We can’t believe the osprey chicks have been with us a week already and to see the change in their size, structure and behaviour in such a short space of time has been amazing. We don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch but each of the eight has really taken to Dorset life. It’s certainly been a lot warmer this last week and compared to what they’ve been used to up in Scotland so as long as we’re not turning them into southern ‘beach bum’ softies we’re on course for a late July release. LS0 has began fly-hopping around its pen and today even took off for a very short while all the others are still wolfing down food and are visibly getting stronger by the day. With slightly unsettled weather approaching from the south in the coming days a nice bit of the ‘wet stuff’ my bring them back down to earth with a bump after a week of sun, sea and salmon.

Sightings from around the harbour included a good haul of waders at Lytchett Fields including 6 Dunlin, 6 Common Sandpiper, 9 Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 85 Black-tailed Godwit, 50 Lapwing and 30 Redshank along with 6 Spoonbill. The 4 Avocet chicks are now already down to 3! Although the parents were keeping a really good eye on them today and it seems the 7^thSpoonbill was favouring Brownsea rather Lytchett Fields with its mates. An Osprey settled on the Middlebere nesting platform early doors and there was 2 Whimbrel on the mud there at low tide. At Slepe Heath and Sunnyside Farm a few juvenile Willow Warbler were in scrub, but these could simply account for local fledged birds rather than passing migrants. There was some exciting news that Cattle Egret bred in Dorset this summer (not in Poole Harbour), but it will be well worth watching out for any more that could be returning to the harbour area in post breeding flocks along with Great White Egret too.