Nice to see the 1 Glossy Ibis is still around, being seen this morning from our Osprey Cruise flying from Swineham and landing on the Keysworth shoreline in the Wareham Channel. Will we see a similar arrival in the next few weeks like we did last September of hundreds of Glossy Ibis into the UK? In Lytchett Bay today there were 1 Great White Egret, 2 Spotted Redshank, 6 Dunlin, 21 Greenshank, 75 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Common Sandpiper and several Osprey throughout the day with max count of 5. In Middlebere this evening on the rising tide there were 3 Spotted Redshank, 1 Osprey, 122 Black-tailed Godwit, 104 Redshank, 1 Dunlin, 2 Avocet, 1 Hobby, 1 Green Sandpiper, 14 Greenshank and 1 Spoonbill. In the Wareham Channel from our Osprey Cruises today there were a minimum of 8(!) Osprey, but likely over 10 in reality. This included CJ7 & 022 catching fish, Scottish juvenile 9J7 and an unringed juvenile. Both adult White-tailed Eagles were also active along with 1 Marsh Harrier (mobbing the Eagle), 1 Red Kite and 3 Ruff over Keysworth. Another new ringed Osprey arrived in the harbour today, in fact visiting the Carey nest and viewed from our webcam, Tweed Valley ringed, but Kielder Forest breeding female ‘699’. 1 Whinchat was still at RSPB Arne farm.

With so much Osprey activity and the White-tailed Eagles trying to steal their fish daily, it really is the best time of year to see these birds well. Today we saw 3 fish catches, displaying, calling and the Eagles throughout looking for an easy meal. While they were unsuccessful today, yesterday they did manage to pirate a fish from an unlucky Osprey. We still have a few tickets left for our Osprey Cruises during this peak time, including for this Friday afternoon. Book here.

Osprey ‘536’ Aurora from Loch Arkaig – Lytchett Bay – Mark Wright