Some good news today that a new White-tailed Eagle arrived into the harbour, this time a male and was briefly seen flying over Swineham with what was assumed to be the other White-tailed Eagle, female G801 who’s been around on and off since March. Also in the Wareham Channel was a single Great White Egret, 2 Marsh Harrier, 11 Curlew and a flock of 6 Lapwing. In Middlebere there were 2 Spoonbill. Last night we hosted another Puffin Cruise and were treated to great views of 3 Puffin, as well as good sized rafts of Guillemot and Razorbill, with close fly by of Gannet. Then, when we got back to the quay 2 Peregrine were on top of the large crane, 1 juvenile and an adult.

Atlantic Puffins – Dancing Ledge – Alison Copland

Northern Gannet – Durlston – Rene Goad

The highlight of today’s sightings are 2 Roseate Tern that have put in an appearance on Brownsea Lagoon, dipping in and out of the Sandwich Tern colony. 1 Spoonbill was seen again in the Middlebere Channel this morning. There was 1 Red Kite reported over Lytchett Bay this afternoon, and it’s been great news to hear that the Lytchett Bay View has been granted Local Nature Reserve status. After the arrival of Green Sandpiper this week, it was only a matter of time before we saw the first Spotted Redshank of the “autumn”, with one seen on the Brownsea Lagoon yesterday, looking stunning in its summer plumage.

Yesterday’s Puffin and Seabird Cruise was fantastic, with perfect weather conditions for venturing up the Jurassic Coast. We had several close fly-bys from Mediterranean Gulls as we passed Durlston, with one distant Gannet also visible. There were high numbers of Guillemots also at Durlston, with several Fulmar also visible on the cliffs.  At Dancing Ledge, we saw 4 Puffin, as well as fantastic views of Razorbill amongst the Guillemot rafts, and 6 Kittiwake on the cliffs. We were also able to confirm breeding Peregrine success at Durlston, with a juvenile visible with the male on the cliffs, as well as another individual at Old Harry.

Roseate Tern – Brownsea Lagoon – Nikki Tutton

Spotted Redshank – Brownsea Lagoon yesterday – Hamish Murray

Late info from yesterday, 2 more early Common Sandpiper were on a mooring in the Frome near Swineham and Lapwing breeding was confirmed in the Lower Piddle Valley near the mouth of the River Piddle with 4 chicks present. On Ballard there were 2 Yellowhammer. 

Yellowhammer – Ballard Down

After the first report of Green Sandpiper for the “autumn” yesterday, 2 were reported at Lytchett Fields today, along with building numbers of waders including 11 Lapwing, 6 Redshank, 2 Oystercatcher and a Little Ringed Plover. In Brands Bay the over-summering 4 Brent Geese were still there and there were 13 Curlew and 14 Black-tailed Godwit. There were no reports, however, of the Common Sandpiper seen yesterday. Early this morning at Lytchett Bay an Osprey was seen fishing, which isn’t the usual hunting spot for 022. It’s possible this was a newcomer in the area, or perhaps just a quick change of routine for 022, as the bird then headed to the Wareham Channel to continue hunting, which is where 022 favoured last year. It’s miraculous how often 022 has been hunting lately without being seen, so it’s nice to hear of a sighting. After a power cut in the night, we also had to reset our Osprey webcam this morning, which means there is a new link to the camera that can be found here.

We’re still in full swing with our Puffin and Seabird Cruises, with 3 running this week. We have a couple of tickets still available for our cruise tomorrow evening, which can be booked here.

Distant Osprey hunting – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

With the summer solstice only a couple of days away and day lengths beginning to shorten as of Wednesday it seemed fitting that the first autumn migrant of the season was logged today in the shape of the first Green Sandpiper arriving back at Lytchett Fields. This is a typical (if not slightly late) date for the first ‘Green Sands’ to appear. However, what was a bit more unusual were 2 Common Sandpiper, also at Lytchett Fields. The first ‘Common Sands’ often don’t tend to start heading south and arriving into the harbour until mid-July so it could be that todays were failed breeders. At Bog Lane a male Cuckoo was on the valley edge and a Spotted Flycatcher was also there. It’s been confirmed that Corfe Peregrines have fledged 1 chick which by the looks of things has recently departed the nest, although still hanging out around Corfe Castle. Another sign that some birds are moving were a small party of Crossbill over Rempstone heading south. These are likly to be local breeders, but in June and July, Crossbill start moving having finished their breeding season several weeks ago and are now in search of new feeding grounds.

Spotted Flycatcher – Bog Lane – Garry Hayman

Great Tit (juvenile) – Middlebere – Mark Wright

A perfect evening for our latest Puffin Cruise last night. Conveniently, a Puffin was sat on the water close to Durlston Head meaning we didn’t have to trek all the way to Dancing Ledge. This meant we got to spend more time at the Guillemot and Razorbill colony at Durlston where there was also Gannet flying close to the boat and several Fulmar were hiding away, nesting on the cliffs. There was also a Peregrine high on the ledge at Ballard.

Gannet – Durlston Head – Mark Wright (Twitter – @markwright12002)

Puffin – Close to Durlston Head – Mark Wright (Twitter – @markwright12002)

A stunning evening to be out last night running our Slepe Heath Nightjar walk which featured star appearances from White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Dartford and Willow Warblers, 2 Cuckoo, 3 Glowworm and incredible Nightjar activity! We still have availability on our Nightjar walks running every Thursday evening through June & July… Find out how to join us here. More Nightjar activity continued into this morning when a male flew across the footpath before landing on a dead gorse branch at Lytchett Heath. Lytchett Bay also logged its first juvenile Lapwing of the year on the Fields this morning.

Nightjar (male) – Slepe Heath Nightjar Experience Walk

 

Nightjar (male) – Lytchett Heath – Ian Ballam

Another very warm day, with the sightings highlight being a Honey Buzzard reported over Rempstone Heath this afternoon. At Lytchett Fields this morning, 1 Hobby, 1 Peregrine and 1 Cuckoo were seen. Having evaded us on most boat trips this month, White-tailed Eagle G801 was seen flying low over the Wareham Channel from Keysworth to Arne shortly before midday.

If you want to make the most of the muggy weather, we are running a Nightjar Walk at Slepe Heath from 8pm this evening, which still has some availability. Tickets can be booked here.

Mediterranean Gull (taken 14th June) – Hamworthy – Ian Julian

Another stunner today, with the heat seeing female Osprey CJ7 sheltering her two chicks from the heat for most of the day, providing an essential Osprey shaped area of shade within the nest. The chicks are growing so fast and are now easily visible on the NEST CAM, especially when a food delivery is made. A Summer Safari Cruise headed out this morning and were treated to multiple Marsh Harrier sightings with the regular 2-3 mooching around the Swineham Point area. Up to 5 Bearded Tit were seen flying around the reed beds in the mouth of the Frome and both Reed Warbler and Reed Bunting were the most notably audible bird species singing. The Brownsea Lagoon had a combined total of 37 Shelduck ducklings, shared between 3 pairs. Also on the Lagoon were newly hatched Oystercatcher including a slightly older chick on the Seymers shoreline on the Brownsea North shore. The Dorset Wildlife Trust counted 135 Sandwich Tern chicks on the breeding islands which is an excellent total compared to last year.

Sandwich Tern colony – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton