We’ve been lucky enough to find 2 Spotted Flycatcher nests over the last 24 hours, one on a private house just outside Wareham and a second at Sandford Woods (Holton Heath, Organford). This is a species thats suffered big declines over the last two decades, so we’d be really interested in hearing about any ‘Spot Fly’ nests you find around the harbour these next few weeks. The nests we’ve found both have young being fed, so any adults around the harbour should be really active currently. Male and female Osprey CJ7 and 022 were both on the nest cam early this morning, and even mated again briefly but then disappeared for most of the day. These warm evening have really got the Nightjars going with 20+ seen and heard along the heathlands along the southern shores of the harbour, especially in between Greenlands Farm, Rempstone and the Corfe River Valley. Also in that area were 4 Tawny Owl including a calling juvenile, 1 Hobby and 1 juv Woodlark. The 3 juv Peregrine were all present and correct this morning, and for now have stayed put up on the top ledge of Barclays. Both the adult Marsh Harrier were busy in the Wareham Channel, interacting quite a bit, and at times even having a bit of a barney! We’re hoping alls well with the chicks at the nest and that the new parents are doing a good enough job at provisioning them. Time will tell, but it will be great to see fresh new juv Marsh Harrier fledge from a Poole Harbour nest once more.

Paul Morton

Spotted Flycatcher – Wareham 

It was another blisteringly hot day today with some ‘interesting’ occurrences. Most notably having to go and rescue one of the Poole Barclays Peregrines which had found it’s self grounded late morning. Earlier it had attempted to fledge, and seemed to be doing quite well. However, once on the pavement it was then too exhausted to then make its way back up to the ledge. However thanks to the speedy quick thinking of the Barclays team and Jason Fathers we were able to get to the bird really quickly, and then get it back up to its nesting ledge with it’s siblings. This allowed us our first proper look and the juv’s and could see quite clearly the chicks are made up of 2 males and 1 female. It’s quite possible this will happen again over the coming days or weeks, but lets hope we can achieve the same result each time! There was a Great White Egret feeding in front of the raptor screen at Arne (Middlebere) and both a Cuckoo and Nightjar were calling at the same time from Middlebere heath mid-morning. At Lytchett Fields there were 23 Lapwing, which included the first dispersed juvenile of the autumn. Probably from one of the local breeding sites such as Keysworth or Morden.

Yesterday we mentioned that we had an Osprey that appeared at the release site and wondered if it could have been a new arrival? Well today, male Osprey 022 showed up there suggesting that it was actually him yesterday reacquainting himself with his natal site. This is common behaviour in young male Ospreys  and he’ll probably visit the area again several times this summer.

We also received some great news today that our translocated Osprey from 2018, female 014, has successfully hatched chicks in the Glaslyn Valley in Wales. This is a great achievement for the project because it actually fulfils part of the long-term objective of our translocation because we’re already seeing the main England populations connecting up. We of course have CJ7 from Rutland, Wales now have female 014 and all we need now is for our pair to breed and at some point in the near future we just need to steal a Welsh Osprey and the triangle will be complete!

Joe Parker

Rescued Peregrine chick from the Barclays nest

Male osprey 022 over his old release site

What a beautiful day for a Poole Harbour Osprey Project Tour! We spent 2 hours cruising up the Wareham Channel this morning while talking about the in’s and out’s of our flagship project. With only our resident summering pair (CJ7 & 022) in the harbour at the moment viewing Ospreys is a real challenge, but there is always a chance of encountering an Osprey if we’re lucky. The exceptionally calm morning meant the calls of Skylark, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Redshank and more could all be heard clearly from the boat across the western shores. After cruising up the River Frome quickly and finding an Egyptian Goose on the Swineham scrapes, we returned to the Wareham channel and were treated to 2 Osprey successfully hunting! To add to the excitement, a Marsh Harrier was patrolling Gigger’s Island while one of the Ospreys was fishing, offering great views of both birds in the same field of view.

Late this afternoon we had an interesting moment when prepping some work at the Osprey release site, when we accidentally flushed an Osprey that was sat in some trees near by. This is classic behaviour for a 2-year old, returning to the natal site upon its return. Sadly we didn’t get good enough views to see if it was ringed, but its highly likely it will be one of our 2019 birds, either 022 making a visit, or quite possibly anew arrival? We’ll be keeping a close eye on things over the coming days.

More Red Kite were moving around today with individuals over Hartland, Middlebere and Hamworthy. The 3 juv Peregrine are now really active and very visual, chasing each up up and down the length of the top balcony. If you’re in Poole anytime this week, it’s well worth popping your bino’s in the car and stopping off to watch them. It’s a great site for the centre of Poole. There was also more evidence of return passage with 10 Avocet in Middlebere which is quite a high mid-June count.

Joe Parker

Dartford Warbler – Garry Hayman

At risk of overloading our sightings page with Peregrine photos, it’s not every day you can enjoy such a spectacle in the heart of a busy conurbation! Feral Pigeon continue to be delivered to young, and once fledged, we might begin to witness live prey being brought in – all excellent practice for juveniles looking to hone in their new hunting skillset!

Tickets have sold out for tomorrow’s Osprey Project Tour cruise, but limited spaces remain on trips running on 20 June, 27 June & 4 July. Make the most of this glorious weather while enjoying a guided tour of the harbour delivered by our Osprey Project team for a unique opportunity to gain an overview of the project and its progress, along with some of the finer details and what we can expect to happen next. While there won’t be guaranteed views of Ospreys from the boat, there is always the chance that one of over-summering pair will make an appearance, so all eyes will be firmly fixed on the skies…

These balmy, hot summer’s evenings are also prime conditions for the Nightjars breeding across our local heathlands. We cannot encourage you enough to get out one evening this week! Pick a still, muggy evening and venture out for dusk to experience the other-worldly, churring song of this heathland specialist.

Joe Parker

Juvenile Peregrine – Barclays, Poole – Twitter @twamers

Last nights Nightjar walk was an absolute corker with Nightjar active before dark and a Cuckoo giving two Stonechat grief in the middle of Slepe Heath. Dartford Warbler showed really well too, despite the gloom and Meadow Pipit are still singing on territory. Today a Honey Buzzard was seen heading over Lytchett Bay which are always a joy to see and an adult male Yellow Wagtail was in the Lower Piddle Valley which suggests some return migration is already underway….unless its breeding somewhere of course? There were 2 Hobby and a Peregrine over Wareham Common the juvenile Peregrines at Barclays were really active today, doing more wing stretching. Ospreys CJ7 and 022 spent quite a bit of time on the nest again and were later seen over the Wareham Channel. The first 6 Lapwing of the autumn returned to Lytchett Fields and there were 3 Curlew and a Grey Plover in Middlebere.

By Paul Morton

Male and female Osprey CJ7 and 022 on the nest cam 

Well, he couldn’t stay away for long having been absent for a day and a half, but male Osprey 022 returned late last night (21:30) from his travels to reunite with CJ7 again. And today, both have been really active on the nest cam throughout the day, mating several times and even still bringing in nesting material. The truth is, it’s almost certainly past the sage where eggs can be laid, and any attempts from here on in are more for bonding rather than to fertilise eggs. Plus, it could be that 022 starts disappearing more often as the season goes on. Just having them both present in the harbour this summer is a privilege in its self so lets enjoy them over the coming months and see what else happens and who else appears!

Also, it was confirmed today that there are still three Peregrine chicks at the Barclays nest site, with two now very visual, running up and down the balcony ledge in a terrifying but quite impressive bout of bravery, with the third seen to be wing flapping from down behind the balcony edge, presumably because it’s not as advance as the other two.

At Studland a Cuckoo was active near South Haven and Hobby flew over Greenlands. There are still 2 dark-bellied Brent Geese in Brands Bay. A couple of events covered a wide range of habitats and species across the harbour today. Our Better Birding, Better Birds walk at Holton Lee treated us to cracking views of a singing Lesser Whitethroat as we scanned the Wareham Channel for Osprey and scanned over the breeding Black-headed and Mediterranean Gull colony. An Osprey was glimpsed near the mouth of the Rivers Frome and Piddle briefly, a Hobby dashed across the heath and a female Kestrel showed wonderfully, hovering right in front of the group. The day was then capped off with a sensational Nightjar walk on Slepe Heath. Despite the ominous mist, we were treated to incredible spectacles including obliging views of Dartford Warbler, prolonged views of Cuckoo being mobbed by a male Stonechat (improved further when a Nightjar began churring right next to us while observing the spat!), and then a male Nightjar flying around briefly and hour before sunset – stunning!

Paul Morton & Joe Parker

Juvenile Peregrine – Barclays – Twitter @twamers

Yesterday, we reported that an Osprey was observed moving up the Frome Valley, towards Holmebridge. Initially considered as “out of character” for our over-summering pair (CJ7 & 022), we speculated this could be a fresh in migrant heading north. However, with no sign of 022 in the harbour since 09:30AM yesterday, and coupled with the report of a Osprey fishing on Sherborne Castle Lake this morning, it would seem our male has set off an exploratory wander, very typical behaviour in 2-year-old birds and to be expected this time of year.

One of the Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagles entered and roosted in the harbour yesterday evening. Today saw the bird visit Brownsea Island and Goathorn Point before soaring over Studland, treating several observers to views over Poole as it tracked north over Lilliput and Lower Parkstone at 11AM and continued east. Both adult Peregrine were logged on the ASDA highrise building, with 2 fledglings on Barclays. An additional Peregrine sighting was recorded over the Baker’s Arms Roundabout heading west, presumably from the Lytchett/Morden area, as opposed being one of the Holes Bay individuals. In other positive news, the first tern chicks of the year have now hatched on Brownsea, with both Sandwich and Common Tern appearing in the last few days.

~ Joe Parker

Sandwich Tern (above) and Common Tern (below) – Brownsea Island – Luke Johns

Peregrine chick – Barclays, Poole – @nyrak62 (twitter account)

We have some more good news today. After announcing a couple of days ago that we believe Marsh Harrier are currently feeding young in the Wareham Channel. We can now also confirm that the Barclays Peregrines are also currently provisioning for 2-3 chicks. A nesting tray was put up back in March in partnership with Barclays, Wildlife Windows, Birds of Poole Harbour and Dorset Police and the birds took to it right away. Local Holes Bay watcher Martin Adams recently took a photo of one of the chicks peering over the top of the nesting balcony, giving a rough idea of age and today Rene Goad got a great photo of one of the chicks braving the balcony. It will be incredibly exciting when the young fledge which is always an active and noisy affair, but should allow for some good viewing and perhaps photographic opportunities.

Elsewhere today an Osprey was seen heading up the Frome Valley, heading towards Holmebridge. This could be either CJ7 or 022, but seems out of character for their normal day to day behaviour, suggesting it could have been a newly arrived migrant heading up and following the river system out of the harbour. You can tell it’s been a late spring because Sedge Warbler were still absolutely going for it at Bestwall and Bog Lane this morning. Sedge Warbler tend to go silent once paired up in mid-May, but there were no signs of either of these birds quietening down. The first passage Crossbill of the autumn passed over Lytchett Fields with 3 logged and a Roseate Tern settled on the tern islands on Brownsea briefly.

Paul Morton

Juvenile Peregrine – Barclays, Poole – Rene Goad

Roseate Tern – Brownsea Lagoon – screen grab from webcam

Autumn presses on with a doubling of Green Sandpiper at Lytchett fields this AM with not one but two present! They were joined by 3 Little Ringed Plover and an early Curlew. A Quail was heard mid afternoon up near Old Harry just off the SW coast footpath but not heard again. The first Spoonbill of the autumn also arrived back on the Brownsea Lagoon. A Red Kite drifted over Wareham and both Osprey CJ7 and 022 were seen out and about over the Wareham Channel, viewed from Hyde’s Heath, Arne. 2 Spotted Flycatcher were seen at Greenland’s Farm and up on Ballard 4 Common Whitethroat were in full song still this AM. We were discussing this morning how late some species may breed this summer, especially those that can have 2-3 broods. The reason being is that we’ve noticed Woodlark are still in full song at some sites and with not many young birds having been logged so far this spring/summer many birds must now be trying like fury to start bringing off some fledglings as soon as possible. The Egyptian Geese were still at Swineham scrapes and Bearded Tit were heard in the reed beds off the point proving breeding at this site.

Paul Morton

Common Whitethroat – Ballard Down

We say it with glee every year, but today heralded the start of autumn migration as the first returning Green Sandpiper of year was seen at Lytchett Fields. These early returners heading south build in numbers through June, peaking in July. Later this month the first Little Ringed Plover will be appearing too. At Swineham numbers have steadied out with 27 Cetti’s Warbler, 58 Reed Warbler and 5 Blackcap. On top of Hartland a Lesser Whitethroat is still singing on territory and 2 Hobby were over Hartland Bog with another 2 over the Piddle Valley. Both Ospreys CJ7 and 022 were seen out over the Wareham Channel later in the day with Our first Osprey Project Cruise having headed out earlier in the morning and logging the Marsh Harrier pair in the mouth of the River Piddle, which were very active. Regarding the Marsh Harrier, we have some good news. The pair that have been seen on and off over the course of the spring and summer have actually made a nesting attempt in the Wareham Channel and we believe they’re now feeding young. This is great news as Marsh Harrier haven’t successfully bred in the harbour since 2016. The pair look very similar with the male having female type plumage, but great thanks to Peter Hadrill who’s been keeping us up to date on developments this spring and who can now hopefully watch and provide us with an update soon on how the new family are doing. There was a ‘fall’ of geese in Poole Park with 109 Greylag Geese appearing and 100 Canada Geese which are recent good totals. There seem to be good numbers of Swift around Poole currently with groups over Old Town Poole, Pitwines, Lower Hamworthy, Poole Park and Oakdale. Swallow sadly seem to tell a different story with hardly any at usual sites across the harbour! There were no further signs of our returning female Osprey 019 up in Wales but I’m sure (just like 014 did) she’ll reappear somewhere!

Greylag and Canada Geese – Poole Park – Martin Adams

Marsh Harrier pair – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland

Female Osprey 019 on Glasly nest – photo screen shot from Glaslyn webcam

Female Osprey 019 day of release on Aug 5th 2019