Another great day. Not too much new in but still a good spread of birds across the harbour. The 2 Glossy Ibis were still in the Wareham Channel all day, up to 6 different Osprey were spread across the Wareham Channel, Lytchett Bay and Middlebere, female White-tailed Eagle G466 was also active around the channel and male G463 was seen over Middlebere, 3 Great White Egret were on the edge of RSPB Arne Moors, 2 Curlew Sandpiper were on the edge of the Wareham Channel and another was in Middlebere. Last night 120 Yellow Wagtail went into roost at Swineham, there are now 35+ Wigeon back in Holes Bay north, Wareham Common held 3 Whinchat and 2 Wheatear and 2 Spotted Redshank were at Lytchett Fields. There was a decent push of hirundines through today, mostly Swallows but a sprinkling of House Martin and Sand Martin too. The 9 Goosander were still in Brands Bay and Brownsea held 44 Spoonbill.

Glossy Ibis – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Juvenile (presumed female) Osprey – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Juvenile (presumed male) Osprey – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

With this mornings persistent and rather welcome (but unwelcome) rain, there wasn’t much birding to be had before lunch, but bang on 13:30 the sky’s cleared and a brisk north-westerly kicked in. Most intriguing was a gathering of 9 Goosander in Brands Bay which is highly unusual for September, and for Brands Bay. A single Curlew Sandpiper was in Middlebere briefly this morning, a Glossy Ibis was in the Wareham Channel along with 5 Great White Egrets and 2 Marsh Harrier. Still no real shortage of Ospreys with 4 in the Wareham Channel this afternoon, 2-3 in Lytchett Bay, 2 in Brands Bay and 2 over Middlebere, although there will be a bit of overlap. Female White-tailed Eagle G466 was also in the Wareham Channel this afternoon. A few more winter birds were about with 4 Pintail in Brands Bay and there are now 49 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon.

Marsh Harrier – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

After all the Osprey madness in recent weeks it’s nice to talk about a few scarcities this evening. Firstly, an Ortolan Bunting was sound recorded during a noc-mig session on Sat night into Sunday morning at 02:41 over Oakdale. Just over 10 years ago now we learned that this species can be a frequent nocturnal migrant over urban Poole, despite its immense scarcity during daylight hours. This is the first autumn record for a few years now, but this is likely down to reduced noc-mig efforts rather than decreased movements of birds. A juvenile Honey Buzzard passed over Lytchett Bay this afternoon, seemingly a dark-morph youngster. This evening 7 Glossy Ibis were in Middlebere which were initially assumed to be the same 7 that were at Lodmoor yesterday, but according to the info services those 7 are still there, which suggests theres currently another Glossy Ibis arrival occurring, which it did this time last year. Elsewhere there were 2 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields and another in Middlebere, 3-4 Osprey were in the Wareham Channel, 12 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon and a White-tailed Eagle over Middlebere.

Ortolan Bunting over Oakdale – Early hours of Sunday morning – David Foster

Sonagram of Ortolan Bunting tew call over Oakdale

Another big push of Osprey through the harbour today with 10+ active throughout the day across the Wareham Channel, Lytchett and Middlebere, including Carey 2-year old 5H6, an unringed adult male and female and unringed juvenile. The White-tailed Eagle pair caught their own huge fish in the Wareham Channel today and although interested in the Ospreys never quite found the opportunity to give chase. They were joined by a 2025 immature G607 from the Isle of Wight who was soaring over the Wareham Channel before heading towards Longham Lakes. 1 Glossy Ibis was on the Keysworth shoreline. In the Wareham Channel on the low tide there were 14 Greenshank, 4 Knot, c80 Dunlin, c200 Black-tailed Godwit and 15 Avocet. With the rain we’ve had there’s a few more pools forming on Arne Moors and here there were 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank and 1 Common Sandpiper in the River Frome.  On Wareham Common there were 2 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear and 3 Spotted Flycatcher.

White-tailed Eagle pair G466 (left) and G463 (right) sharing a huge fish that G466 caught – The Wareham Channel from our Osprey Cruise – Alison Copland

With the weather improving perfectly just before 9am, and moments before our first Osprey Cruise departed the quay, there was just enough time to check Baiter on the low tide which produced 26 Ringed Plover and 15+ Turnstone. Our Osprey Cruises today produced 6+ Osprey in the Wareham Channel along with 3 Great White Egret, 3 Marsh Harrier, 18 Spoonbill, 2 Spotted Redshank, 53 Avocet, 3 Wigeon and a good mix of other common waders and plenty of Sandwich Terns. Later in the day the Brownsea Lagoon held 31 Spoonbill plus 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, c100 Avocet and 75 Ringed Plover. At RSPB Arne, 3 Pied Flycatcher and 5 Spotted Flycatcher were near Arne Farm along the track and an adult Yellow-legged Gull was in Middlebere.

Ringed Plover – Baiter Beach

Much of the same currently, but it’s all a spectacle. There seemed to have been an increase in Ospreys this afternoon (some new arrivals today?) after a quiet morning with 8-9 spread across the Wareham Channel, Lytchett Bay, Middlebere and Brands Bay. Also a surprise were 2 Swift over Swineham this morning. The 2 Glossy Ibis were feeding in the Wareham Channel on the low tide this morning and then flew over to Swineham this afternoon. There were also 3 Great White Egret, 18 Spoonbill, c50 Avocet, 19 Knot, 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 White-tailed Eagle and a Peregrine also in the Wareham Channel. On Wareham Common there were 3 Whinchat, 1 Pied Flycatcher and 7 Spotted Flycatcher.

Pied Flycatcher – Wareham Common – Trevor Warwick

Spotted Flycatcher – Wareham Common – Trevor Warwick

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times before…..never, ever be put off by the weather. Despite the building wind and afternoon murk there were loads of good birds to be seen today, mostly from our two Osprey Cruises that went out this morning and this afternoon. Despite seeing Osprey from both cruises (between 3-4 from each cruise), it was the White-tailed Eagles that stole the show this morning with several close fly by’s across the Wareham Channel as both the adult male and female followed each other around both the north and south edge of the shore. We were also treated to 2 Hobby bombing around the boat, as well as 21 Spoonbill, 7 Avocet, 2 Glossy Ibis, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Great White Egret. This afternoons trip was a tad gloomier but rewards were had with a Bittern on the edge of Swineham CP, with one magic moment when both Bittern and Glossy Ibis were in the same binocular view. There were also 3-4 Osprey in Lytchett Bay, so we estimate there are at least 8+ still around which is a great early September total. Just up the Frome Valley a White Stork flew over Purbeck Sports Centre and seemed to come down west, close to the roundabout. On Lytchett Fields 2 Spotted Redshank and 15 Greenshank were on view from Frenches viewpoint.

White-tailed Eagle flying past our Osprey Cruise this AM – Alison Copland

White-tailed Eagle flying past our Osprey Cruise this AM – Alison Copland

There was a very autumn ‘vibe’ today, with the first calm, still morning for several days, which was always guaranteed to see a big movement of birds at dawn. This was most evident at the ringing station in the Lower Piddle Valley which logged 333 birds caught this morning including a late surge of 106 Sedge Warbler, 33 Grasshopper Warbler, 77 Blackcap and 37 Willow Warbler. Osprey numbers seem slightly lower with 5+ logged across the area during the day plus female White-tailed Eagle G466 dropped down into the channel this afternoon. Other highlights included 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 18 Spoonbill, 109 Avocet, 201 Dunlin, 93 Ringed Plover, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Knot, c100 Sandwich Tern and 10 Greenshank all on the Brownsea Lagoon. In Middlebere a Ruff flew over, plus there was a Great White Egret with another in the Wareham Channel. At Lytchett Fields some migrants included 3 Whinchat in arable field, also 1 Spotted Flycatcher in same area plus 2 Tree Pipit, and at RSPB Arne Farm the Pied Flycatcher was still near the Shipstal track along with several Spotted Flycatcher and 1 Redstart.

Great White Egret over Middlebere – BlueSky @dizzygirl66.bsky.social

Ruff over Middlebere – BlueSky @dizzygirl66.bsky.social

As we enter the final third of this calendar year, it’s safe to say that this has been the best Osprey autumn we’ve ever had, with today showing no real easing up of totals with 4 in Lytchett Bay, and 3 in Holes Bay at the same time with multiple sightings in the Wareham Channel and Middlebere. Its been exceptional to say the least. Other noteworthy birds from across the harbour were Pied Flycatchers at Middlebere and RSPB Arne Farm, 2 Spotted Redshank and 2 Marsh Harrier at Lytchett Fields, c30 Cattle Egret were along the Stoborough Causeway, a White-tailed Eagle went over Middlebere, the approach field at Lytchett Fields had 2 Whinchat, 2 Sedge Warbler and 2 Whitethroat and in Holes Bay this evening there were 16 Ringed Plover and 4 Knot. 

Pied Flycatcher – Middlebere – Aidan Brown