There was a reversion back to some scorching weather today and blistering sunshine. This meant that our planned ringing of the Osprey chicks had to be done at first light before it got too hot to climb the tree. The nest tree is a decent size, being at least 33m, so it takes quite an effort to climb. To reduce any potential risk to the chicks we decided to ring in the nest this year which speeds up the process and means we don’t have to lower them to the ground. Big thanks to Adam Day for his support today in helping in the process. We started the climb just before 6am and managed to get the job done fairly quickly, with ring numbers 5H3, 5H4 and 5H5 allocated to the 3 chicks. We think 5H3 and 5H4 are male and 5H5 is definitely female. Now let’s hope for a successful fledging in a few weeks time!

Elsewhere an Osprey was seen over Shipstal, 5 Spoonbill were in Middlebere, 2 White-tailed Eagle were in the Wareham Channel, a Black-headed (or Grey-headed) Wagtail was at the Middlebere cottages and in Brands Bay 1 Whimbrel, 71 Curlew, 3 Black-tailed Godwit and 32 Med Gull.

Osprey chicks (left to right) 5H3, 5H4 and 5H5 lying low in the nest during ringing this morning.