With the weather heating up this weekend, we are starting to see a great range of sightings spread across the harbour. The highlight of the day was an adult male pale Honey Buzzard that flew west over the north of the Wareham Channel, past the entrance to Lytchett Bay this morning. In a ringing session at Lytchett Bay this morning, 2 Grasshopper Warbler were ringed, as well as 1 Common Sandpiper. In the Wareham Channel, highlights included 2 Little Tern feeding, 2 Common Sandpipers, 380 Black-tailed Godwit, c.60 Little Egret and 6 Common Seal. At Swineham, 4 Bearded Tits and 2 Green Sandpiper were present, as well as a Hobby over the gravel pits.
On the Brownsea Lagoon, 1 Spoonbill, c.80 Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plover, 1 Wigeon, 20 Teal, 1 Greenshank, c.25 Redshank and 5 Avocet were present. Also on the Brownsea shoreline were 10 Common Sandpiper. The harbour is teeming with both juvenile and adult Sandwich and Common Tern. Over in Studland Bay, 4 Gannets were present and 1 summer-plumage Sanderling was seen in Shell Bay. In the exposed mud around Ower and Newton Bay, c.20 Whimbrel and 150 Curlew were sighted.
Osprey sightings are becoming more common across the harbour. Over the weekend, the team will be stationed at Ham Common Viewpoint for our public Osprey Watch events in partnership with BCP Council, where the movement of Ospreys over the Wareham Channel will be reported. Hopefully, we may get further sightings of the Honey Buzzard from there too. Today, 1 Osprey was sighted perched on a marker post in the mouth of the River Frome and another was sighted over Lytchett Bay this morning.
Common Sandpiper, Lytchett Bay
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