It almost felt wintery this morning with the cold still conditions seeing many pairs of gloves being deployed for the first time this season. That said, the birding was still great, meaning the cold was just an inconvenient side effect for those that made it out. There were an impressive 10 Glossy Ibis in the harbour today with 9 at Lytchett Fields and 1 in Middlebere. Theres a really good chance this flock size could continue to grow with nearly c1000 across the country currently. Also in Middlebere today were 3 Great White Egret, 1 Osprey, 6 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 White-tailed Eagle and 1 Marsh Harrier. At Swineham 2 Little Stint, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Ruff and 10 Dunlin were on the Curlew Pools, 3 Marsh Harrier were off Swineham Point and Pintail are now appearing at multiple sites with 18 in Middlebere, 3 in Brands Bay and 10 in Holes Bay. Avocet numbers are also increasing with c400 in Middlebere and 200+ on Brownsea. On Wareham Common 14 Cattle Egret were feeding with the cattle, the Brownsea Lagoon held 82 Spoonbill, and later in the day 27 were on Shipstal.

Evolving winter scene with Spoonbills, Avocet and Teal – Middlebere – @dizzygirl66.bsky.social

The weather continues to be perfect for new arrivals to travel in from the north, and from this mornings early start Autumn Safari we were once again treated to witnessing species such as Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall and sinensis Cormorant all arriving in from high north, whilst at the same time hundreds and eventually thousands of Swallow, House Martin and fewer Sand Martin all gathered in numbers and begin heading north into the wind for the morning phase of their migration. On the low tide this morning 61 Spoonbill were feeding in the Wareham Channel and 3 Marsh Harrier were off Swineham Point. A White-tailed Eagle was sat distantly in a tree out on Keysworth and a Hobby was chasing hirundines high over the Wareham Channel. There were 2 Little Stint on the Swineham Pools, and 93 Spoonbill were counted on the Brownsea Lagoon again. A Great White Egret was on the Holton shoreline and 5 Cattle Egret were at Holmebridge. There are now 7 Glossy Ibis which were out feeding on the Pools Field at Lytchett Bay, plus a Little Stint was out on Lytchett Fields along with a Curlew Sandpiper. At Middlebere 1 Great White Egret was at the top of the channel, a juv-type White-tailed Eagle cruised over. Yesterday 2 Merlin were logged out on Hartland and 12 Marsh Harrier left the west harbour roost. Up on Ballard this morning more vis-mig was underway with 62 Crossbill over, plus 723 Siskin, 2 Yellow Wagtail and thousands of House Martin. 

Common Seal from out Autumn Safari this AM – Wareham Channel- Alison Copland

Grey Seal from out Autumn Safari this AM – Wareham Channel- Alison Copland

Stonechat – Brownsea Lagoon – Alison Copland

An amazing migration day across the harbour today, with more and more birds arriving from far away lands. Our Autumn Safari Cruise this morning was jam packed with good birds from start to finish. A juvenile Hobby was hunting hirundines over Arne and caught and devoured prey right above the boat at the start of the trip. One of the most amazing finds was a drake Scaup which was settled tight into the reed bed along the Keysworth shoreline in the Wareham Channel. Although distant, 2 Glossy Ibis arrived in from super high above the Purbeck ridge, before gradually dropping into the harbour area and settling on RSPB Arne Moors. A Great White Egret was along the Keysworth shoreline, 4+ Marsh Harrier were quartering over Swineham and Keysworth and a Spoonbill was on the Stilt Pools at Swineham, along with 1 potential Little Stint. The new pools on RSPB Arne Moors are already begining to attract birds with 10+ Dunlin, 2 Green Sandpiper and another potential Little Stint, although these pools are only viewable/accessible from our boat trips. All day thousands of Swallow and House Martin were on the move once again, at times, streaming over in groups of 100+ at a time. On the Brownsea Lagoon 73 Spoonbill were counted, highlighting it’s continued importence as the UK’s most important staging site for this species. Also on the lagoon were 200+ Avocet, 1 Little Stint, 40 Ringed Plover, 100+ Dunlin and 8 Greenshank. There were 2 White-tailed Eagle having a fight over the southern shores of the harbour this morning (resident female G466 and newly arrived 2023 G644), and by this afternoon 6 different individuals were in and around the harbour including 2 new arrivals which were freshly arrived from northern England in the last 24 hours having arrived on the northerly airflow. Wildfowl seemed to be arriving this morning with multiple Wigeon, Gadwall and Shoveler flocks dropping in at various sites. An Osprey was feeding in a tree along the RSPB Arne shoreline in the Wareham Channel and another was cruising around Lytchett Bay this afternoon. This morning the first 2 Lesser Redpoll of the autumn passed over South Haven, Studland along with 248 Siskin. There was another massive Chiffchaff movement across the harbour and this morning a whopping 222 were ringed in the Lower Piddle Valley, along with 69 Blackcap, 3 late Willow Warbler, 2 tardy Grasshopper Warbler, 10 Sedge Warbler and 2 Common Whitethroat.

Spoonbill – Stilt Pools, Swineham – Mya Bambrick

What an absolutely pristine day, and with the sun and switch in wind direction, a delivery of birds was observed at multiple sites across the harbour. After sustained southerly wind for several weeks, last night suddenly saw a clear night and a northerly airflow properly kick in which meant birds from further north took advantage of the tail wind and ended up on the south coast. The main arrivals today consisted of Common Chiffchaff, Swallow and House Martin. Common Chiffchaff were everywhere and with 163 ringed in the Lower Piddle Valley alone highlights that many thousands would have been spread right across the harbour this morning. Swallow and House Martin were on the move all day, with high totals (but un-counted) logged across the entire Poole Harbour airspace from sunrise to sunset. The first arrival of Ring Ouzel also dropped down with 1 in the Ulwell Gap and 2 at Ballard logged. A late Swift was over Ballard Down. There were only 4 of Glossy Ibis seen today at Lytchett Bay in the pools field next to Rock Lea view but there was a Little Stint on Lytchett Fields with 2 Spotted Redshank. At South Haven, Studland the Chiffchaff arrival was also much in evidence with c150 logged in bushes around the point plus 605 Siskin passed over and a Whinchat and Wheatear were also there. At Slepe Heath a Tree Pipit, 5 Crossbill and a random Ringed Plover passed over. At lunch time 4 White-tailed Eagle were circling over Stoborough with 4 Raven and 460 Cormorant entered the Piddle Valley roost and 5 Spoonbill flew up the Piddle Valley. The Brownsea Lagoon still had 70+ Spoonbill, will we reach 80 by the end of September?

Knot – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton

It’s back! The long-returning Forster’s Tern was seen today from our Autumn Safari Cruise on a post, off of Ham Common Nature Reserve. Having been originally seen in 2023, as the 2nd ever for Dorset and 22nd ever for the UK, this long-returning, mega rare, north American Tern has reappeared. It was last seen in March this year and has not been seen since, although there was an unconfirmed report a few weeks ago. Last summer it spent time in Ireland, before making it’s way back to Poole Harbour, to eventually overwinter in Brittany, France. It’s likely it will do the same again this winter, but hopefully it will stick around in the harbour for a few more people to see. In the past it’s favoured marker bouys off Moriconium Quay, Shipstal Beach, the Brownsea Lagooon and occasionally Lytchett Bay.

The 6 Glossy Ibis reapearred again today at Lytchett Fields this morning, having been favouring the river Frome and Swineham areas. This afternoon 2 Ruff and 6 Curlew Sandpiper were in the Middlebere Channel on the falling tide this afternoon. The PC World Drain was jumping with birds first thing this morning: 40+ Common Chiffchaff, 10+ Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Kingfisher, 3 Jay 

From our Autumn Safari Cruise we also saw 2 White-tailed Eagle, neither of which were our local pair. 1 was an adult 4-year old female G486 and the other a 2nd calendar year youngster G717, both in the Wareham Channel. 2 Osprey were also in the Wareham Channel along with 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 3 Kingfisher, 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Green Sandpiper. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were c200 Avocet, 1 Kingfisher, 5 Curlew Sandpiper, 20 Greenshank and 70+ Spoonbill making Poole Harbour, and specifically the Brownsea Lagoon the most important staging site in the UK for this species as numbers will continue to build until mid-October, when many then leave to destinations beyonds, including one sat-tagged individual last summer which staged in Poole Harbour during September but ended up in Senegal by Christmas!

 Forster’s Tern – Wareham Channel, off the Ham Common Nature Reserve – Alison Copland

An absolute stunner of a day, reaching 24 degrees and quite a contrast to recent weeks. It got birds on the move and all day Meadow Pipit were passing over in small numbers across many parts of the harbour. There were 3 Osprey in the Wareham Channel this morning including Scottish ringed 251(?) plus a juvenile and another adult. Female White-tailed Eagle G466 was sat on a tall snag on Arne Hill at RSPB Arne and there were 3 Hobby also in the Wareham Channel plus the autumns first Merlin was logged on Hartland Moor this morning. The Brownsea Lagoon was still busy with Spoonbill and saw 60+ roosting on the Tamerisk Island, where 5 Curlew Sandpiper were feeding in amongst their name-sake, plus 250+ Avocet, 5 Greenshank, 3 Common Sandpiper and 200+ Black-tailed Godwit were also present. At RSPB Arne 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Pied Flycatcher and 1 Redstart were along the shipstal track near Arne Farm. We also got some exciting news this morning that our female Osprey from this years ‘nest 2’, female 1H1, was sighted down in Portugal yesterday at the Reserva Natural do Estuário do Sado. She was last seen at her nest site on Sept 11th at 14:00, so she’s made good time! Plus, upon inspection of photos of a ‘Buzzard’ we saw over Brownsea during yesterdays Autumn Safari we’ve managed to confirm the ID was a juvenile Honey Buzzard.

Female Osprey 1H1 from ‘nest 2’ – Sado Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal yesterday – Carlos Miguel

Scottish ringed Osprey 251(?) from this mornings Autumn Safari – Wareham Channel – David Turner

Juvenile Honey Buzzard – over Brownsea Island during yesterdays Autumn Safari – Ed Betteridge

Despite the yucky start to the day, the birding was actually ok today. A Wryneck was along the track leading down towards Shipstal Point at RSPB Arne with a Pied Flycatcher, 1 Redstart and 2 Spotted Flycatcher and an Osprey was hunting in Shipstal Bay. Male White-tailed Eagle G463 was on Patchins Point, Arne this morning, and at the top end of the Wareham Channel 2 juvenile Marsh Harrier were moving around as several Common Snipe arrived in over Swineham Point and 5 Bearded Tit were off Swineham Point. On the Brownsea Lagoon 7 Curlew Sandpiper were spread across the site, 62 Spoonbill were roosting, 200+ Avocet were feeding and 2 Common Sandpiper were still along the lagoon beach. There were 2 Kingfisher along Poole Quay, an eclipse male Pochard was on the main gravel pit at Swineham and a Hobby was there too.

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 from our Autumn Safari this AM – Harry McBride

Kingfisher on Poole Quay from our Autumn Safari this AM – Harry McBride

Sparrowhawk at Swineham from our Autumn Safari this AM – Harry McBride

Wryneck – Shipstal track at RSPB Arne – David Turner

The mixture of weather seems to have potentially slowed Osprey migration across the country with more sightings across Poole Harbour. One individual was seen attempting to catch fish off Shipstall before then giving up and heading towards the Wareham Channel. Another was seen in Lytchett Bay, for a while two Marsh Harriers sat close by to it.

Lytchett Bay also had it’s first Garganey of the autumn, found amongst the flock of Teal. Two Snipe and a single Hobby also seen here.

Earlier in the day, Arne had two fly over White-tailed Eagles. Probably the local pair, however, there is a four year old female also frequenting the harbour at the moment.

The harbour’s less glamorous site, ‘PC World drain’, adjacent to Holes Bay, is a magnet for migrant and over wintering birds due to the mild conditions and plenty of insects close to the water. No fewer than 11 Chiff Chaff and singles of Blackcap and Grey Wagtail were present during the day.

Curlew – Arne – David Turner