It wasn’t a bad day in the end, although the wind did build quite substantially. Female Osprey CJ7’s behaviour is interesting at the moment, as she’s taken to sitting on channel markers out in the Wareham Channel (rather American like) before going fishing elsewhere in the harbour. This morning she was on a marker in the mouth of Frome before heading off towards the Middlebere Wytch Lake area to catch a fish before heading off towards Wareham Forest. At Lytchett Fields there were more signs of autumn passage getting underway with 4 Little Ringed Plover, however, 3 of them were juveniles, which means a newly arrived juvenile had a arrived in from somewhere. This new bird seemed incredibly ‘fresh’ in terms of it’s juvenile plumage suggesting this too could have been raised somewhere local?? Also, the autumns first Greenshank returned onto the fields, and also present were 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 74 Black-tailed Godwit, 44 Redshank, c30 Lapwing and c15 Teal. More Crossbill were heard flying over with 8 over Slepe Heath/Hartland and c15 over Greenlands on the edge of Rempstone.

Newly arrived ‘fresh’ Little Ringed Plover – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Juvenile Lapwing – Lytchett Fields

With some strong winds arriving for the weekend it was worth trying to get some birding done today and tomorrow. At dawn, it looked as if an Osprey (probably CJ7) was sat on the Middlebere platform briefly, although frustratingly it didn’t trigger the camera. Post-breeding flocks of Mistle Thrush are building nicely with a flock of c20 at Arne and in the Piddle Valley. At Lytchett Bay, 4 Crossbill passed over the heath and on the fields were 4 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 64 Black-tailed Godwit, 32 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Marsh Harrier, 17 Teal and 3 Oystercatcher. A newly arrived Common Sandpiper was also on the Brownsea Lagoon. In Holes Bay there were 27 Curlew, 6 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron and still c150 Canada Geese. The Holme Lane GP saw 13 Egyptian Geese, 4 Tufted Duck, 1 Peregrine and 5 Little Grebe with 2 chicks. The autumns first juvenile Common Whitethroat was ringed in Lytchett Bay, which suggests it being a migrant as they don’t breed in the area, along with 2 new Cetti’s Warbler. Finally, non-avian but an amazing scene this evening when a Muntjac Deer was seen on a town road in north Wareham!

That’s it now, we can forget all about Covid:19 as autumn is officially here! What better distraction than the magic autumn of migration. We, know, we’re always banging on about how early autumn starts, and to get out and start looking etc etc, but it really and truthfully is the most exciting period of the birding calendar, and the best part is, is that it extends for four and a half months! Starting with the first early passage waders in July such as Little Ringed Plover, Spotted Redshank and Common Sandpiper. Then as July moves on the first Willow Warblers, Garden Warblers and Grasshopper Warblers begin to appear before things really kick off in August as a whole suit of other passerines build in numbers such as Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Redstarts, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchats, Yellow Wagtail and of course building numbers of Swallow and House Martin. August and September also see the passage of exciting waders like Little Stint, Ruff, Curlew and Wood Sandpiper. Then, as September grows old and gives way to October the finch, pipit, wagtail, bunting and thrush passage begin with coastal headlands being the best places visit as huge numbers can pass over these areas on a cold October morning. Then, by the end of October and early November big numbers of winter thrushes pass over, normally peaking in the first week of November. And of course….we can’t forget about the mass Woodpigeon migration which normally takes place between Nov 5^th and 15^th over the harbour, depending on the weather patterns. So, if there was ever a time to re-focus and remind our selves of the richness of our local area when it comes to our birds, now is most definitely the time.

Today, at Lytchett Fields there was an increase in Little Ringed Plover as a new migrant adult joined the family group, so 3 adults and 2 juveniles were present, so was the Spotted Redshank again, 29 Common Redshank, c60 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Common Sandpiper, 6 Lapwing, 1 Marsh Harrier and c15 Teal. On Slepe Heath there were c6 Nightjar churring, also a Hobby was calling at dusk and a Green Sandpiper flew over calling just after sunset. On the Brownsea Lagoon the new Avocet family with 4 chicks seem to be doing well, keeping away from the Great Black-backed Gulls.

Nightjar – Slepe Heath

This year is going just too fast…..April only seemed like last week, May only seemed yesterday and now it’s practically July! This is good news as it means we wane away from the doldrums period and can expect migrants to begin appearing week on week from now on until the end of October….hoorah! The latter part of July usually sees the first returning Willow Warbler head south along with the first few Garden Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler. Waders will certainly increase as the month progresses and Lytchett Fields is already beginning to show that with 4 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper and 33 Black-tailed Godwit today along with 1 Hobby and 1 Yellow-legged Gull. On the Brownsea Lagoon there was more exciting news that another pair of Avocet had hatched young, this time with 4 chicks, meaning there are currently 5 fresh Avocet chicks on the lagoon at present, with everyone keeping their fingers crossed for successful fledging. In Brands Bay there was a likely Whimbrel with c30 Curlew. So, with June ending on a bit of a wet note, but with July starting tomorrow, lets make Autumn 2020 a season to remember, it begins now!

Lapwing ‘chick’ – Southern harbour wetland 

It was rather quiet today with a strong SW wind blowing. Highlights included 5 Crossbill over a Poole garden mid-afternoon, female Osprey CJ7 caught a fish in the Wareham Channel and headed towards Arne to feed somewhere. At Lytchett Fields 3 Little Ringed Plover were seen together and c70 Swift passed over Studland.

Gadwall – Frome Valley

Sunshine and showers….that’s more like it! A typical British summer has now descended upon us. None of the 30 degree nonsense. This means getting out birding is a bit more bearable now. There were a good number of sightings from out around the harbour today, starting at Lytchett Fields where the 4 Little Ringed Plover were still present, along with small numbers of Teal, Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Marsh Harrier. In Holes Bay there were 24 Curlew, 4 Redshank, 7 Little Egret, a few Reed Warbler and c200 Canada Geese. Female Osprey CJ7 was seen out over Giggers Island in the Wareham Channel before heading west up the Frome Valley. In Middlebere there was a single Green Sandpiper out in front of the hide, 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Redshank and 2 Little Egret in the channel. It’s currently chick-tastic out on the Brownsea Lagoon breeding tern islands with ‘masses’ of Common Tern chicks bobbing around at present and the Sandwich Terns also progressing well, which don’t forget you can watch live on our Brownsea Lagoon webcams. In the PC-World Drain, there were good numbers of juvenile Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Long-tailed Tit.

Egyptian Geese – Stoborough heath fields 

Despite the wind and drop in temperature there were a few notable and important sightings today, including what looks like confirmed breeding of Little Ringed Plover in (or around) the Lytchett Fields area with 2 adults and 2 fresh juveniles on the fields today, suggesting they’ve fledged from not very far away. Also on Lytchett Fields today were 10 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, 9 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Lapwing, 12 Teal and a Marsh Harrier. At Morden Bog there were twos of Crossbill, Hobby, Woodlark, Spotted Flycatcher and Swift with 11 Stonechat and 2 Yellowhammer. At Middlebere there were 2 Green Sandpiper, 48 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew, 3 Little Egret and 2 Redshank. A Red Kite drifted over Hartland Moor and female Osprey CJ7 was seen over Arne Moors, viewed from Slepe Heath.

Adult (above) and juv (below) Little Ringed Plover – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Moulting drake Teal (above) and Mallard (below) – Lytchett Fields

Thank goodness the weather turned today, dropping from 30 degrees down to only 19 by this afternoon! By far the best news today was that the first Avocet chick hatched on the Brownsea Lagoon. There are apparently currently 4 ‘sitting’ pairs, which is a good total for Dorset, in fact it’s the only 4 pairs in Dorset! Although they have tried to breed over the last few years, the chicks are frequently predated by Great Black-backed Gulls. However, this year a couple of pairs have nested well away from the gulls, so it would be great if they could actually fledge some youngsters this year. At Lytchett Fields 24 Teal are already back and the 1^st juvenile Black-headed Gull was noted, along with an adult Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper. A Red Kite drifted over Upton and a Marsh Harrier was seen at Swineham.

Nightjar – Slepe Heath 

Common Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields – David Foster

It seems the sun went to a few people’s heads today with thousands of people flocking to Dorset to get a taste of the sun, sea, sand and heat stroke! To get away from the madness and remind our selves that Dorset isn’t always full of such carnage we ventured out on to Slepe Heath to look for Nightjars and check our route and plan safety measures to see if we can host our Nightjar walks post July 4^th. The great news is we’re pretty happy we can offer a set of safe and engaging Nightjar walks through July by reducing the number of participants from 20 to 10 and amending our route slightly. Some of our remaining trips are close to being fully booked already, but if you would like to join us here are the number of tickets left for our remaining walks and a link through to the booking page. Last night was such a treat with a minimum of 8-9 seen and plenty heard, so if you’d like a bit of (semi) normality in your life, why not join us?

July 7^th – 3 spaces left

July 14^th – 1 space left

July 21^st – 10 spaces left

July 28^th – 8 spaces left

We also checked the wetland site in the south of the harbour that we’ve been involved in over the last couple of years, which saw 6 freshly hatched Lapwing a couple of weeks ago. Well, tonight we could still see 3 young along with 3 adults meaning the site should see at least a 50% fledge rate, which is great. It was so hot today that other sightings were few and far between with female Osprey CJ7 seen briefly over the Wareham Channel, a new Marsh Harrier entered the harbour too from a great height, possibly a 2^nd cal year male but heat haze made the aging and sexing tricky. A group of 5 Crossbill passed over the Piddle Valley and 3 Hobby were again over the Slepe Heath/Hartland area.

Well, it was definitely summer today with a sweltering 30 degrees hit at Bournemouth airport. Despite the heat, a few birds had obviously moved through the night with a new Common Sandpiper at Lytchett Fields. Swift seemed to be on the move with several parties heading south-east and there seems no better time currently to see/hear Crossbill with more heard and seen along coastal sites of Dorset with an incredible 500+ moving along some sites along the NE coast of England. Female Osprey CJ7 made an appearance on a harbour platform today, the first time in a couple of weeks and 2 Hobby were very active above Slepe heath catching dragonflies.

Juvenile Stonechat – Upton Heath – Ian Ballam