The Lower Piddle Valley ringing station hit the jackpot today with an Aquatic Warbler trapped and ringed during the weather fronts. These stripier version of a sedge warbler breed in eastern Europe, mainly in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. During the spring migration these fen and mire loving warblers head straight from Western Africa to the breeding grounds. During the autumn, their route takes them more west across Europe and in certain wind conditions they are known to skirt the southern edges of the UK. So far, this is the third individual to be seen in the UK this autumn. The global population is only around 8000 singing males. Through bird ringing, their wintering location in Africa has now been identified and protected and the population is being carefully monitored.

Read here for more information about this species.

Lytchett Bay showed further signs of autumnal migration with growing numbers of juvenile Black-tailed Godwits having now started their journey south. 17 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Osprey and 14 Swallow also recorded.

At Arne, 8 Spoonbill out of a growing total of over 50 in the harbour were seen from Middlebere. 3 Osprey and a single Marsh harrier were also seen.

The afternoon Osprey cruise had 3 Osprey including male 022 from the Carey nest site. 022 would still be catching fish for any of his off spring that still remain in the harbour. Great views of a Marsh harrier, 1 Peregrine Falcon and a single 1yr old White-tailed Eagle flew high over-head. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 52 Spoonbill, 7 Greenshank, c150 Ringed Plover, 3 Knot and c200 Dunlin.

Aquatic Warbler – Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge

Thats it….August done. Nothing but the waft of autumn smells and steely grey sky’s over coastal sites to get birders hearts racing. Autumn migration has been well under way for weeks and weeks, but Sept, Oct and Nov autumn migration is the real deal, with the first Redwings due later this month, plus the opportunity for a multitude of other rarer scarcer species on the potential hit list. With the strong south-westerlies  the last week, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper…..Western Sandpiper all enter day-dreaming braincells, whilst passages of Swallows and House Martins stream overhead.

September got off to a good start with the (now annual) Forster’s Tern logged off Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne this afternoon. We have been keeping an eye out from our Osprey Cruises over the last few weeks, semi-expecting it to be back at some point, and right on cue, it showed up. Ospreys are still here in good numbers despite the weather with 3 in Lytchett Bay this afternoon and several around the Wareham Channel and Middlebere. There were 2 new White-tailed Eagles around briefly with a 2024 juvenile in the Wareham Channel this afternoon and a juv from this years IOW release which tracked just north of the harbour briefly. There was a Wigeon in Brands Bay, 2 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields, 3 Spoonbill at Middlebere and it was also good to see our 2023 male Osprey 5H3 is still in and around the harbour, which is excellent news for a potential 3rd nest next year!

Male Osprey 5H3 – Lytchett Bay – Mark Wright

Today was a case of making the most of this morning’s offerings before the rain showers came in full force! The Lower Piddle Valley ringing station caught a Wryneck, a scarce passage migrant. A Wryneck was caught nearly the exact date last August, on the 28th! The end of August is the peak time for encountering this species in the harbour, as they make their southbound journey to Africa to winter. On our Osprey cruise this morning we managed to dodge the showers and were rewarded with 1 Osprey successfully catching a fish in the Wareham Channel. Both adult White-tailed Eagles were present, with G466 (female) sat on Shag Looe before making a short journey to the gull islands and then flying past the boat over the Arne shoreline. As we were up the top of the Wareham Channel, G463 (male) flew in high from the Purbeck coast, before settling on the Holton Lee shoreline. One of the highlights of the cruise was a stunning fly-by of an adult Hobby, close enough to see all the details of its plumage and a prey item (likely a small bird) in its talons. Other species seen included 6 Greenshank, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, and 2 Spoonbill. Elsewhere in the harbour, there were 23 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 27 Turnstone, 2 Whimbrel, 3 Greenshank,  1 Green Sandpiper, and a returning Wigeon in Brands Bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon, there were 1 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and 6 juvenile Knot. 2 Osprey were seen in Lytchett Bay, with one successfully catching a fish.

Wryneck (handled and ringed under BTO license) – Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge

Osprey with fish – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

With a minor break in the weather last night and this morning, some birds managed to migrate during the night, before the cloud and rain settled in mid-morning. The ringing station in the Lower Piddle Valley, at Carey saw another push of Sedge Warbler with 46 ringed along with 6 Grasshopper Warbler, 5 Willow Warbler and an unexpected Hobby in the mist nets. Some of the Sedge Warbler were storing large amounts of fat, with most weighing about 11.0g, but this morning several were 17.0g and one even weighed 20.0g. This afternoon at Lytchett Fields there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 30 Greenshank, 6 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper and small numbers of Common Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. Our Osprey Cruises delivered again today, despite the wind and infrequent showers, with 2-4 Osprey in and around the Wareham Channel, 1 White-tailed Eagle on Gold Point, RSPB Arne and visits to Brownsea logged c55 Spoonbill, c150 Ringed Plover, c15 Avocet and a few remaining Sandwich and Common Terns. At the Sunnyside Farm screen/scrape (which has recently been cut and is looking good) there were 4 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Green Sandpiper and 1 Wheatear. Wader numbers in Holes Bay are building nicely with 352 Redshank, 301 Black-tailed Godwit, 34 Curlew, 26 Oystercatcher and 6 Dunlin logged today, plus 1 Greenshank and 1 Common Sandpiper in the SE sector.

Adult male Eurasian Hobby – Lower Piddle Valley, Carey – Ed Betteridge

Adult male Eurasian Hobby – Lower Piddle Valley, Carey – Ed Betteridge

The morning and afternoon Osprey cruises proved to be eventful and plentiful. 4 Ospreys were observed in the morning, one catching a large flatfish before then dropping it! During the afternoon trip, up to 6 individual Ospreys were seen, 4 managing to catch a fish despite the slightly choppy water conditions.

A White-tailed Eagle was seen first thing in the morning from the Ham Common pop-up event. It was chasing an Osprey that had caught a fish. Both birds disappeared behind trees so the ending of the chase is unknown! Later in the day, a White-ailed Eagle was seen distantly over Round Island.

A Marsh Harrier was spotted flying over Ham Common, numbers of these birds are gradually rising as visiting birds arrive for the winter. Elsewhere, other migrant birds are increasing in number with the first Shoveler (4) seen for a long while and Teal numbers now at 10 in the Wareham Channel and over 150 on the Brownsea lagoon.

Brownsea lagoon is getting busy with an impressive 210 Ringed Plover counted, 23 Avocet (these are likely to rise significantly very soon), 52 Spoonbill (with at least 4 Dutch ringed individuals)3 Curlew, 74 Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 158 Dunlin, and singles of Sanderling, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit. On the lagoon wall, 2 Wheatear stood keeping watch while a group of 11 Common Sandpiper roosted on the northern shore of Brownsea Island.

Ospreys continue to be observed in Lytchett Bay, a couple of Tree Pipit, 20 Goldfinch and 2 Reed bunting also seen here.

An unringed Osprey in Lytchett Bay – Peter Corbin

Yesterday, 55 White Stork were reported heading East, flying over Dorchester. One report came in today that the flock was seen over Worgret yesterday at 15:30pm. Today, there was 1 White Stork that was seen from our Osprey Cruise this afternoon in the Wareham Channel that then tracked north and was seen over Wareham Forest. We also saw 2 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel this afternoon and of course plenty of Osprey, including a Scottish Ringed bird from 2020 235 (pictured below). There were 2 Spotted Redshank and 16 Greenshank seen from Lytchett Fields and 1 Osprey was perched in the trees behind. In the Middlebere Channel there were 14 Spoonbill this evening, as well as 2 Knot, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshank and 1 flyover of White-tailed Eagle G466 while being dive-bombed by 1 Osprey.

Unringed Osprey from our Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Scottish Osprey 235 from our Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 from our Osprey Cruise today – Martin Wright

White-tailed Eagle and Little Egrets from our Osprey Cruise today – Martin Wright

Ospreys are dominating the sightings across the harbour with three seen in Lytchett Bay, one having caught a sizeable fish and another photographed and appearing to be 5H3. It’s great that this individual continues to be seen around the harbour, hopefully he’ll attempt to establish a breeding territory next year. Lytchett fields also had a single Whimbrel and Greenshank.

Middlebere also had a hunting Osprey on the rising tide with another spotted over Coombe heath, interacting briefly with a Common Buzzard.

At Arne there were signs of the ongoing autumn migration with a few of the first returning Teal. Also, singles of Shelduck, Spoonbill and a Sparrowhawk. Three Green Woodpecker also observed. This species has taken a dive in recent years in south Dorset but currently it seems they’re having a better breeding season.

Female White-tailed Eagle, G466, was as usual, harassed as soon as she took flight. This time an Oystercatcher provided consistent mobbing even after she’d landed on the Arne shoreline.

Male Osprey 5H3 over Lytchett Bay – Peter Corbin

Oystercatcher chasing White-tailed Eagle (G466) – Arne – kayakpoole@bsky.social

A stunning day in the harbour with up to 8 Osprey seen in the Wareham Channel during our Osprey Cruises, including 2 juveniles! At one point we had 5 Ospreys all flying together with both White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 looking on from their favourite tree. Also seen were 3 Bearded Tit in the mouth of the River Frome, c60 Curlew, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 200 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Common Buzzard, and 2 Marsh Harrier. 1 Spoonbill was feeding in the Rock Lea Channel in Lytchett Bay, with 25 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 53 Black-tailed Godwit also in Lytchett Bay. 1 Wryneck was still present at Sugar Hill in the Wareham Forest, alongside 1 Hobby, 8 Spotted Flycatcher and 25 Willow Warbler.

Spotted Flycatcher – Sugar Hill – @borneokirb.bsky.social

Osprey – Wareham Channel – @alisoncopland.bsky.social

Sandwich Terns – Wareham Channel – @rosekate.bsky.social