Today was a tale of two halves. A foggy half and a non-foggy half. Thankfully our Spring Safari Cruise was this morning with blissful sunshine for the majority of the trip and a stack of great birds. A /the Long-tailed Duck was out in central harbour with Red-breasted Merganser and off Shipstal a male Goshawk passed over, likely the male from the Arne pair. In the Wareham Channel 4 White-tailed Eagles were present including female G466 sat on a post, plus a Hen Harrier was quartering across Keysworth, and then over Swineham Point, with Peregrines also seen hunting over Lytchett Bay and Swineham. A 1st winter Little Gull was seen bouncing over Swineham GP (and is likely to be yesterdays reported Bonaparte’s Gull at that site) and there was also a Red Kite high above the channel. Up to c500 Black-tailed Godwit were still feeding on the edge of the Wareham Channel and a flock of 31 Common Snipe were flushed from the Piddle Valley by a Marsh Harrier. In the Lower Piddle Valley up to 7 Little Ringed Plover were on the floods, a single Spoonbill was on Shipstal Point and there were 2 Spotted Redshank and a single Cattle Egret in Lytchett Bay.

With female Osprey CJ7 arriving back yesterday, we thought things would sort them selves out today, but the new intruding female didn’t give up easily, visiting the nest site several times today, and followed male 022 around the harbour for parts of the day. Hopefully she’ll get the message soon and bump into our other male 374 at some point in the next few weeks!

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 – Wareham Channel from Spring Safari Cruise this AM – Dave Ward

Despite the early morning fog there was plenty of excitement over the course of the day, concluding with our female Osprey ‘CJ7’ returning this evening at 18:28. The other female 1H1, who’s been getting a bit too comfortable with 022 over the last 24 hours was soon put out of her place and of all things, decided to take her grievances out on 022 by chasing him off of the nest, not before having a minor pop at CJ7 for ruining the party. This is good news for multiple reasons as it means our resident pair are now back and will hopefully go on to have another successful season, plus we now have another female who’s ‘very keen’ to breed locally, so if our ‘spare’ male 374 arrives back over the coming week, it could be game on. No doubt CJ7 and 022 will return to the nest tomorrow morning and start nest building together and re-building their bond, with lots of mating no doubt.

There was also another Osprey around at lunchtime which wouldn’t have been CJ7 as she would have landed on the nest then, but we are wondering if that could have been 374 coming in for a sneaky peek to see what was happening at the nest site. No doubt more excitement and drama will unford in the comings days.

Elsewhere the Forster’s Tern was giving great views off Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne, and we managed to see it brilliantly from our Spring Safari cruise this afternoon sat on a channel marker. There was a short passage of Red Kite this afternoon with 5 drifting over Swineham Point, north over a period of 5 minutes whilst 3 Marsh Harrier were quartering over Giggers Island. There were up to 5 White-tailed Eagle in and around Arne/Wareham Channel this morning with both adults cruising into the Wareham Channel this afternoon. There were still 4 Spoonbill in Middlebere, a single Swallow dashed through across the mouth of the Wareham Channel with another off Middlebere, a few Red-breasted Merganser and dark-bellied Brent Geese remain and a decent count of c1000 Black-tailed Godwit were feeding off Swineham Point. At Holmebride there were still up to 24 Cattle Egret feeding and a Barnacle Goose was on the floods. A Willow Warbler was singing at Swineham, Blackcaps were singing at the PCW Drain and finally a Bonaparte’s Gull was reported at Swineham this morning, as was a Little Gull a few hours before.

Forster’s Tern – Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne – Dave Ward

Forster’s Tern – Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne – Dave Ward

Forster’s Tern – Spring Safari Cruise this afternoon – Aiken Lau

Forster’s Tern – Spring Safari Cruise this afternoon – Carolyn Hancocks

Eurasian Curlew – Spring Safari Cruise this afternoon – Carolyn Hancocks

CJ7, 022 and 1H1 having an awkward moment upon CJ7’s arrival back at 18:30

Female Osprey 1H1 having a pop at CJ7 for ruining the party before chasing off 022 in a rage!

High drama on the Osprey nest today when a blue ringed female Osprey landed on the nest with 022, who wasn’t CJ7. The leg ring was quickly revealed as ‘1H1’ which tells us this is a 2022 female from the main Manton Bay nest at Rutland Water. This isn’t our first encounter with 1H1 as she actually visited the harbour several times last year, and even paired up with another of our males 374. Both 1H1 and 374 semi-paired up last summer and spent July and August touring the south coast looking for possible suitable nest sites. They took an interest in our Middlebere Farm nest, opposite RSPB Arne, but were both seen off by….you’ve guessed it….022! We were hoping 1H1 would return this spring and all being well 374 will soon too. Although she currently looks very comfortable with 022, we’ve actually seen this scenario before back in 2023 when an un-ringed female Osprey settled on the nest with 022 a few days before CJ7 returned. However, order was soon restored and CJ7 saw off the un-ringed intruder. We’re pretty sure the same will happen again and that CJ7 (all being well) will arrive back over the next week, and will soon see off 1H1, meaning she can go off and pair with 374, where ever he may end up!

In the Lower Piddle Valley today 2 Blue-headed Wagtail were found and this evening 5 Little ringed Plover were still on the floods and a Spoonbill dropped in. The Forster’s Tern was seen off Shipstal Point again, 4 Spoonbill were in Middlebere and 3 White-tailed Eagle were in the Wareham Channel. A Black Redstart was on factory roofs on Holton Heath trading estate. There was some vis-mig this morning which saw 140 Redwing traveling north, along with 72 Chaffinch and 3 Swallow.

Male Osprey 022 eyeing up newly arrived female 1H1

Male Osprey 022 trying to impress newly arrived female 1H1 with a stick

Blue-headed Wagtail – Lower Piddle Valley – James Leaver

Nationally, Spring has really ‘sprung’ into action already, despite only being March 23rd, with a mass of early migrants coming through. The country has seen multiple Sedge Warbler arrive already, plus quite a few Yellow Wagtail too. There seems to have been a big ‘dump’ of Hoopoes with c50 in western Britain and multiple Osprey are back early. The harbour saw it’s own early arriver today, with the years first Common Whitethroat on Upton Heath. Another amazing (re)find today was the returning Forster’s Tern, which is now back for it’s 3rd year in a row. Today it was seen flying up and down Middlebere a few times and will no doubt stick around for a few more days/weeks? Male Osprey 022 visited his nest site a few times, as did 2 Red Kite which were giving him a bit of grief. But with no CJ7 yet, he was also logged on other harbour nest platforms, probably checking out any local competition. Another un-ringed Osprey was seen along the southern shores near Middlebere this afternoon, but didn’t visit any nest platforms. Along the Middlebere track there was 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Wheatear and a Woodlark was singing overhead. This morning 2 Red Kite and 2 White-tailed Eagles were over Stoborough and 2 White-tailed Eagle were over Corfe Mullen. A single Swallow flew over Scotland Farm, a Yellow Wagtail was over the Frome and 2 Spoonbill were in Middlebere. The Spotted Redshank was in Holes Bay again, there were quite a few small parties of Bearded Tit off Swineham Point and a Black Redstart (yesterdays?) was seen around the Middlebere cottages again.

Male Osprey 022 touring the harbour, visiting other nest platforms today, including here at Middlebere

Returning Forster’s Tern for it’s 3rd year – Middlebere – Mark Wright

One of 2 Red Kite causing mischief at the osprey nest this morning

Well, it seems that being March 22nd was quite a good omen, as our male Osprey 022 arrived back today, three days earlier than he’s ever been back before. This is a great moment, and all being well, heralds the start of the 2025 Osprey season. Female CJ7 arrived back on March 26th last year, but with 022 arriving early, we could easily see CJ7 arrive back over the next couple of days. It seems he caught his first fish of the the year in Middlebere, and was seen flying past our Spring Safari cruise this morning, before making his way to his nest site. Welcome back matey, and here’s looking forward to another great season. There was loads going on today, with a female type Black Redstart on the Middlebere cottages, this evening 2 different Short-eared Owls were logged with 1 on RSPB Arne Moors and another on Slepe Heath. There were 2 White-tailed Eagles in the Wareham Channel this morning, 3 Bearded Tit were at Swineham and 7 Spoonbill were in Middlebere. Over Swineham GP several Sand Martin were feeding, the Willow Warbler from yesterday was still singing in Broadstone, 2 male Northern Wheatear were on Hartland Stud and several Red Kite passed over during the day.

Male Osprey 022 hunting in Middlebere – Mark Wright

Black Redstart –  Middlebere – Mark Wright

What a blissfully, beautiful spring equinox with the warmest day of the year logged so far. There was 1, possibly  2 Osprey today with 1 seen fishing in Middlebere around 8:30am and then there was another sighting this evening in the mouth of the River Piddle, in the Wareham Channel. Once again there were 5-6 White-tailed Eagle, also in the Wareham Channel, with one hunting gulls on the gull islands which was then joined by 2 others. A Merlin and 17 Cattle Egret were on Wareham Common, and this evening a Bittern was seen at Swineham GP, but didn’t leave, plus there were c40 Sand Martin there. A single Swallow flew over Lytchett Bay along with a Red Kite. Up to 7 Little Ringed Plover were still on the Lower Piddle Floods.

Red Kite – Lytchett Bay – Richard Saunders

Pale phase Common Buzzard – Lytchett Bay – Richard Saunders

What a morning to be out exploring the harbour on our first Spring Safari of 2025. Flat calm waters, mild, still conditions, and dare we say it, a spring like warmth that seemed like it may be here to stay (for a while)? We know that many guests are now traveling down to Dorset specifically to try and see the White-tailed Eagles in and around Poole Harbour, or from one of our boat trips. Well, we couldn’t have predicted that within an hour we would have logged SIX different individuals out in the Wareham Channel, including the two local adults, two 2024 juveniles and two 2nd cal year individuals. We’re sure some folk may refer to this as a plague of eagles?! but this gathering behaviour is typical for this species as they remain very social between the ages of 1-5 years old, often intentionally seeking out other eagles to spend time with, before looking to set up territories at 5+ years old. It’s likely these individuals will come and go over the course of the spring and summer, and currently, it doesn’t look as if our local pair will attempt to breed this year unfortunately, but it’s still early days for them, and there’s always next year! It was a raptor-fest from the cruise this morning with not only 6 White-tailed Eagles, but also 4+ Marsh Harrier, including displaying pairs, 1 Red Kite which got into a scrap with one of the eagles, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier over Keysworth and multiple Common Buzzard. We also logged 1 Little Ringed Plover on the Swineham floods, 1 the years first Swallow dashed over central harbour and over Poole Port, there were 3 Black-throated Diver still off Evening Hill, 3 Spoonbill flew over Swineham Point and the Brownsea Lagoon held c50 Avocet, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Knot, 1 Greenshank, 1 Common Ringed Plover and c20 Bar-tailed Godwit. At Greenlands Farm, Studland this afternoon there was 1 Northern Wheatear and 2 Red Kite over, with another 2 Red Kite over Poole Quay. On the Lower Piddle Floods 5 Little Ringed Plover remained and there was a White Wagtail there too. Finally, some late news, in that at about 18:00 the first migrant Osprey of the spring passed over Hydes Heath, at RSPB and was seen heading towards the Wareham Channel. Meaning the Poole Harbour Osprey 2025 season has officially started!

Juvenile White-tailed Eagle over our Spring Safari Cruise this AM – Clive Hargrave

Red Kite over our Spring Safari Cruise this AM – Clive Hargrave

Marsh Harrier over our Spring Safari Cruise this AM – Clive Hargrave

Three White-tailed Eagle in Wareham Channel from  our Spring Safari Cruise this AM – Clive Hargrave

Today was a pretty typical March day, with the cold and the warmth battling it out for top spot as the icy NE wind whipped across the harbour all day, as the warmth of the sun took much of the edge of the chill factor. It was once again White-tailed Eagle central in the harbour this morning with 4 individuals in the Wareham Channel, including both adults G466 and G463, plus two 2024 juveniles G639 and G633. This was particularly fitting as we hosted a Rewilding Britain boat tour this morning for partners within the Rewilding Network, and as luck would have it, 2 of the rewilded White-tailed Eagles came and flew right past us within the first 20 minutes of the trip. There were also a minimum of 3 Marsh Harrier around Swineham and 1 Red Kite went over too. There was a great count of 10 Little Ringed Plover in the lower river valleys, with 8 in the Lower Piddle Valley and 2 in the Lower Frome Valley, plus 3 Spoonbill were off Gold Point, RSPB Arne. There were still 4 Black-throated Diver off Evening Hill, Lilliput and on the Brownsea Lagoon wader numbers had dropped right off and saw only c100 Avocet, c200 Black-tailed Godwit, c10 Grey Plover and 8 Knot, however 4 Sandwich Tern were back on lagoon. A Little Ringed Plover was sound recorded last night over an Oakdale garden and there were at least c60 Fieldfare still at Sunnyside.

White-tailed Eagle fly-by of ‘Rewilding Britain’ Private charter