Sightings02/05/2018

Harbour Update – posted 01/05/18

What a great start to the month! After a pretty dire April, May began with a bang as a hat-trick of great birds were found in the harbour today. It started off with a White Stork that was first seen heading SW over Canford Heath before then being spotted several minuets later over Stoborough heading west up the Frome Valley, making this only the 11th Poole Harbour record. Then, about 30 minuets later Richard Howe’s found Poole Harbours twentieth Glossy Ibis, although out of those twenty only five have been in recorded in the last ten years and the other fifteen dating pre-1877 making Glossy Ibis a very rare bird within the harbour. Then, around midday a summer plumaged Cattle Egret was found at Swineham in amongst cattle on the north side of the River Frome. Sadly it upped and left west into the Frome Valley but there’s a good chance its still around with plenty of good habitat locally with grazing cattle. There was also a great supporting cast with a Spoonbill in Middlebere, 19 Whimbrel and 12 Wheatear at Greenlands Farm and a single Yellowhammer at South Haven (very scarce here). Hobby were seen over the Lytchett Fields, Wareham bypass and Greenland’s Farm with Cuckoo also at Greenland’s and another at Swineham. In Poole Harbour mouth 60 Common Tern were feeding in the tidal race on the morning tidal run and a Spotted Flycatcher was on Brownsea. At Lytchett Fields there were 196 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 4 Whimbrel, 1 Green Sandpiper and 1 Little Ringed Plover. In Holes Bay NE there were also 4 Whimbrel. In the PCW Drain a single Willow Warbler was singing and there were 3 Blackcap and 1 Whitethroat. An Osprey was hunting in the Wareham Channel mid afternoon and early evening and a passage Marsh Harrier passed through the west of the harbour. 

Glossy Ibis – Lytchett Fields – Richard Howe’s

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