Another bright still day in the harbour. The 1 White Stork put in another appearance first being seen over the Piddle Valley at Carey before then heading downstream to the Wareham Channel, tracking along the Holton shoreline, towards Lytchett Bay. 1 Little Tern also briefly showed in the Wareham Channel from our Spring Safari Cruise this morning, before heading at high speed towards Lytchett. There were 5 Hobby active around the Wareham Channel and Swineham, 1 Peregrine, 2 Marsh Harrier, 2 Osprey and 1 Cuckoo. On Arne Moors there were 5 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Greenshank. 1 Garden Warbler was singing behind Turlin Viewpoint in Lytchett Bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 5 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Avocet. 1 Great White Egret was in the field with cows behind Bestwall Road and 1 flew over Arne Moors this morning.

022 carrying fish from Spring Safari Cruise © Joe Parker

Sandwich Tern from Spring Safari Cruise © Adam Hobbs

More nice arrivals today with the first Little Tern in the harbour of the year, with 3 fishing in the Wareham Channel this morning. 1 immature White-tailed Eagle was also present in the Wareham Channel for most of the day before being chased off by Osprey 022 and a Marsh Harrier. 022 then caught a fish and flew up the River Piddle valley and briefly circled with 1 White Stork that came up before drifting off north. 2 Hobby were hunting around the Wareham Channel and 1 Cuckoo flew from Arne across to the Holton shoreline. 2 Bearded Tit were active in the mouth of the River Frome and 1 Greenshank was on Arne Moors. 1 full summer plumage Grey Plover was calling and flying around Swineham and 3 more in winter plumage were in the Wareham Channel. At Swineham, early morning, there was 1 Cuckoo, 2 Great White Egret and 2 Little Ringed Plover. 1 late Common Snipe was feeding in Lytchett Bay. 1 Osprey and 1 Goshawk were active in the Middlebere Channel. 2 Whimbrel were on the north shore of Brownsea along with 1 Greenshank and 1 Common Sandpiper. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 4 Bar-tailed Godwit and just 3 Avocet.

Immature White-tailed Eagle being mobbed by Black-headed Gull – Wareham Channel from BoPH Spring Safari Cruise – John Thorpe

Tree Pipit – Holton Heath

Finally some rain! Not enough to refill the bone dry floodplains but it was certainly needed. Efforts were made try and see if the downpour downed/grounded  any passage migrants but it seems not. Still, it was a nice day up until 2pm and returns were satisfactory with a full adult summer plumaged Little Gull at Lytchett Fields this morning, a Spoonbill was on Brownsea this afternoon, 2 Hobby were along the Arne Road, 2 Osprey were over Shipstal, Arne at lunchtime and 3 Great White Egret were on Bestwall Meadows. Up on Hartland and around Middlebere 2 Cuckoo were singing, there were 2 Spotted Flycatcher at Holton Heath, near Holton Heath train station, a few Swift were moving through and it’s good to see Swallow back on different territories around the harbour.

Another ‘warbler survey’ carried out by local patch watcher Peter Moore produced 102 Reed Warbler plus 45 Cetti’s Warbler and 7 Sedge Warbler singing between Wareham Swineham Point along the River Frome.

Swallow – Swineham – Peter Moore

With April having now faded away and May blossoming into a new era, what will the next month hold? This spring has been pretty good so far, with a great range of birds decorating our landscape, from the Bluethroat, the Forster’s Tern, Common Cranes, Black Kite, White Stork, Garganey, Red-rumped Swallow and so on, what will be next? Who knows, but the fact so many birders are out monitoring the area is worthy enough and shows just how exciting this landscape is. This morning up on Ballard a Hobby was logged coming in off the sea, plus 8 distant skua passed out beyond Durlston, likely Pomarine Skua, also 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Wheatear, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler and 11 Common Whitethroat were counted. A Lesser Whitethroat and french ringed Sedge Warbler were ringed at Carey Secret Garden this morning.

Lesser Whitethroat – Carey Secret Garden – Ed Betteridge

With the strong winds today it was a case of one in, one out of scarce birds as for the first time since late March, the Red-spotted Bluethroat wasn’t seen or heard at Swineham, suggesting it’s now started it’s migration, north towards (likely) northern Scandinavia. But whilst there was no sign of the Bluethroat, a fine Black Kite was found and tracked around the NW of the harbour, first being seen over Carey Secret Garden, then viewed from Wareham Walls, seen heading north and about 15 minutes later was seen over Upton, then Lytchett Fields before last being seen heading NW over the Bakers Arms towards Lytchett Matravers. The vigil from Wareham Walls also yielded a White Stork, seen circling over Wareham, before seen heading off west. There was also a moderate push of Swifts today with small groups of 4-6 passing through every 20 minutes or so this afternoon. The 3 Glossy Ibis were seen flying over the gravel pit at Swineham this AM, 2 Osprey were in the Wareham Channel this afternoon, one of which was definitely 2-year old male 5R0 and the other likely to have been 022.

White Stork circling over Wareham from Wareham Walls – Trevor Warwick

With a cold wind building during the day, it took the edge off the temperature but not the birding. All the usual ‘all stars’ were out in force with the Red-spotted Bluethroat still at Swineham Point, with the 2 Garganey just around the corner at the Stilt Pools, Swineham. The Forster’s Tern was in the Wareham Channel, a single Osprey was in the Wareham Channel, a lone Spoonbill was on Brownsea and 2 White-tailed Eagle were over Middlebere this afternoon. There was a decent supporting cast with 4 Swift over Greenlands Farm, where there were 2 Wheatear and 2 Common Whitethroat, a Spotted Redshank was on RSPB Arne Moors and a few Whimbrel were spread across the harbour on the low tide.

Female Garganey – Swineham Stilt Pools – Peter Moore

Male Garganey – Swineham Stilt Pools – Peter Moore

Another glorious day for birds and birders, but with some strong winds forecast for mid-week, everything was making the most of the calm before the storm. Not too much change in terms of sightings with the Red-spotted Bluethroat still at Swineham along with the 2 Garganey and 2 Little Ringed Plover on the Stilt Pools, but with the added bonus of a Common Crane seen flying over Northmoor, Wareham and heading towards the harbour. There was also some great news over the weekend when it was announced by Dorset Raptor Group that the first Poole Asda Peregrine chick had hatched and today, announced that 3 of the 4 chicks have hatched. This is great news and will no doubt provide endless entertainment later in the season when young Peregrines are bombing around over the Asda car park. More breeding news involved the Brownsea Sandwich Terns who have seen the first individuals settle on eggs today. Even more remarkable was a fully fledged juvenile Great Tit in Upton CP which is massively early for this species, with the more typical fledging date for this species being mid May! A Lesser Whitethroat was singing at Lytchett Heath, Lytchett Bay, this morning an Osprey was seen a few times in Middlebere and this evening the 3 Glossy Ibis were seen over Swineham GP.

Garganey pair – Swineham, Stilt Pools – Peter Moore

Garden Warbler – Wareham Common – Peter Moore

A nice (and long over due) first for the spring today with a pair of Garganey on the Stilt Pools, Swineham, as first seen from our Spring Safari Cruise this afternoon. There were also 3 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper here. An unusual record of 1 Spotted Redshank was on Arne Moors and then, in the mouth of the River Frome, on the low tide. The Red-spotted Bluethroat was still at Swineham Point. Up on Ballard Down this morning there were 3 Lesser Whitethroat singing. 3-year old male Osprey 5H3 was still active in the Middlebere Channel along with 2- year old 5R0 in the morning. There was 1 Hobby was hunting in the Wareham Channel along with 2-year old Osprey 5R0 this afternoon. On Brownsea this morning there was 1 Peregrine sat on the north west sand bank and 3 Whimbrel on the north shore. On the Lagoon there was still 1 Spoonbill, c10 Avocet, c15 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Turnstone (in nice summer plumage), 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin. Last night the first Nightjars of the year were logged at RSPB Arne and near Burnbake, Studland. A survey of the lower-Frome (Wareham to Swineham) by local birder Peter Moore produced 85 Reed Warbler, 42 Cetti’s Warbler and 7 Sedge Warbler.

2 Garganey and 1 Little Ringed Plover – Stilt Pools Swineham – Paul Morton

Spotted Redshank – Mouth of the River Frome from our Spring Safari – Joe Parker

2-year old Osprey 5R0 – Wareham Channel from our Spring Safari Cruise – Joe Parker

Nightjar at RSPB Arne last night on one of our Osprey nest platforms.

Today was a scorcher of a day, certainly for late April! The high pressure continued to dominate and as a result, birds were a tad harder to find, but there was still plenty about. It’s been a great spring so far for Pied Flycatcher and today another 2 were found, both females, with one at Swineham GP close to where the Red-spotted Bluethroat has been hanging out (and was seen today), and another was in Norden near the Half Way Inn. There were 3 Hobby over the Arne Road this afternoon, all hunting together, 2 Swift were over Wareham and 2 Red Kite were over Wareham Common, with 2 migrant Garden Warbler having a sub-song off right next to one another in that area. On Brownsea more and more Common Tern are arriving and the first Black-headed Gulls are on eggs now, plus a lone Spoonbill was still there. A potential adult male Honey Buzzard passed over Hartland and headed towards Brownsea and a White-tailed Eagle was seen over Hartland. In Holes Bay there were 12 Whimbrel and 2 Common Sandpiper and this evening the first 2 Nightjar of the year were singing and wing-clapping near the Burnbake campsite on the Rempstone Estate, between Arne and Studland.

Finally, the Osprey dramas continued today with local male 022 having now stepped away from the local argy bargy, leaving the two new arrivals 5H3 and 5R0 to sort things out themselves with a few tussles this morning between the two bachelors who seem to be fighting over prime real estate in the area. Both were tussling over nests around the Middlebere area this early morning, but then neither were seen for the rest of the day, until just before sunset, 2-year old 5R0 made an appearance leaving us wondering where 5H3 could be? No doubt he’ll put in appearance tomorrow, but we dread to think what might happen if a lone new female appears on the scene in the coming days…..it could be utter carnage as competition for both nest sites and mates increases!

Two Garden Warbler performing plastic song next to one another – Wareham Common