Those at Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne today were treated to fantastic views of adult male White-tailed Eagle G463, giving a stunning low fly-past. You can clearly see his one foot in the photos. Over at RSPB Lytchett Fields this morning, 1 Osprey was present. At Middlebere, on the rising tide, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 12 Greenshank and 1 Marsh Harrier were seen alongside Osprey 5H3, who’s still sticking around in the harbour. Over at Brand’s Bay, wintering wildfowl and wader numbers continue to rise, with 76 Teal, 5 Wigeon, 82 Curlew, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 73 Greenshank, 34 Mediterranean Gull, and 60 Common Gull. Brownsea Lagoon continues to deliver some fantastic views of passage waders – at least 5 Curlew Sandpiper including 5 right in front the Avocet hide, 13 Knot, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Common Sandpiper, and 65 Spoonbill.

Osprey – RSPB Lytchett Fields – Alison Copland

Adult male White-tailed Eagle G463 – Coombe Heath – @Kayakpoole.bsky.socialWheatear – Coombe Heath – @dizzygirl66.bsky.social

Spoonbill numbers continue to rise with now at least 66 in the harbour and mainly found on the Brownsea Island lagoon. 2 Little Stint were found amongst the larger flocks of Dunlin. Little Stint are similar in size to House Sparrows while Dunlin are a little larger, like a Starling. 10 Curlew Sandpiper, a single Knot and 15 Greenshank also on the lagoon.

A Osprey was spotted over Baiter and Poole Park, the observer drawn to the alarm calling gulls over head. The Osprey continued into the harbour and westwards along the northern shores of Brownsea Island. This was probably a newly arriving migrant. Another Osprey was seen at Lytchett Bay, catching a fish on it’s first attempt.

Lytchett Bay is getting busier with birds with a growing number of Wigeon (25) and 80 Teal. 10 Common Sandpiper were a high count for this area. 56 Redshank, 3 Spotted Redshank and 20 Greenshank were identified along with 6 Little Grebe. 

5 Glossy Ibis made a return to the same area off the Wareham bypass during the late afternoon.

Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea Island lagoon – wildontheroad.bsky.social

Some pretty serious downpours tonight would have filled up the river valleys, making it perfect for the ongoing Glossy Ibis irruption. Yesterdays 5 were still on Lytchett Fields this morning and spent most of the day there before then heading off SW and were re-found in the Frome Valley near the Wareham by-pass. Yesterday there was a British record total of 605 birds logged across the country. While they used to be rare vagrants in the UK, sightings have really increased over the last decade as birds recolonise western Europe due to wetland restoration and, aided by climate change as the move north. They bred for the first time in the UK in 2022 in Cambridgeshire. This September’s arrival seems to be caused by birds dispersing in favourable winds from south-western Europe, along with very high breeding success in Spain and France from a growing population. Could this big influx encourage more birds to stay and breed? There was a flock of 91 in Devon yesterday so its likely we’ll see more over the next few weeks.

Grounded migrants were thin on the ground up around Ballard this morning but did include 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Tree Pipit, 15+ Chiffchaff and a light passage of House Martin, Sand Martin and Swallow. In the Lower Piddle Valley, Carey a good range of migrants were ringed including 2 Nightjar, 6 Grasshopper Warbler, 15 Sedge Warbler, 1 Redstart, 26 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler and 1 Tree Pipit. On the Brownsea Lagoon 2 Curlew Sandpiper were out in front of the Avocet Hide and c50 Spoonbill were on the Tamerisk Island. In Lytchett Bay 3 different Osprey visited, as did an adult White-tailed Eagle. A flock of 11 Cattle Egret were at Holmebridge/Worgret, another was on Wareham Common, 1 in Lytchett Bay and 2 in Middlebere.

Glossy Ibis – Lytchett Bay

With calmer conditions this last night and this morning, it obviously got some birds moving with a new Wryneck on Brownsea today, right in front of the new Lookout hide. Plus, this evening the Glossy Ibis influx reached the harbour with 5 settling on Lytchett Fields this afternoon before relocating to the bay. There were 6 Curlew Sandpiper off Jerry’s Point, 2 on the Brownsea Lagoon and 2 on Lytchett Fields. Cattle Egret also seem to be arriving with 4 at Middlebere/Wytch Lake, 4 at Holme Bridge, 1 at Lytchett Fields and 2 at the Wareham Causeway. Wheatear, Whinchat and Stonechat seem a regular fix for the southern harbour heathlands, an Osprey was over Middlebere and 2 were in the Wareham Channel. The Spoonbill flock on Brownsea was 55 and a Great White Egret was at Swineham.

Northern Wheatear – Middlebere

The final Osprey cruise of the season provided the variety of species you’d expect during autumn migration. Two adult Osprey were seen, one perched on the Arne coastline, another briefly flying along the edge of the Wareham channel. As the storm clouds gathered overhead, birds kept lower in the skies with large groups of hirundines gathering and a flock of 13 Little Tern made a rapid entrance and southerly flight across the channel. Two Spoonbill were in flight looking for shallow areas during the high tide. 4 Bar-tailed Godwit fed along the sandy, quiet beaches of Arne and at least 10 Common sandpiper and 4 Redshank were feeding along the strand line of the northern edge of Brownsea Island.

On the Brownsea lagoon passage waders were in good numbers with 4 Curlew sandpiper, 4 Knot 2 Little Stint and a further 3 Bar-tailed Godwit. Dunlin numbers now exceed 100, 25 Ringed plover, 20 Redshank and 30 Avocet. The Spoonbill numbers are now at 63 including the 2 seen earlier.

Later in the day, 2 Grey plover, 8 Sanderling and a single Little Stint also seen on the Brownsea lagoon.

At Brands Bay, Studland, Great-crested Grebe (17) numbers are steadily increasing as wintering and passage birds arrive in the Harbour. 1 Little Stint, 29 Turnstone, 58 Redshank and 106 Bar-tailed Godwit also showing that passage migration is in full flow. A single, un-ringed juvenile Osprey was also seen and photographed having recently caught a fish.

At Lytchett Bay, Shoveler numbers are increasing with 6 individuals (4 also seen on Brownsea lagoon). 1 Ruff, 24 Greenshank, 2 Green sandpiper and 4 Spotted Redshank. A Pale-morph juvenile Honey Buzzard was seen flying overhead.

Avocet – Brownsea Island lagoon – Alison Copland

Spoonbill – Brownsea Island lagoon – Alison Copland

Juvenile Osprey with fish – Brands Bay, Studland – Birds of Poole Harbour

Another big push of migration in the harbour today, with the Lower Piddle Valley ringing station catching 172 birds, including 1 Redstart, 43 Blackcap, 39 Sedge Warbler, 11 Willow Warbler, 27 Chiffchaff, 1 Nightjar, 2 Firecrest, and 5 Tree Pipit. Our morning Osprey Cruise was very productive with 5 Ospreys seen including 1 juvenile and 1 very distant White-tailed Eagle. At Swineham, 2 Bearded Tit were briefly seen and heard and 1 Water Rail was calling from the reeds. There was plenty to see on Brownsea Lagoon including 5 Knot, 58 Spoonbill, c150 Common Ringed Plover, 20 Avocet, and 10 Greenshank. The fun began even before we left the quay, with 1 Wheatear on the rocks, 5 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Tree Pipit flying over. Plus, there was 1 Kingfisher on the Quay and another on the Brownsea Lagoon. There were 2 different Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel, with an adult female and a juvenile. There were more Wheatear  moving today with 5 on Hartland, 1 on Poole Quay, 3 at Greenlands Farm and 1 on Brownsea.

Knot – Brownsea Lagoon – Mark Wright

The stormy conditions brought with it some nice birds in the Wareham Channel with a small, all dark Skua species that was sadly too distant to identify. A Glossy Ibis also dropped in to Arne Moors this morning. The first Pintail of the Autumn dropped in to Holes Bay today along with 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Knot, 302 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Dunlin and 1 fishing Osprey. From our Osprey Cruises we also had at least 5 Osprey, 2 Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel and on the Brownsea Lagoon there were 27 Spoonbill, 12 Avocet, 4 Knot and 2 Bar-tailed Godwit.

Spoonbill from our Osprey Cruise this AM – Brownsea Lagoon – Mark Wright

Incredibly early record of 12 Dark-bellied Brent Geese flying into the harbour this afternoon during the stormy conditions. We normally don’t see the first birds coming in until early/mid-October. There was a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper on the Brownsea Lagoon from our Osprey Cruise this morning along with c50 new Bar-tailed Godwit, 8 Spoonbill and a further 20 in Wytch Lake. There was a possible juvenile Arctic Tern on the sandspit of Long Island. 2 late Swift were over Tower Park and another 2 were over Middle Beach, Studland. In Lytchett Bay there were 2 Osprey, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Spotted Redshank, 15 Greenshank and 1 Whimbrel. At the Middlebere Channel this evening there was a good count of 31 Yellow Wagtail amongst the cattle and horses, before heading off to roost. There were also 2 Spotted Redshank, 7 Greenshank, c100 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Hobby and 1 Osprey. At Swineham this evening 1 Ruff was on the newly filled Swineham ‘Stilt Pools’. The Brownsea Lagoon also had c150 Ringed Plover, 4 Knot and c100 Dunlin. Finally, at Holmebridge this afternoon 21 Cattle Egret were with cows just west of the bridge.

Greenshank – Lytchett Fields RSPB – petey632.bsky.social