Some classic early/mid Autumn birds around today including a Pied Flycatcher on Wareham Common with 6 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Wood Sandpiper at Sunnyside and another at Lytchett Fields, plus a Whinchat on Hartland Moor. There were 3 Osprey out in the Wareham Channel mid-morning and 4 around Middlebere just after first light. Also at Lytchett Fields were 16 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 7 Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpiper and multiple Osprey sightings. Right across the harbour, certainly in decent scrubby areas, there are currently good (and building) numbers of common migrants with Common Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Sedge and Reed Warbler all passing through currently, with smaller numbers of Common Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtail. Finally, the male Common Scoter was on the Saline Lagoon at RSPB Arne again.
Poole Harbour sightings blog
A record of all interesting and notable sightings from around the harbour throughout the year.
Latest Sightings
Harbour Update – 07/08/26
Harbour Update – 06/08/26
Another Osprey day with no less than 6 seen in the Wareham Channel this morning during a pop up watch at Ham Common viewpoint, plus a White-tailed Eagle was sat out on Shag Looe Bar. There was 1 (possibly 2) Wood Sandpiper at the Sunnyside Scrape, Ridge, yesterdays Common Scoter was on the clay Pit at RSPB Arne and was visible from their new ‘Clay Pit’ walk and a migrant Wheatear was on Redhorn Quay and 3 Common Sandpiper were on Jerrys Point.
Osprey over RSPB Arne – Alison Copland
Harbour Update – 05/08/26
A cracking Summer Safari Cruise for us this morning, with the top highlight being an adult male Common Scoter in the Wareham Channel seen sat on the water before flying south. We also saw 5 Osprey throughout the trip, including 1 successfully catching a fish in Arne Bay 5 mins after leaving the quay and another catching a fish in the Wareham Channel. 1 adult White-tailed Eagle was also present in the channel flying along the Arne shoreline whilst getting mobbed by Herring Gulls and an Osprey. On the low tide, c560 Black-tailed Godwit were spooked by 1 juvenile Peregrine, and 2 distant Marsh Harrier flew over the Arne shoreline. The juv Peregrine was terrorising everything in sight, from Cormorants to Black-headed Gulls, unsuccessfully! On the Brownsea Lagoon were c100 Dunlin, c1o Common Ringed Plover, 6 Greenshank, c120 Redshank, 6 Avocet, 18 Spoonbill, and 1 Common Sandpiper flying along the lagoon wall. Other sightings today featured 1 Honey Buzzard flying over Carey heading north, and 1 Wood Sandpiper and 1 Green Sandpiper on Sunnyside Scrape. This afternoon, 2 Osprey were present in Lytchett Bay, including 1 successfully catching a fish.
Ad Male Common Scoter – @wildlifedan1.bsky.social – Wareham Channel
Harbour Update – 04/08/26
A rising tide at Brands Bay offered the first 3 Great Crested Grebe into the high tide roost, plus 90 Teal, 13 Gadwall, 1 Lapwing, 4 Ringed Plover, 96 Curlew, 5 Whimbrel, 168 Black-tailed Godwit, 19 Redshank, 1 Turnstone, 4 Dunlin, 151 Mediterranean Gull and 6 Sandwich Tern. The Wareham Channel enjoyed 3–4 different Osprey in the morning, while a Grasshopper Warbler was logged near Old Harry. Three Common Sandpiper were spotted at Holes Bay from the train this morning(!), alongwith 3 Peregrine on the high-rise flats nr ASDA, Holes Bay.
Harbour Update – 03/08/26
After news the first (five) Aquatic Warblers trapped and ringed in France yesterday, it was hard not to feel a hint of unbridled optimism at the smallest sniff of the overnight easterlies. The reality was a relatively quiet ringing session at Carey, but species diversity made for a cracking migrant ringing demo for our Young Birders group showcasing Grasshopper Warbler, Tree Pipit and Willow Warbler, plus 4 Carey Ospreys overhead! Elsewhere, a single Osprey and Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Bay and a Pied Flycatcher was found at Arne, located near the Middlebere Lookout.
Unringed migrant Female Osprey (yesterday), Lytchett Bay © Mark Wright
Harbour Update – 02/08/26
At Swineham this morning there was 1 Great White Egret and a few Yellow Wagtail. 4 Osprey were hunting in Lytchett Bay this afternoon. Wader numbers are continuing to rise in the harbour with 3 Ringed Plover, 58 Curlew, 4 Whimbrel, 154 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank and 111 Mediterranean Gull in Brands Bay. 1 male Goshawk was at Holton Heath.
With the amount of Osprey and Eagle action building in the harbour, as we enter Osprey migration period, our free pop-up watches begin again at Ham Common and Rock Lea View, Lytchett Bay this coming week. Our first one is Tuesday 4th August 9am-12pm at Rock Lea View and you can find more information, all the dates and book free tickets at the link here. Hopefully we’ll have similar encounters as in recent days with at least 4 active hunting Ospreys, juveniles starting to explore the harbour and kleptoparasitism by White-tailed Eagles!
Peregrine Falcon ‘MS’ (juvenile Poole female 2026) – practice hunting BH Gulls last weekend over Brownsea from Summer Safari – Scott Newman
Peregrine Falcon ‘MS’ – ringed by the Dorset Raptor Study Group this summer – now exploring the harbour – Scott Newman
Harbour Update – 01/08/26
The first day of August brought with it another instance of kleptoparasitism of a White-tailed Eagle on an Osprey – this time in Lytchett Bay, where 3 Ospreys were fishing and male Eagle G463 forced one to drop its fish. It went into the water to try to claim it but failed and had to use its wings to swim back to shore. It later flew off, being mobbed by an unringed female Osprey. A juvenile male Redstart was ringed in Lytchett may along with a handful of Garden Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler. Huge numbers of Willow Warbler are passing through at the moment with yellow juveniles seemingly spread around all habitats in the harbour in good numbers.
We had the first sighting of one of the young Ospreys in the harbour today with 6T6 practising hunting in the Wareham Channel from our Summer Safari Cruise. Both adult White-tailed Eagles were active in the Wareham Channel being mobbed by Hobby and Osprey.
Osprey 6T6 from the Carey Nest – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland
White-tailed Eagle G466 being mobbed by Hobby – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland
Distant Osprey mobbing White-tailed Eagle having attempted fish theft – Lytchett Bay – Sam Levy
Harbour Update – 31/07/26
A few more sightings in today! At Lytchett Fields, highlights included 7 Common Sandpiper, 5 Green Sandpiper, 10 Greenshank, and 1 Spotted Redshank. From the Middlebere Hide, there was 1 Wheatear, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, a Peregrine attempting to catch a juvenile Shelduck, as well as a Whinchat on Hartland Moor.
Wheatear – Middlebere – Garry Hayman
Whinchat – Hartland Moor – Garry Hayman
Harbour Update – 30/07/26
Seemingly few sightings reported today despite the good conditions. The two Spotted Redshank were still on Lytchett Fields, plus appearances from 2 Osprey over the bay. Eight Spoonbill were on Brownsea Lagoon, perhaps the outstanding 6 individuals that have been kicking about the harbour in recent days were out feeding in one of the channels along the south and western shorelines. Swineham featured three Yellow Wagtail in the field next to tidal flap and some much needed desk time gave us a chance to process the photos from recent safari cruises…
White-tailed Eagle male (G463) from safari cruise at the weekend – Joe Parker
Harbour Update – 29/07/26
The first Wood Sandpiper of the ‘Autumn’ in the harbour with 2 at Lytchett Fields this morning, Sherford Pools. 2 Spotted Redshank, 6 Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpiper and 15 Greenshank were also present. On Brownsea today the 17 Spoonbill were roosting along with 9 Avocet, 16 Ringed Plover, 153 Black-tailed Godwit, 110 Redshank, 11 Greenshank, 172 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone and 1 Sanderling. At least 12 Common Sandpiper were on the north shore of Brownsea. 1 Osprey was hunting in the Wareham Channel this evening and 3 Osprey were in Lytchett Bay including an unringed bird.
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