plus a lone summer plumaged Turnstone.

1H1 and 374 landing on their new nest on April 6th