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 

Another hot day in the end but murky and a bit foggy for our Osprey cruise this AM. Highlights included just 1 Osprey logged at Arne, but also the Cattle Egret was seen again at Swineham and there was a Wood Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper and 5 Black-tailed Godwit on the Swineham scrape. In Brands Bay there was a ‘flock’ of 6 Curlew Sandpiper and at Lytchett Fields there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 15 Greenshank, 1 Grey Plover, 20+ Dunlin and 3 Ringed Plover. On Brownsea yesterday there was a single Little Stint. On one of our harbour nest platforms this AM a new un-ringed (and well patterned due to moulting feathers) female Osprey paid a brief visit.

New un-ringed female Osprey on harbour nest platform today

It seems as though the short break in the cloudy weather yesterday led to a clear out of many of the migrant Ospreys using Poole Harbour as a stopover, as there was very little activity from the cruise this morning. There was, however, 1 Osprey feeding on a dead snag near Hyde’s Heath at Arne this morning, as well as further 2 seen from Coombe Heath, and another seen hunting in Lytchett Bay. The cruise was otherwise successful, with a Marsh Harrier and plenty of Sandwich Tern seen over the Wareham Channel, as well as the highlight of a Cattle Egret at Swineham, which first noted to have arrived on Thursday evening. Also from Coombe Heath this morning, were 2 Spoonbill, 40 Avocet, c.1,300 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Grey Plover and 1 Peregrine, with 15 further Spoonbill reported at Shipstal. Elsewhere, a female Goshawk was reported over Stoborough Heath and Slepe Heath this morning. At Lytchett Bay, a Lesser Whitethroat and Redstart were also reported.

Cattle Egret – Swineham – Roly Pitts

The sun and warmth arrived back today, as did some new migrants. On Hartland and at Middlebere, as part of our Early Autumn Migrants ID course there were 4 Whinchat together logged also 1 Redstart, 5 Wheatear, c15 Meadow Pipit, 3 Common Whitethroat, multiple Chiffchaff, 1 Osprey, 2 Spoonbill, c100 Black-tailed Godwit, 8 Avocet and a decent passage of Swallow and Sand Martin. There were multiple sightings of Osprey in the Wareham Channel and then over Arne and 4 adult Hobby were near Wytch/Rempstone. There were also 2 Osprey that passed over Holton Lee and in Brands Bay the 4 Curlew Sandpiper were still there along with 16 Ringed Plover, 16 Knot, 124 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Sanderling, 37 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone, 14  Wigeon, 2 Gadwall, & 10 Pintail. Finally, we think (but don’t know for sure) that CJ7 may have left on her autumn migration. She’s not been seen since yesterday morning, and hasn’t appeared on any nest platform within the harbour which is unusual for her. Therefore we think she may have left, and if that is the case we want to wish her a safe migration and look forward to seeing her safe return in early April next year.

Last photo of CJ7 and 022 togther on a harbour nest platform before we think she then departed.