A brave meander along the Frome and Piddle Valleys in this morning’s bleak conditions yielded a respectable tally of 65 Reed Warbler, 27 Cetti’s Warbler, 5 Sedge Warbler, 9 Blackcap and 3 Chiffchaff, as well as an aerial Hobby and Cuckoo in the Piddle Valley, 16 Swallow over Ridge yacht club, 11 Swift over Redcliff Yacht club and at least 10 male Reed Bunting. Despite a much needed top up, the Swineham scrapes remained unoccupied.

Raven predating CJ7’s 5th unfertilised egg – Osprey Nest Cam

A Reed Warbler ringed in Portugal was caught at a Lytchett Heath during a ringing session this morning – an excellent control of this sub-Saharan migrant! Nearby, 2 Hobby were busy hawking insects over the Holton Lee treeline, seen from Lytchett Fields Viewpoint. Holes Bay clocked up 23 Black-tailed Godwit off Pergins Island, while the Common Whitethroat remains present just south of the railway bridge. A single Cetti’s Warbler and 19 Reed Warbler were also singing across the Bay and Park, as well as vocal Water Rail, a pair of Reed Bunting and a Linnet singing near the Screen Hide. House Martin were logged at Creekmoor, prospecting old nest sites. Turnstone numbers are dwindling now, with just 3 individuals and 10 Oystercatcher around Baiter.

CJ7 laid a 5th unfertilised egg this morning!

Limited coverage of the harbour today. A survey of Holes Bay resonated with the season, only 4 Oystercatcher and a single Redshank representing the wader assemblages today, accompanied by vocal Reed Warbler, Swallow, Blackcap, Chiffchaff all present, along with 1 Common Whitethroat. Elsewhere, 20 Swift were feeding over Swineham this afternoon, and another 5 over Parkstone.

Exciting news – Our Nightjar experience walks are back! The southern heaths of Poole Harbour are a stronghold for Nightjar – and Slepe Heath is no exception. This mysterious bird and its quirky lifestyle add to their endearing personality and haunting ‘churr’ rings out across the heathland at dusk. Join Birds of Poole Harbour to learn about and see some of the important areas for these heathland specialists whilst taking in stunning views out across the Wareham Channel. The grand finale will be listening to (and hopefully watching) Nightjar as they become active at dusk, before they then head out in to the darkness. Booking essential. Visit our events page for more details and bookings.

Common Whitethroat – Holes Bay – Holes Bay Nature Twitter Account @BayHoles

Nice spread of warblers to be heard and seen across Poole’s urban gem, Holes Bay, this morning with Common Whitethoat, Sedge, Reed and Cetti’s Warblers all singing. Young birds are also being observed on a more regular basis now with Woodlark and Stonechat recorded feeding young across Poole Harbour’s southern heathlands.

Common Terns – Studland – Seb Haggett

There was an interesting sighting of an Osprey over Holes Bay, which isn’t a regular hunting spot for CJ7, so was likely to be a migrant passing through. The Osprey flushed 6 Whimbrel, and 3 Swift were also reported over the bay. At Lytchett Fields, in addition to 2 Lapwing and a Turnstone flyby, the highlight was a Wheatear in whimbrel field. At Baiter, 13 Turnstone, 7 Oystercatcher and 1 Common Tern was reported.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day for sightings in the harbour, but some exciting reports outside of the boundary… As well as a male Golden Oriole fly over at Durlston yesterday morning, a Chough was reported at Portland. So, if you are spending any time at Studland in the coming days, it’s worth scanning the corvids.

With the wind swinging round and now coming from deep south there’s a chance of another pulse of migrants to arrive. Highlighted yesterday with a Turtle Dove in a Studland garden yesterday, a real Poole Harbour rarity these days. An Osprey was seen heading NW over Upton Heath today and was likely to be a migrant rather than CJ7 and a Spoonbill was at Lytchett Fields this morning. At Brands Bay there were still 4 Brent Geese and 11 Sanderling were on the beach. Good numbers of Swift were again over Swineham GP and up on Hartland 4 Wheatear were near Scotland Farm. A Lesser Whitethroat was along the Middlebere track and 2 Cuckoo were on Slepe Heath. A Nightjar was churring on Brownsea this evening…..we just need the balmy summer evenings now and summer would have properly arrived.

Swallow and Swift – Swineham – Peter Moore

The persistent southerlies continued overnight, but poor visibility dampened seawatching potential first thing this morning. That said, observers from Branksome Chine enjoyed 1 Arctic Skua, 2 distant skua sp., 4 Great Northern Diver, 5 Guillemot, 1 first winter Kittiwake, 1 Sanderling, 6 Dunlin, 3 Turnstone and steady passage of Swallows, Gannet, Sandwich Tern and Common Tern. The Abbotsbury Whiskered Tern has relocated to Longham Lakes today, could it have passed through the harbour in the process?? Single summer-plumage Turnstone still on Baiter Park and 1 Swift was logged over Quay cottages, Brownsea Islandalong with a Swallow. Early doors at Lytchett Fields produced 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 9 Dunlin, 6 Whimbrel, 4 Oystercatcher, 3 Greenshank and a Curlew. Two Swift and a Cuckoo were recorded from Coombe Viewpoint, RSPB Arne, along with c.60 Dunlin, Curlew, Shelduck, Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Swallow, Sand Martin, Buzzard, Marsh Harrier and Kestrel.

Turnstone (summer-plumage) – Baiter – Martin Adams