A private charter harbour cruise this AM was packed with raptor sightings, with an adult Osprey making a catch in the Wareham Channel, shortly followed by a juvenile circling high over the channel, along with a Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. As well as another Marsh Harrier sighting over Gigger’s Island, a juvenile Peregrine gave us a close flyover as we passed by Hamworthy pier. The raptor-fest continued at Coombe Heath, with another Marsh Harrier seen, as well as 2 Hobby, a Sparrowhawk and 2 Buzzard, one of which was a stunning pale morph. Also seen at Coombe Heath were 2 Great White Egret and a Wheatear. Elsewhere, the 2 Little Stint and 2 Ruff were still present at Lytchett Fields this morning. From the Stone Bench looking into Holes Bay, 2 Egyptian Geese, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Greenshank were present. This afternoon it seemed there was a strong hirundine movement with big numbers of Swallow and House Martin passing over with a few Sand Martin too.

Pale morph Buzzard – Coombe Heath – Kate Plater

Great White Egret – Coombe Heath – Alison Copland

A drizzly start to the morning, but a check of the pools at Lytchett Fields before the RSPB work party got start saw that the Little Stint and 2 Ruff were still present. A high count of 8 Sandwich Tern were seen in Holes Bay South. The female Peregrine was also present on the Barclays Building in Poole Town this morning. There was a single Curlew Sandpiper present on Brownsea Lagoon this morning, amongst the Redshank, Greenshank and Dunlin.

With the Osprey Cruises now done and dusted, we’re looking forward to getting started with our winter events, especially with the steady stream of autumn migrants coming through and overwintering numbers of waders and wildfowl beginning to build. Our new upcoming Bearded Tit Ringing Demonstrations have now sold out, but we are pleased to be partnering with Careys Secret Garden to deliver a new event at the gardens – an Intro to Birds & Birding Course. The events will feature an educational introduction to Poole Harbour birding, followed by a ringing demonstration and private tour around the Carey Estate, aimed to improve ID techniques and skills. We’ll be running two sessions to begin with, with the first date on Tuesday 12th October and the second on Tuesday 19th October. Bookings are made through the Careys Secret Garden website here. To find the dates for our winter events, including our popular Low Tide and Wareham Channel Cruises, visit our bookings website.

Ruff – Sherford Pools, Lytchett Fields – OTBT birder

Fewer sightings today, although Lytchett Fields continued to provide wader interest this morning, with 1 Little Stint, 2 Ruff, 3 Ringed Plover and 1 Spotted Redshank reported. On Holme Lane Gravel Pit, 2 Pochard were still present this AM, but the Garganey reported yesterday was no longer visible. On Baiter, 1 Wheatear, 23 Turnstone, 18 Oystercatcher and 3 Little Egret were counted.

There have been no further sightings of any of this year’s translocated Osprey cohort, or of any migrants in the harbour today. Over the next month, we expect there to be continued activity from migrant juveniles using the harbour as a stopover to practise their fishing skills, so it’s not the end of the season yet. In the last few years, Holes Bay has been a hotspot for young Ospreys in late September into October, which we’re hoping to seen again this year. We’ve previously run Pop-Up Osprey Watches during this time at Holes Bay, so keep an eye on our social media and sightings if we get another Osprey influx in the next couple of weeks.

Little Stint – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Ruff – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Wintering birds continued to build in numbers today, with the peak high-tide count in North Holes Bay amounting to 120+ Wigeon, 500+ Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Pintail and 5 Shoveler, in addition to 40+ Little Egret. The 2 Pochard were still present on the Holme Lane Gravel Pit, alongside a newly arrived female type Garganey. On the second high-tide this evening Lytchett Fields held a nice variety which included singles of Little Stint, Ruff, and Knot, alongside 5 Ringed Plover and 70+ Dunlin.

Autumn migrants also continue to push through, and this morning the 100^th Grasshopper Warbler of the season was ringed at Lytchett Bay (more than double the usual average)! At the eastern end of Hartland Moor at least 7 Wheatear and 1 Whinchat were present this afternoon. And on the south eastern shore of Holes Bay a single Whitethroat was present in the bushes alongside the Asda building (where both Peregrine could be seen throughout the day).

We also think that our final remaining translocated Osprey chick, 371 (aka Wee Nippy), may have departed in this morning’s clear weather window! Despite the undeniable empty nest syndrome, it’s always such a relief to see the last member of a batch leave in such good physical condition. We wish him well on his journey and hope to see him and the rest of his cohort back in two years time!

Brittany

Grasshopper Warbler – Lytchett Heath – Shaun Robson

Highlights from today’s sightings include 2 Curlew Sandpiper amongst the Greenshank, Redshank, Dunlin and Teal on Brownsea Lagoon this morning. At Holme Lane Gravel Pit early this AM were 2 Mandarin Duck and 2 Pochard.Over at Studland, a Great White Egret was reported on the north side of Jerry’s Point, as well as a male Redstart, 5 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Whitethroat and several Willow Warbler at Greenlands Farm later in the morning. Osprey sightings have been fewer and further between this week, though one was seen catching a fish in Lytchett Bay and then flew towards Holton Lee, and a further 2 were seen in the Wareham Channel being mobbed by 2 Hobby this afternoon.

On Baiter this morning, there was a count of 2 Wheatear, 20 Turnstone, 18 Oystercatcher, 9 Great Black-backed Gulls and 1 Sandwich Tern. The adult Peregrines have been visible again on the Asda Building next to Holes Bay. Just outside of the Poole Harbour boundary, but certainly worth mentioning was a Honey Buzzard sighting over a garden in Wimborne, soaring south towards Poole this afternoon. And finally… an exciting(!) appearance for a few local birders this morning of a young Coot in Lytchett Bay – a rare sighting for the patch!

Wheatear – Baiter Park – Martin Adams

Finally some rain that seemed to drop a few new arrivals onto Brownsea including 3 Little Stint and a juv Curlew Sandpiper but not much else was logged today. There was an Osprey off Swineham Point and a Marsh Harrier there too, with a Marsh Harrier at Lytchett Bay too. At Holton Lee there was a Whinchat and 43 Little Egret were roosting on the bank and in trees near the Holes Bay railway bridge

Whinchat – Holton Lee – TF Photography

A quieter day today with finally a bit of rain. In the pCW Drain this morning there was a really nice little flurry of migrants opposite KFC with 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Redstart, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warbler and 1 Blackcap along with 1 Cetti’s Warbler and 3 Kingfisher. In Middlebere an Osprey was circling high & flying off towards Wareham Channel, and there were 2 Great White Egret, 20 Avocet, c300 Black-tailed Godwit and 3 Greenshank. At Lytchett Fields there was a Whinchat and a Wheatear with 1 Redstart, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 10 Sedge Warbler, 1 Grasshopper Warbler and 11 Willow Warbler at Lytchett Heath.

Meadow Pipit – Hartland Moor

A sweltering day (hopefully) the last, but with the strong easterlies it seemed to drop a number of common migrants around, certainly at Greenlands Farm where there were 10+ Wheatear, 5 Whinchat, 5 Yellow Wagtail and good numbers of Stonechat. There were also 2 Great White Egret at Littlesea, Studland. At Lytchett Fields a 1st winter Little Gull was briefly in the mouth of the River Sherford and there was also 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Whinchat, 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 Yellow Wagtail there too. A Curlew Sandpiper was in Brands Bay and up on Ballard there were 2+ Sand Martin, 50+ Swallows, 50+ House Martin, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 8 Whitethroat, 2 Stonechat and 3 Wheatear. 

Wheatear – Greenlands Farm

Whinchat – Greenlands Farm

It was another wader morning, certainly at Lytchett Fields with 1 Spotted Redshank dropping on to Sherford Pools, 1 Curlew Sandpiper asleep on large island plus 17 Greenshank, 26 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover , 112 Redshank, 11 Black-tailed Godwit and 40+ Common Snipe. Also 1 Cuckoo and 1 Whinchat at Lytchett Fields too. At South Haven there was some migrant activity with 8 Grey Wagtail with 4 together on Bramble Bush Bay shore. All of which pushed through and headed across the Harbour. Also 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Wheatear & 1 Whinchat both grounded also 1 Yellow Wagtail over and 20 Turnstone at the House Boats. At Middlebere there were 50 Avocet, 4 Greenshank, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Spoonbill (16 at Shipstal), c600 Black-tailed Godwit and an Osprey flew over. The Osprey could well have been CJ7 as she suddenly appeared on a harbour nest platform today having not been seen for two days. We assumed (again) that she had left with no sightings since Saturday morning but she just can’t pull herself away yet!! Up on Nine Barrow Down there were 2-3 Redstart, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, several Yellow Wagtail among the cattle and 2-3 Spotted Flycatcher.

CJ7 re-appearing on harbour nest platform this AM after a 2-day absence