Well, the last 24 hours have been pretty exciting, when late yesterday evening 2 un-identified Osprey appeared in Lytchett Bay, both of which were sporting blue darvic rings. Sadly distance and fading light meant we weren’t able to read the rings, but it looked like 1 male and 1 female. This morning, keen photographers were out early and Mark Wright soon caught up with the female as it headed out fishing in Lytchett Bay. The ring read 6C6, which we’ve managed to track down as a 2022 female from a private site up in Lancashire. Even more amazingly, this is the first sighting of her in the UK since she left on migration back in autumn 2022. Sadly, there was no opportunity to photograph or ID the mystery male, but theres a really good chance this could be a 2023 male of ours from the Carey nest. He disappeared around lunchtime and hasn’t been seen since, but we’re sure he’ll pop up again somewhere over the coming days? weeks? Hopefully giving away his identity.

We were also out this morning surveying the low tide in the Wareham Channel and had the pleasure of watching both adult White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463, seeing how they used the tide to wait for prey to arrive into the shallows, with female G466 casually lifting off a turf mound close to the tide line and dropping into the water, only from about 6 inches off the surface of the water, where she then proceeded to swim back to shore, using her wings, before wading ashore hauling out a massive Flounder. We were also fortunate to have both fly right past us on the boat as we headed towards Swineham. On Swinheam GP there were 6 Little Ringed Plover including 4 adults and 2 fresh juveniles which suggests at least 2 pairs bred in that area this summer.

There was positive news from Brownsea that it seems to have been a good season for terns with c170 Sandwich Tern chicks counted and 105 Common Tern chicks. Passage waders were present in small numbers with 25 Black-tailed Godwit new in, plus 17 Redshank, 1 Greenshank and a lone Dunlin joining the 5 Avocet and 4 Spoonbill. The only other news was of 2 Spotted Redshank on Lytchett Fields.

Female Osprey ‘6C6’ – Lytchett Bay – Mark Wright

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 flying past the boat this AM

A cloudy and humid start to the day, with the sun appearing later on in the afternoon. It was a real raptor fest up at our Osprey viewing platform during our Carey Osprey Tours today, keeping female CJ7 and male 022 on their toes. A wandering 2nd calendar year White-tailed Eagle was present during our mid-morning session and was very quickly chased off by both the adult Ospreys, and 3 Buzzard were seen distantly soaring on the thermals. In the afternoon session, we saw a real spectacle. CJ7 seemed to be unsettled and headed away from the nest in pursuit of something, before settling back on the nest. 1 Hobby then appeared hawking on insects above the nest and was then joined by 1 Honey Buzzard, which CJ7 then went in pursuit of, successfully seeing it off. There was also 1 distant Peregrine Falcon seen. The Woodlark was singing throughout the day in the nearby field. Wader numbers were still high at RSPB Lytchett Fields this morning with 1 Spotted Redshank, 10 Green Sandpiper, 14 Redshank, 11 Lapwing, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Oystercatcher, and 1 Greenshank. On Brownsea Lagoon this morning, there were 4 Spoonbill and 4 Avocet, which were also present during our Sunset Safari cruise this evening, along with the first migrant Common Sandpiper of the autumn and an adult Yellow-legged Gull. In the Wareham Channel this evening the adult male Marsh Harrier was active as was the recently fledged juvenile and male White-tailed Eagle G463 was out on Shag Looe Bar. On the low-tide in the Wareham Channel this evening there were limited numbers of early passage waders including 11 Curlew and 2 Black-tailed Godwit. It was also a pleasure to see the first Common and Sandwich Tern chicks fledging, taking their first daring flights as they looped around the lagoon.

Juvenile Sandwich Terns with adults – Brownsea Lagoon – From our Sunset Safari Cruise

Pretty blowy today, making general birding difficult, but the Peregrine family on Asda were incredibly active with the adult male flying just 10s of meters above Asda customers heads, pigeon in talons as all four juveniles followed in pursuit, constantly calling. There were 4 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon mid-afternoon and both adult White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel this afternoon.

Adult male Peregrine on the Asda flats, Holes Bay

Juvenile Peregrines on the Asda flats

A quiet day for sightings today, possibly due to the unusual combination of humid weather and strong winds! Highlights from Middlebere Hide this early morning include a Cuckoo, 13 Swift and a Barn Owl. Good to also have confirmation that the breeding Peregrines on Corfe Castle have produced 3 chicks this year, all of which look to be growing nicely! The same is true of the four Osprey chicks over on the Carey nest, who have all almost finished growing their juvenile feathers and are now looking much more like their parents! As ever 022 is keeping his family well fed, with several fish deliveries throughout the day, including a large whole Bass in the late afternoon. Every nest is different, but here Bass seems to play an important role in their diet in the nestling stage, and alongside Mullet forms their main food source during this period, but this year in particular it 022 seems to be bringing them in even more frequently than usual. Perhaps its been a particularly good year for Bass? Or maybe they’ve been an easier species to catch in this year’s winder conditions? Sounds like an interesting research project for a local student perhaps…

 Three Peregrine chicks – Corfe Castle – Garry Hayman

A stunning first day of meteorological summer, as many young birds already start to appear. The juvenile Marsh Harrier at Swineham was seen flying around briefly, and multiple juvenile Bearded Tit were seen off Swineham Point. The roaming 2 White Stork were once again seen over Carey Secret Garden during one of our Osprey watch sessions this afternoon. At Lytchett Fields there were 12 Lapwing, 6 Redshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Oystercatcher, 18 Teal and 5 Gadwall. Also a decent count of 23 Little Egret is another typical early summer occurrence. In Middlebere female White-tailed Eagle G466 flew over Coombe viewpoint early, whilst 5 Spoonbill were in the channel, and a Cuckoo was calling there still.

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 chasing down male Osprey 022 from our Sunset Safari last night – Harry McBride

Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon from our Sunset Safari last night – Harry McBride

Early returning Turnstone on the Brownsea Lagoon from our Sunset Safari last night – Harry McBride

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 over Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne this morning – Alison Copland

2nd cal year Spoonbill in wing moult over Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne this morning – Alison Copland

A very exciting day all-round! Today we announced that we now have a second breeding pair of Osprey in southern England, Rutland female 1H1 who fledged from their Manton Bay nest in 2022 and Poole Harbour male 374, who was translocated in 2021 as part of our Osprey project in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. We are delighted to announce that on April 24th, 1H1 laid her first egg! A clutch of three eggs were laid in total, and on June 3rd their first chick hatched quickly followed by a second on June 5th: an excellent result for first time breeders! You can read further about this fantastic news here: https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey-news/breaking-news-second-breeding-pair-of-osprey-in-the-south/

It was all action on the Carey Osprey nest during our Carey Osprey Tours today. Female CJ7 began alarm-calling at 9am this morning, closely followed by an adult female Honey Buzzard appearing behind the nest and landing in a nearby tree. CJ7 then went in pursuit and we had a fantastic aerial display of both birds, with the Honey Buzzard eventually being driven away. 4 Red Kite were also seen from the viewing platform. There were more signs of autumn migration in the harbour, with 4 Green Sandpiper and 2 breeding plumage Spotted Redshank seen at RSPB Lytchett Fields, all fresh in today. Also present were 8 Redshank, 9 Lapwing, and 9 Teal. A Marsh Harrier was seen over the breeding Gull islands in the harbour this morning. From this evenings Sunset Safari, it was all go, with male White-tailed Eagle G463 seen chasing down male Osprey 022 for his fish, which he promptly dropped and the eagle dropped down to retrieve from the water. We also had an adult Hobby cross the Wareham Channel and what looked like a fresh juvenile Marsh Harrier was around Swineham. There were more signs of autumn passage getting underway on the Brownsea Lagoon with 8 Avocet, the first 8 Common Redshank and first Greenshank of the autumn, plus a lone summer plumaged Turnstone.

1H1 and 374 landing on their new nest on April 6th

Another hot, sunny day in the harbour. From our Carey Osprey Tours today we saw 1 Red Kite circling high over the Carey Osprey nest, with female Osprey CJ7 alarm calling and being protective of the nest. There were 3 Buzzard circling high on the thermals, as well as 1 distant Kestrel hovering. Male Osprey 022 gave a stunning display, soaring high over the Osprey viewing platform during one of the tours. Also seen from the platform were 5 Mistle Thrush and c10 Swift. Elsewhere in the harbour, Teal have started to return to RSPB Lytchett Fields, with 6 drake and 1 female present on Sherford Island. Later this afternoon, 1 Roseate Tern was seen flying and calling over Brownsea Lagoon. From this evenings Nightjar walk at Slepe Heath prior to the Nightjars we were treated to Hobby, 2-3 Cuckoo, male Osprey 022 catching a fish in the Wareham Channel and then 7 Nightjar bombing and chasing each other around to a backdrop of glowingly spectacular sunset.

Nightjar, Slepe Heath – During our Nightjar walk