Ooof! They weren’t wrong about the temperature drop. Saturday felt like a cold March day with hoodies and jackets needed. The temperature drop and swing in wind direction from the NW, pretty much halted and new, late arrivals/migration from taking place. Even female Osprey CJ7 seems to have given up moving around the harbour and has now taken up semi-residence in the Wareham Channel, although she did make a brief appearance of another harbour nest platform late afternoon. This time of year it’s always good to confirm breeding of rare, scare (or just shy) species and today Gadwall were seen with young in Middlebere which is good news. It’s also thought that at least 3 pairs of Avocet are sitting on eggs on the Brownsea Lagoon, but the best bit is they’ve finally decided to nest somewhere safe! The last few years they’ve nested with 2ft of several Great Black-backed Gulls which sadly normally predate the young Avocet within days. Now that the Avocet have chosen to set on some of the small stony islands there may be a better chance of success! On Friday there was a report of a Turtle Dove in a Wareham garden but no further info. Both the male and female Peregrine were on the Asda building which suggests breeding didn’t occur this summer sadly. Several visits to Lytchett Fields produced 1 Little Ringed Plover, up to 20 Lapwing, 6 Teal and 7 Black-tailed Godwit.

Little Ringed Plover – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

CJ7 on ‘other’ harbour nest platform on Saturday evening

Early June….the birding doldrums! Migration has pretty much halted, breeding and nesting activity for many species is already drawing to a close and with the sun rising at 4:30am, most of the exciting birding activity is well and truly over by the time most of us arise from our beds. But it’s a great time to observe different behaviour and to certainly familiarise yourself with the tricky ID challenges of young birds either in your gardens or out around the harbour. It’s also a great time to really listen to the variety of calls made by young bird’s as now is a time for great confusion. Some adult birds are still in fine voice such as Song Thrush and Blackcap, but as June progresses the sound of spring will slowly fade away. You may have noticed that young Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Starling and Siskin are visiting your feeders now or out on the heaths young Stonechat and Linnet are quite conspicuous. Watch and listen to these birds carefully and you’ll notice subtle (and some not so subtle) differences in both plumage and sound which allows you to ID birds to age quite easily this time of year. Enjoying birds for what they are is always a joy but now is a perfect time (we think) to advance your birding skills and build your knowledge before the autumn rush begins.

That said, today provided a nice variety of finds with raptors putting on a good show with an Osprey (presumed CJ7) out over the Wareham Channel, 1 Marsh Harrier near Swineham, 1 Hobby over the Arne Road and 1 Red Kite over Hartland. At Lytchett Fields there were 2 Little Ringed Plover, 26 Lapwing, 11 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Whimbrel and 1 Yellow-legged Gull. Along Bog Lane and at Holme Lane GP there was a single Hobby and 4 Egyptian Geese with 9 Goslings suggesting that these once scarce feral visitors will now soon become a regular fixture to the Poole Harbour birding scene. An evening watch of the Wareham Channel resulted in 67 Shelduck and 17 Gadwall but most surprising of all, were 2 Badgers running a mock in and around the reed beds off Swineham. Could Badgers be another reason why Marsh Harrier no longer nest there? Also Rose-coloured Starling (Rosy Starling) have now been seen either side of the harbour in Christchurch and Weymouth so it stands to reason we could see one somewhere locally, we just need the wind to swing SE again. Our bet is at Baiter….so watch those Starling flocks!

Two Badgers in reed bed off Swineham

It’s about bloomin time! Finally, after almost 2 months of blissful sunshine it actually rained! We really needed this as did the landscape that seemed to be suffering more and more as each sun-scorched day went by. As so often happens when light rain comes, airborne insects emerge and species such as Swallow, House Martin and Swift take full advantage. That was the scene over Wareham tonight with c100 in total collectively made up of all three species. The rain also seemed to bring more birds on to Lytchett Fields with 31 Lapwing, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 13 Gadwall, 1 Teal and a Marsh Harrier. Yesterday morning the Marsh Warbler was said to have moved 100 yards along the river and a 1^st summer Little Gull was on Swineham GP. There were also 2 Osprey seen together over Lytchett Bay providing a minor bit of excitement for a short while only for CJ7 to later arrive back at the nest cam…..alone!

It’s looking like it’s time to start thinking Pink too! With a massive Rose-coloured Starling irruption sweeping across Western Europe it’s well worth keeping an eye out for any pink starlings in your local starling flocks. Today Dorset saw a couple already with individuals seen at Christchurch Harbour and Southbourne and hopefully it’s just a matter of when not if we’ll see one in the harbour.

Swift – Poole Park

So close, yet so far! The rarity roll almost continued this evening when a likely Caspian Tern was seen heading east over Bestwall toward the harbour. This large, bulky tern with a carrot for a beak is normally of south-east European origin with breeding also occurring up and around the Baltics. Sadly the bird was flying away from the finder and it couldn’t be clinched It was possible that being seen so late in the evening it could of headed to Brownsea to roost with all the Sandwich and Common Terns, but despite much searching with the lagoon webcams it wasn’t found. The good news was that the Marsh Warbler was present again for its 4^th day, singing well at dawn and showing intermittently. On the Brownsea Lagoon 1 Spoonbill was present this evening as were 7+ Avocet which will hopefully result in more nesting attempts. It seems both Sandwich and Common Tern are having a great nesting season with big numbers on all the breeding islands.

Oystercatcher – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

It’s nice to end the month with a rarity , especially one that now been around for three days meaning everyone got to enjoy it over the weekend. We’re of course talking about the Marsh Warbler which was still singing (and showing briefly) at Bestwall this morning. The surprise of the day however was a Short-eared Owl that seen at Swineham Point. Traditionally a winter bird here in the harbour, recent BTO tracking data has highlighted that non-breeding individuals and also breeding individuals that have just raised their first brood often go on large migrations around the UK before re-settling to raise a second brood, or even traveling to new countries to try and find a new mate. Today’s bird settled on the saltmarsh at Swineham briefly before being seen off by the local Redshank family that have 3 newly hatched chicks. Also around Swineham were 2 Cuckoo, including a lovely ‘hepatic’ (rufous morph) female that’s been around for several weeks now. On the Swineham Scrapes a single Little Ringed Plover was still present and c20 Swift were over the gravel pit. At Lytchett Fields yesterdays Green Sandpiper was still present along with 15 Lapwing. Up around Slepe Heath 4 different Cuckoo’s were still going for it and out over the Wareham Channel 2 Hobby, 1 Osprey (assumed to be CJ7) and 1 Marsh Harrier were logged.

Short-eared Owl – Swineham – Peter Moore

Marsh Warbler – Bestwall – Peter Moore

Sedge Warbler – Swineham – Peter Moore

Redshank chicks – Swineham – Peter Moore

Today was another scorcher, but started off cool with a 4:30am visit back to Bestwall to see if the Marsh Warbler was still there and singing. Thankfully it was, and this time showing really well too. It’s song and mimicry in the still morning air was just breath-taking as it swapped with ease from calls of Blackbird, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Magpie, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Song Thrush, Whitethroat, Wren, Chiffchaff! Even when it was preening! It was accompanied by 2 Cuckoo which spent the early part of the morning chasing each other around the Marsh Warbler.

Elsewhere, there were signs that confirmed many peoples worst fears. Yep, autumn is well and truly here with the first Green Sandpiper already arriving at Lytchett Fields. This is rather early (only by several days) with the first Green Sands usually arriving on site in early June with numbers building through the month and then peaking in July. It was likely a failed/non-breeder but it still heralds the first southward movement. Don’t worry though, there’s still plenty of great birds to experience yet this summer before autumn passage really kicks back in in late July/early August. Also at Lytchett Fields were 3 Ringed Plover (heading north), 17 Lapwing (potential local failed breeders), 2 Redshank, 9 Gadwall and a Yellow-legged Gull. Red Kite were on the move again, this time heading north and east with birds over Studland, Upton, Ridge, Swanage, Lytchett and Poole. At East Holme a pair of Spotted Flycatcher were found in the woods. There was good news too at Swineham with Common Redshank chicks photographed off Swineham Point.

Marsh Warbler – Bestwall – Peter Moore

Where on earth did May go????? It seems like only yesterday that CJ7 arrived, and now its almost June, we can begin to start thinking about a birders favourite time of year….autumn!

We say it, year after year, and never get bored of saying it, but the birding autumn actually begins in mid June as the first Green Sandpipers begin to move south, soon followed by Little Ringed Plovers. Then, the glory of autumn migration continues right the way through to mid-November….bliss!

In all honesty, there was some weird sightings today that could suggest failed breeding has already become a factor and birds are on the move ‘south’ already. A Little Ringed Plover at Bramble Bush Bay is an exceptional late May record and surely constitutes a departing bird? Also, 4 Lapwing were on Lytchett Fields already suggesting local failed breeders are already looking for places to spend the rest of the summer. Strangest of all were 35 Barnacle Geese which flew over Brownsea and towards Brands Bay…..where the hell did they come from????? Suggesting it’s almost autumn is one thing, but nearly mid-winter???!! 🙂

Also in Brands Bay was a fishing Osprey which is site we don’t believe CJ7 visits so it could have been a migrant. Other interesting birds of prey consisted of Red Kites over Ballard and Ridge with 2 Hobby and 1 Peregrine also over Ridge. The male and female Peregrine were on the Asda building still and Firecrest were heard singing at Sherford Bridge.

Terrapins – Hatch Pond – Ian Ballam

It was a quiet Bank Holiday for bird news with the White Stork at Wool being the most notable sighting. We haven’t seen this bird ourselves yet, so are not sure of its origin or whether it has any rings on, but that really doesn’t matter and we hope that White Stork soon become a regular spring visitor to these areas now, especially as 2 pairs are now breeding a bit further up the coast, east at the Knepp Estate. At Lytchett fields there were 3 Ringed Plover, 2 Whimbrel and 1 Cuckoo. Hobby now seem more dispersed with 2 over Hartland, 2 over the Frome Valley and singles seen over Swineham and Stoborough Heath. An Osprey was seen over Stoborough but it’s unclear as to whether it was CJ7 or a newly arrived migrant. The two Roseate Terns were still on the Brownsea Lagoon moving about to different areas and more Sandwich Tern chicks have hatched.

Swallow – Stoborough