It was a red letter day in the harbour today that started off with an early morning foggy and very (very) brief Glossy Ibis at Lytchett Fields then the Pectoral Sandpiper was re-found on the ‘Stilt Pools’ at Swineham, however you could have been forgiven in thinking you’d gone cross-eyed when there was suddenly two all of a sudden! A ‘Pec Sand’ alone is rare enough in Poole Harbour but two together is exceptional, although not the first. In 1992 there was another occurrence of two at Swineham. Anyway, the scarcity hat-trick was completed when a Wryneck was found along the Raptor Trail walk at Arne and photographed by Andy Hirst. It’s funny how in the space of 2 years Cattle Egret are no longer considered ‘hot’ enough to make it on to a days scarcity list, but hey ho, we’ll still mention there were 2 at Swineham today. The weather forecast over the next week or so is mouth watering with east/north-easterly/south-easterly winds settling for a decent period of time. The wind had already swung by dawn today and look what it delivered! Osprey were seen with 2 at Lytchett Bay and another in Middlebere and Marsh Harrier were seen at both sites. Willow Warbler seem to have all but moved through now with Chiffchaff now dominating the phyllosc abundance. On Ballard there were 2 Wheatear and a Whinchat. In Brands Bay there was a Curlew Sandpiper, c160 Black-tailed godwit, 22 Dunlin and 2 Greenshank. There was also a Ruff at Lytchett Fields along with 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat and 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Two Pectoral Sandpiper – Swineham – David Foster

Wryneck – Coombe Heath, Arne – Andy Hirst

A few Osprey sightings this morning, with one hunting over the Middlebere Channel and another over Lytchett Fields. A single Spoonbill was also reported from the Middlebere Channel, as well as a count of 23 on Brownsea Lagoon. A count from Holes Bay North this morning reported 148 Wigeon, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Pintail, 30 Teal, 3 Knot, 4 Dunlin, 100+ Redshank and 250+ Black-tailed Godwit. 1 Cattle Egret was reported on the Swineham Gravel Pits this morning. Unfortunately, the Pectoral Sandpiper not seen at Arne Moors.

Spoonbill – Middlebere Channel – Kate Plater

The pace picked up again today with the Pectoral Sandpiper being seen on Arne Moors during the afternoon but relocating to a watchable spot on the scrapes at Swineham with a Ruff. Also at Swineham GP was a migratory Black-necked Grebe which is one of the earliest autumn harbour records. At Lytchett Fields a surprise Great White Egret was found which sadly only stayed for several seconds before disappearing off over the Bakers Arms roundabout. In Middlebere there were 6 Pintail, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 13 Redshank, 9 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Hobby, 2 Whitethroat, several Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff and 10+ Stonechat. At Holton Lee there were 30+ Yellow Wagtail in with the cattle and a Hobby. In Middlebere 2 Curlew Sandpiper joined 60 Avocet, 80 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Spotted Redshank, 34 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Grey Plover, 36 Dunlin, 4 Knot and 6 Pintail plus an Osprey caught a fish in the channel.

Great White Egret – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Steady today with a good mix right across the harbour. Starting off on the urban side of the harbour in Holes Bay NE where Wigeon almost peaked at 100 although not quite with 97 out on the water, also 30 Curlew, 49 Redshank, 3 Dunlin, 14 Little Egret but only 63 Black-tailed Godwit feeding until c200 arrived in with the rising tide. In the Middlebere channel today there were 80 Avocet, 40 Dunlin, 125 Black-tailed Godwit, 28 Redshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 male Marsh Harrier and 1 juvenile, 6 Little Egret and 1 Greenshank. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 4+ Curlew Sandpiper and Osprey sightings today came from Lytchett Bay (2), the Wareham Channel (1) and Middlebere (1).

Late news from Middlebere yesterday saw 43 Avocet, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, c200 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Curlew, 20 Dunlin, 6 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 4 Knot, 1 Ringed Plover, 5 Spotted Redshank, 30 Redshank.

Wheatear – Middlebere

For a Monday, there were a good range of sightings today spread right across the harbour. The Brownsea Lagoon was busy and saw c400 Dunlin, c90 Redshank, 29 Spoonbill, c80 Ringed Plover, c400 Oystercatcher, 15 Sanderling, 17 Knot, 9 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 13 Curlew, 2+ Curlew Sandpiper, 5 Avocet and 15 Shoveler. Holes Bay NE looked good on the low-tide this AM and saw 83 Wigeon, 2 Pintail, 1 Common Sandpiper, 500+ Black-tailed Godwit and 40+ Redshank. There was a green surprise at Lytchett Bay with a Ring-necked Parakeet flying around French’s Farm, also a Woodlark flew over Lytchett Fields where there was also 3 Ruff, 2 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat and a good raptor mix of 2 Osprey, 1 Peregrine, 2 Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobby and 1 Kestrel. Osprey sightings increased today with sightings of 2 over the Rockley area, 1 out over the Wareham Channel and 1 at Middlebere. Also at Middlebere were c300 Black-tailed Godwit, 70 Avocet, 1 Hobby and 1 Marsh Harrier. An arrival of c100 sinensis Cormorant was witnessed over Lytchett Bay, a sight we’ll see more of as September progresses with the Poole Harbour flock often reaching c700 individuals by October. Finally, some exciting news in that it seems a juvenile White-tailed Sea Eagle flew over Wareham mid-morning heading towards Wareham Forest. Sadly it was only seen by one observer but we’re hoping to get some info from the Roy Dennis Wildlife foundation to see if it’s any of the birds from their reintroduction.

Hobby – Slepe Heath

Meadow Pipit – Hartland Moor

Autumn (to winter) ramped up a notch today with reports that the first skeins of Pink-footed Geese were arriving along the NE coast and the first American wader of the season was tracked down at Kimmeridge in the shape of a gorgeous juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper. These milestones were equalled by a sad fact that it seems that quite a few of the recent Osprey seemed to move on either yesterday afternoon or first thing this AM with only single sightings of birds at Middlebere, Lytchett Bay and a couple of sightings in the Wareham Channel. The chill in the air this AM certainly made it feel like change is coming and the fact the harbour now has even more Pintail and Wigeon highlights this. A ringing session in the west of the harbour in the lower Piddle Valley produced 1 adult male Redstart, 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 9 Chiffchaff and 1 Willow Warbler. At Swineham GP and on the scrapes there was 1 Hobby, 1 Cattle Egret, 136 Coot, 14 Gadwall, 13 Little Egret (on the pit island), 14 Lapwing, 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull and 1 Black-tailed Godwit with 3 different Marsh Harrier around too. At a low-tide Baiter there were good counts of 28 Oystercatcher, 1 juv Greenshank, 11 Turnstone, 23 Ringed Plover, 1 Tree Pipit (over) 2 Yellow Wagtail and 116 Starling. Lytchett Bay saw 316 Teal, 4 Wigeon, 6 Knot, 2 Spotted Redshank and 1 Yellow-legged Gull. Holes Bay NE had 98 Redshank, 2 Pintail, 775 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Water Rail, 53 Wigeon and 83 Teal. In the Wareham Channel from our Osprey watch point 19 Spoonbill were feeding on the low-tide. There were 2 Hobby over Middlebere.

Common Redstart – Lower Piddle

Another really busy day and another great Osprey day, with a max count of 4 over Lytchett Bay and birds seen out over the Wareham Channel, Middlebere, Hamworthy and 1 was seen again in Brands Bay. At Lytchett Fields there was 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Ruff, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear and 1 Hobby. In Brands Bay 150 Black-tailed Godwit were feeding along with c120 Dunlin, 80 Redshank, 41 Great Crested Grebe, 60 Curlew and 11 Little Egret. In Middlebere a group of 46 Avocet were regularly ‘duffing up’ any passing Osprey with 2 hunting together mid-afternoon in the Wytch Channel area. Middlebere saw 2 different Marsh Harrier including a gorgeous juvenile at close range. In Holes north Black-tailed Godwit numbers peaked at 980 with 78 Wigeon, 1 Shoveler and 35 Redshank.

Shoveler – Holes Bay – Rene Goad