The downpours and wind today definitely brought an element of winter with it, but some stunning sunshine by mid-morning saw autumn return quite quickly. At Swineham the Cattle Egret was again with the cows on the ‘scrape fields’ along with a Marsh Harrier over there too and just 13 Lapwing and 2 Black-tailed Godwit being the only waders on the Stilt Pools with a Yellow-legged Gull. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 3 Spoonbill and in Holes Bay 1270 Black-tailed Godwit with 407 Wigeon now, along with drake Pintail, Teal, Shoveler (and Wigeon) all starting to lose their eclipse plumage and starting to look a lot smarter. At Lytchett fields there was 348 Dunlin along with a Cattle Egret too. The first Rock Pipits are also now back along the shorelines on the Sandbanks side of the ferry.

Rock Pipit – Sandbanks – Nick Gadenne 

The breeze picked up as the front from the SW began to roll in, but there was still some glorious late summer sunshine to enjoy. In Middlebere there was a ringed Osprey, although it seemed to only be a metal ring on the right leg, suggesting it could have been a Scottish individual thats lost is blue darvic ring on the left leg, or there are actually a few Osprey out there that do only have a metal ring on. Regardless, it’s still nice to see them coming through currently. Also in Middlebere were 2 Great White Egret, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, c400 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Spoonbill and a Green Sandpiper. In Holes Bay north there were 1000+ Black-tailed Godwit, 300+ Wigeon and 2 Egyptian Geese and a Common Sandpiper. On Hartland there was a single Wheatear and Whinchat and at Swineham a Cattle Egret and another Yellow-legged Gull. In Brands Bay there were 2 Sanderling and a few Bar-tailed Godwit. 

Green Sandpiper – Middlebere – PenHillman

Osprey – Middlebere – Peter Moore

Marsh Harrier – Middlebere – PenHillman

A high tide visit to the Stone Bench at Upton Country Park this morning logged another 1000+ strong Black-tailed Godwit flock, accompanied by 6 Pintail. The wader assemblage kicking around Baiter this morning consisted of 40 Ringed Plover, 29 Turnstone, 9 Dunlin and 27 Oystercatcher. Sticking with the urban birding sites, Poole Park held 2 Grey Wagtail, 4 Tufted Duck, Kingfisher and 11 Greylag (including colour-ringed individual U102).

Kingfisher – Poole Park – @twamers (twitter account)

Another stunner of a day, such a shame it won’t last into next week, but some unsettled weather isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it could drop some North American waders our way. Today we made the most of the sunshine with our first Bearded Tit ringing demo at Lytchett Heath. A successful session with c10 Bearded Tit caught, along with a Treecreeper, several Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler and a couple of Blue Tit. A sub-adult Marsh Harrier was quartering Lytchett Bay and was later seen at Arne. A Hobby was over Slepe Heath. There was also a great record of a Great White Egret in Holes Bay too.

Ringing demo group – Brittany Maxted

Treecreeper – Brittany Maxted

Bearded Tit – Alex King

Whilst searching for the Rose-coloured Starling again this evening in Middlebere/Wytch Lake, the no show from the starling was compensated by a Honey Buzzard and what seemed to be a Hen Harrier having a tussle over the Wytch Channel.

Honey Buzzard and (Hen?) Harrier – Wytch Lake – OTBT Birder (@BirderOtbt – Twitter)

Sadly no sign of the Rose-coloured Starling in the Middlebere starling roost this evening, but a very conservative count of c1500 Swallow were hawking Wytch Lake and a Whinchat was near the lay-by. Quiet for sightings elsewhere with 2 Ruff and 15 Greenshank were at Lytchett Fields again, 38 Turnstone and a Wheatear at Baiter, 1 Common Sandpiper and c200 Wigeon in Holes Bay.

Whinchat – Middlebere

Some more surprises today with news that a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling was photographed in Middlebere back on Sept 16th. An evening watch of the Starling roost in the Wytch Channel (next to Middlebere) managed to confirm it was still around as it joined c200 other Starling on the power lines before dropping down to roost. Lets hope it sticks around a few more days. Another White-tailed Eagle was seen briefly in the Piddle and Frome Valley this AM making them almost common now, to the point we’ll probably stop reporting sightings because we’re bored of them…..only joking of course. It’s been a fantastic week! The Lytchett Bay Little Stints seem to have disappeared but one remained at Brands Bay and at Lytchett Bay there were still 2 Ruff, 1 Spotted Redshank and 9 Greenshank, At Swineham a Cattle Egret was on the Stilt Pools and with a Montagu’s Harrier seen at St Aldhelms this morning, could it have been the same mystery ‘ringtail’ that was seen briefly in Middlebere yesterday? At Arne there were 3 Hobby, 1 Osprey, 1 Great White Egret and 1 Marsh Harrier and another Hobby in the Piddle Valley. At Holton Lee there was another Marsh Harrier plus several Yellow Wagtail and a Whinchat. In Holes Bay there were 885 Black-tailed Godwit along with c300 Wigeon now back, also 2 Shoveler, 4 Pintail, several Kingfisher bombing around and 2 Common Sandpiper in the PCW Drain.

Great White Egret with Little Egret – Middlebere – Lyn Lambert

Slightly breezier today, but still blissful sunshine. Despite being a Monday, plenty of highlights with all three egret species logged once again with 2 Great White Egret in Middlebere and another on the Brownsea Lagoon, and a single Cattle Egret at Swineham and 23 Little Egret along the shore of Keysworth. Male Osprey UV/UV was hunting in the Wareham Channel again and was also seen in Middlebere and there was late news of another Osprey seen on the tall cross perches at Little Sea, Studland yesterday. There was another decent passage of Swallow on the move with a couple of thousand seen heading WNW and by mid afternoon several hundred Meadow Pipit had begun to move in the same direction. There were c360 sinensis Cormorant in the Wareahm Channel and a flock of 16 Pintail flew over. Three groups Black-tailed Godwit flew high over the Wareham Channel consisting of c600 in total and on the Brownsea Lagoon there were 32 Spoonbill, 4 Sanderling, 2 Grey Plover, 100+ Avocet, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit and a Wheatear. At Lytchett Fields it was busy with birds on the high tide including 2 Little Stint, 2 Ruff, 1 Spotted Redshank, 14 Greenshank, 106 Dunlin, 120+ Redshank, 40+ Black-tailed Godwit, 19 Greenshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 32 Lapwing and 400+ Teal as well as 1 Whinchat, 2 Wheatear and a few Willow Warbler. LATE UPDATE – A different White-tailed Eagle from Saturdays was seen off Arne late afternoon. Although not confirmed yet by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, its likley to be one of this years translocated birds, chick G547 which was recently seen down in Devon and logged tracking this way yesterday.

White-tailed Eagle – Shipstal, RSPB Arne – Pete Christie

Great White Egret – Brownsea Lagoon 

Spoonbills – Brownsea Lagoon 

A busy day across the harbour, mainly because it was Poole Harbour WeBS day, so although it was eagle-less today there was plenty more to whet everyones appetites. In Middlebere there were 2 Great White Egret, 1 Osprey, 10 Spotted Redshank and up to 18 Spoonbill, with 28 Spoonbill logged across the whole harbour. At Lytchett Fields there was 2 Ruff and 2 Little Stint still with another Little Stint at Brands Bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon there was a Cattle Egret (scarce here) and a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper. At Swineham a flyover Woodlark was a good record and there were 2 Green Sandpiper on the pools and another Cattle Egret with the cows there. There seemed to be a huge hirundine movement this afternoon with what seemed like thousands and thousands of Swallow and a few Sand Martin moving WNW just after the rain finished this afternoon. A rough guess would suggest a minimum of 8,000+. Winter birds are certainly much in evidence as Curlew, Oystercatcher, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Wigeon, Teal and Pintail numbers are all on the rise. Passerine wise it was rather quiet with just Whinchat and c15 Yellow Wagtail logged at Hartland. A Redstart was at Greenlands Farm and a Pied Flycatcher was at Rempstone. Birds of prey included Marsh Harriers at Lytchett Bay, Swineham and Middlebere, Peregrine at Middlebere, 1 Red Kite over Holes Bay and a possible Merlin at Greenlands.

Two different Great White Egret – Middlebere – Mark Wright (@markwright12002)

Well, after 2 years of evasiveness from the IoW reintroduced White-tailed Eagles, we have finally been treated to some good views. The eagle that arrived onto Brownsea Lagoon yesterday afternoon, having been seen drifting in over Canford Cliffs, roosted on private land overnight and then was seen again this morning, viewed from Coombe Heath viewing screen. The eagle could be seen from Coombe in a dead tree amongst several Little Egret, Grey Heron and 1 Great White Egret. It departed at around 10:40am, heading in the direction of the Wareham Channel, with only sporadic views into the rest of the day. Shortly after, the Eagle appeared over the Wareham Channel, interacting with a hunting Osprey, before crossing over to the Keysworth shore and settling by the water. This individual is a 2 year-old, ringed G461, released on the Isle of Wight in 2019 as part of the project. G461 briefly visited Poole Harbour earlier in the year in June, so appears to be checking out the area again, which could be a good sign!

In addition to the eagle excitement today, there was a sighting of a blue-ringed Osprey (UV/VU), a 2014 male from Kielder Forest, with an upside down leg ring. He was reported flying over the Middlebere Channel with a fish this morning, heading towards Hartland Moor. The Middlebere Channel provided plenty of other activity, with c.500 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 11 Spoonbill, 30 Avocet, 11 Greenshank, 20 Dunlin, 1 Green Sandpiper, c.40 Redshank, 4 Pintail and a Hobby. Elsewhere, the 2 Little Stint and 2 Ruff were still present on Sherford Pools at Lytchett Fields this afternoon. Another Little Stint was reported alongside the Ringed Plover at Redhorn Point.

White-tailed Eagle – Middlebere Channel – Kate Plater

Spoonbill – Middlebere Channel – Alison Copland