Lytchett Fields was a real wader fest today with 12 species recorded. Highlights from the site included 2 Little Stint, 1 Ruff, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Ringed Plover, 8 Snipe and several Common Sandpiper as well as Redshank, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Greenshank and Green Sandpiper. There was also a site rarity as a Yellowhammer pitched down in one of the hedgerows and 2 Yellow Wagtail were out on the fields. A ringing session from Lytchett Bay saw only a small passage of Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler with Whitethroat and several Willow Warbler also ringed. In scrub at the north end of Holes Bay Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff were all noted. On Brownsea up to 9 Spoonbill are back now with numbers likely to increase all the way through September and in to October. Poole Harbour hit a national record of 60 Spoonbill on October 17^th 2015…will we exceed that total this year? Also on Brownsea today were 41 Avocet, 20 Ringed Plover, 5 Greenshank, 1 Turnstone, 1 Common Sandpiper and 21 Curlew. At Arne an Osprey was seen several times between the Wareham Channel and Middlebere also a Marsh Harrier there. Our efforts of night migration sound recording are going from bad to worse again with just 2 Tree Pipit recorded. There were several very distant wader calls but none that were really identifiable other than some passing Oystercatcher.

Common Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam