There’s plenty to report over the last two days so we’ll cut right to it! The sudden shift in weather has brought on an arrival of 2-year-old Osprey into the country. Within the harbour, a newly arrived, unringed Osprey delighted observers at Arne on the 5th after the behaviour of CJ7 and 022 around the nest site early morning raised suspicions of a potential nearby intruder. Confirmation was then secured when the unringed Osprey landed on one of the other harbour platforms just before 11am. We suspect that most of the Middlebere Osprey sightings that day related to this newly arrived individual. Then at 2.50pm, 019 (a translocated female that has been recorded several times in at Gunjur Quarry, The Gambia since her release in 2019) landed on the Glaslyn nest in Wales! Amazingly, 019 is the second Poole Harbour bird to visit the site, along with 014 who is currently breeding on the Pont Croesor (Friends of the Ospreys) nest!

While out conducting a breeding Redshank survey the previous day (June 4th), we were treated to views of male Osprey 022 catching a large Mullet near the mouth of the River Frome, framed beautifully with Corfe Castle in the background. An early start in Poole Town offered views of the male Peregrine circling the George roundabout a few times before perching on a crane opposite Barclays.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on our Purbeck Puffin Cruises over the last two evenings. We are really enjoying being back out, exploring and interpreting the harbour and wider area again. We enjoyed views of the star species on both trips, with numbers peaking at 5 Puffins on the 4th. As well as being treated to great views of Gannet, Fulmar, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake, we managed to figure out the location of the Peregrine nest site at Old Harry! Understanding the geology of the Jurassic Coastline was eye-opening for the Birds of Poole Harbour Team, and we are very grateful to our special guest Dr Anjana Khatwa who provided fascinating insights into the international recognised rock formations on Saturday’s cruise.

Puffin in flight from Purbeck Puffin Cruise – Clare Slade

Puffin from Purbeck Puffin Cruise – Clare Slade