Very few sightings to report today, though hopefully our Puffin and Seabird Cruise this evening will be fruitful! 1 Spoonbill was reported in the Middlebere Channel again today, viewable from Coombe Heath. 1 Hobby was seen flying amongst a group of House Martin in the Piddle Valley this afternoon. The 2 Osprey chicks are growing rapidly, showing much more strength and even displaying their rudimentary “wings” to the camera today. The size difference between the two is noticeable, particularly as the older chick has progressed further with moulting their downy-feathers making it appear darker, which will be matched by the other in the next few days.

If all the current Osprey excitement wasn’t enough, we’re also hosting a talk with expert Alan Poole this Thursday 16th evening, “Ospreys: Revival of a Global Raptor”. The talk is free to watch, though donations are welcomed, but booking is essential and can be completed through our website here.

CJ7 (left) and 022 with both chicks

Cuckoo – Middlebere yesterday evening – @birderOtbt

A decent day, with more sightings logged today than in previous days. This morning male Osprey 022 was seen hunting in the Wareham Channel at 6am, and then again later in the afternoon. Sadly he didn’t appear during our first ‘Summer Safari’ boat tour this morning but we did get lots of decent views of the local Marsh Harriers, as well as 2 of the Common Seal that reside in the mouth of the River Piddle. At Swineham a few Bearded Tit were in the reedbeds off Swineham Point and there were multiple Reed Bunting on territory along the river, most in full song. A Red Kite drifted west over Keysworth and there were 2 Spoonbill in Middlebere. As the tide dropped up to c40 Shelduck were feeding on the mud in the Wareham Channel and a Green Sandpiper was in front of the Middlebere hide. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Little Ringed Plover and 2 Ringed Plover with an increase in Lapwing with 9 now present and up to 23 Gadwall with another 18 on the Brownsea Lagoon. A drone filming Power Boats leaving Poole Quay annoyed the local Oystercatchers with 4 attacking it over the Quay Marina and a new nesting Oystercatcher was found as we passed one of the large barges moored off Hamworthy Beach, with an adult settled on 2 eggs on some old concrete! Last night a Tawny Owl visited the Osprey nest, looking quite interested in CJ7. Luckily she didn’t flush and the chicks remained safe. The 2 juv Peregrines were still looking content on the Barclays building.

Oystercatcher on Hamworthy barge – Clare Slade

Tawny Owl visits Osprey nest  last night

This wind is due to die down over the coming days and next week is looking like it could be the first ‘scorcher’ of the year with temperatures reaching 27 degrees. This will be a great Nightjar week as the warm muggy nights will get lots of insects active and really see Nightjar activity increase with intense territorial displays. In Middlebere 3 of the over-summering Spoonbill were feeding in front of the hide and 2 Hobby were over Slepe Heath again. There was Cuckoo calling at Swineham and plenty of Reed Warbler still singing away. We’ve also been getting some nice data regarding an area in teh harbour that has seen the hatching of 7 Lapwing chicks this spring which are all progressing well.

Lapwing chick – Poole Harbour south

There were more small waders on the Shell Beach shoreline this afternoon including 35+ Sanderling and a few Turnstone and Dunlin. There were 3 Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel with 8 Great Crested Grebe on the water. Just outside Poole Harbour in Swanage an adult Rose-coloured Starling was in a private garden. There doesn’t seem to have been a UK influx (yet) of this species, unlike the last couple of years, but the fact one has made it to Dorset shows one could turn up anywhere and with Starling flocks already beginning to build as post breeding groups start forming, then seeing a bright pink imposter amongst them during the rest of June doesn’t seem too far fetched.

Turnstone – Shell Bay – Phyl England

Sanderling – Shell Bay – Phyl England

It was good to see that the two remaining juvenile Peregrines on the Barclays balconies this morning after the sad news the other day that the third flew into an office window and died only hours after fledging. The two remaining chicks look to be doing well and hopefully will stay out of trouble for a while and successfully fledge. A Quail was flushed from a meadow in the Lower Piddle Valley around lunchtime and White-tailed Eagle G801 was still in the Wareham Channel mid-morning. There were 2 winter-plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit on the Arne shoreline and 2 winter-plumaged Turnstone on the Brownsea Quay beach. Having not been reported so far this spring it was good to hear of 2 Yellowhammer at Challow Hill, Corfe and in Corfe village there were no less than 15 Common Swift flying around.

Yellowhammer – Challow Hill

Stonechat – Challow Hill

A land-based survey of the Black-headed and Mediterranean Gull colony featured a flight 8 Dunlin, raft of 8 Great Crested Grebe, a Marsh Harrier perched on a at the top end of Wareham Channel, and most notably 18 adult Sandwich Tern adults and 4 chicks on the gull islands! Nearby, Lytchett Fields produced 51 Mediterranean Gull, with over half consisting of 2nd calendar year birds. These individuals are like adults, but can be separated by small black markings on wingtip. Possible 2nd calendar year Caspian Gull clocked while stuck in traffic on Dolphin Roundabout. Certainly worth keeping an eye out if birding Holes Bay, Brownsea Lagoon or key roost sites.

Our Nightjar Experience Walks are running every Thursday through June and July at Slepe Heath. Join our team for an evening of discovery, learning about this unusual species, their mysterious lifestyle and churring song set to the stunning landscape of the Wareham Channel. More information and booking details can be found here »

Peregrine fledgling – Barclay Building, Poole – Rene Goad

Stunning summer-plumage Sanderling – Shell Bay, Studland (Sunday) – Mark Wright

We had two strokes of luck today when it came to our Poole Harbour Osprey nest. Firstly, a freak power cut this morning seemed to re-set the camera back to it’s original angle, meaning you can now see the whole nest again and both parents. You may remember, several weeks ago CJ7 and 022 were landing and mating on top of the camera, when it looked like they had knocked it down, meaning the view was restricted. Well it seems it was only the lens inside the camera that was knocked down (not the whole unit), so when the camera re-set its self this morning, it recalibrated and began streaming the full view again…..brilliant! Secondly, during the power cut, it was sods law that the first view of one of the chicks would occur, but luckily our network recorder was still recording the footage despite the live stream not working, meaning we still got to see the historical moment when the chicks head peered above the nest for the very first time. Since then we’ve been able to confirm at least two chicks with their heads appearing into view several times today. The big question will be is there a third? No doubt we’ll find out in a few days time! Below is the footage we were able to extract from our network recorder this morning of the very first views of a Poole Harbour Osprey chick. We’d also like to say a huge thank you to everyone thats donated towards our Osprey Project Fundraiser. We’ve raised just over £3000 over the Bank Holiday weekend which is brilliant. If you haven’t done so yet, but are keen to help support the project then you can do so by visiting our Just Giving page here…..Donate Here

Elsewhere around the harbour there were still 4 Brent Geese in Brands Bay and 81 Black-tailed Godwit. Sadly, with todays good news, there does come some bad news. Over the weekend the Barclays Peregrines fledged and all seemed to be doing Ok. However, today we received a call informing us that one of the chicks had been found dead having flown into an office winder at/near Barclays. This is obviously one of the risks to urban Peregrines with exactly the same happening to one of last years chicks too.

022 and CJ7 surveying their estate

It’s been a busy weekend for BBQ’s and boozing it seems, but less so for birding! Although today there were some nice highlights including the first fledging of one of the Poole Peregrines which made it’s way to the top of the close multi-story carpark roof before it was then mobbed by the local Herring Gulls. It then headed off north towards some flats near the King George pub. We’re sure it will be fine, and there are plenty of people currently keeping a close eye on them. This morning there were 5 Marsh Harrier over the Wareham Channel as was White-tailed Eagle G801. In Middlebere there were 3 Spoonbill with another single on the Brownsea Lagoon. On Shell Beach there was a group of 16 Sanderling and there were 2 Brent Geese in Brands Bay.

Newly fledged Peregrine – Poole Town Centre – Holes Bay Nature

Peregrine chick – Barclays building – Rene Goad

Sanderling – Shell Beach – Mark Wright

We managed to get out on last nights Puffin cruise, dodging the showers which produced 4 Puffin on the water just off Dancing Ledge along with the normal small rafts of Guillemot and a few Razorbill. Other highlights included several Gannet flying right past over over the boat, Fulmar sat on the water, 2 Peregrine on the cliffs at Ballard along with a surprise Cuckoo just as we got back near Poole Quay. There were 3 Spoonbill on Brownsea this afternoon and at Swineham a Cuckoo was singing. In Brands Bay there were still 4 over-summering Brent Geese.

Puffins – Dancing Ledge – Seb Haggart

Sunset over Brownsea after finishing Puffin Cruise

Let photography commence!