The early part of the day was a total wash out, although good numbers of Fulmar were logged out in Poole Bay as was a single Manx Shearwater seen close in at Branksome, but then the rain cleared which then produced an Arctic and Great Skua as well as a Storm Petrel also out in Poole Bay, along with 1 Common Scoter, 4 Kittiwake, several Sandwich Tern, 5 Turnstone and 3 Ringed Plover. Osprey got pretty active once the rain cleared with 2 present in Lytchett Bay, including the seasons first juvenile. They hunted in pretty tricky conditions along the southern edge of the bay and even came and had a good look over Lytchett Fields. Last night on the Osprey nest cam 2 Nightjar were still active, despite the wind and rain. This evening there were 2 Cattle Egret at Swineham and this morning 4 Marsh Harrier left the west harbour roost. Plus, we’ve been going through several nights recording from earlier in the month and found a great example of juvenile Nightjar flight calls which are rarely ever heard, and even had us flummoxed until the Sound Approach’s Catching the Bug came to the rescue!

Several sea watches from the same place today provided a good range of species including Poole harbours second record of Long-tailed Skua with a dark phase juvenile off Branksome Chine. Also counted were 60 Gannet, 25  Common Terns, 20 ‘commic’ terns, 2  Arctic Terns, 32 Sandwich Terns, 3  Fulmar, 15 Great Black-backed Gulls, 45 Herring Gull all imm, 17 Black headed Gulls, 1 Spoonbill, 3 Balearic Shearwater, 5  Cormorant and 1  Shag. Our Osprey cruise was a tad windy but did produce 3 different Marsh Harrier, 1 Osprey, 1 Peregrine, 15 Spoonbill, c200 Dunlin, c80 Ringed Plover, 8 Avocet and a frustratingly distinct wader which had features possibly suggesting a Semipalmated Sandpiper on the Brownsea Lagoon, but sadly the views were brief and over too quickly! Lytchett Fields still held the Wood Sandpiper, the Ruff, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 1 Osprey, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Common Sandpiper and c40 Lapwing. 

Sanderling – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Marsh Harrier – Wareham Channel – Rene Goad

Wood Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields – Paul Morton

After yesterdays deluge we were back on track today and another Osprey cruise welcomed us at dawn. Excellent views of several raptors entertained our guests including a lovely fly over adult male Honey Buzzard which cruised over the Wareham Channel, plus 3 Osprey were seen and 2 fly by 3rd cal year male Marsh Harriers which glided along the Swineham shoreline. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 13 Spoonbill, 9 Avocet, 6 Greenshank, c50 Ringed Plover, c100 Dunlin and c400 Oystercatcher. At Lytchett Fields both the Wood Sandpiper and Ruff were still there along with 3 Common Sandpiper, 8 Green Sandpiper, 30+ Lapwing and c21 Black-tailed Godwit. The Osprey seem pretty active this week moving quite freely between Lytchett Bay and Middlebere with 2 over Lytchett and another 2 over Middlebere with an adult female feeding on the Middlebere nest platform for most of the morning. At Upton CP a Spotted Flycatcher was seen feeding and 4 Wigeon were still off the Stone Bench. In the Middlebere channel there were 7 Greenshank and 2 different Marsh Harrier.

Wood Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Ummmm, the less said about today the better. A sea watch at Branksome produced nothing other than 8 Gannet. Lytchett Fields held the Wood Sandpiper which was seen late afternoon and an Osprey was seen very briefly at around 8am over Middlebere. Roll on the sunny days again!

Osprey – Lytchett Bay (yesterday) – Rene Goad 

Well, it was Osprey-tastic in the harbour today, more specifically, the Middlebere Channel. Our Osprey cruise out in the Wareham Channel certainly saw 4 different individual Osprey which were sticking to the channel fringes where the water would have been less rippled by the wind. However in Middlebere it seemed that the 5 different individuals were interacting with one another a lot, with 3 circling together for quite a while. This is great as it shows many are now on their autumn migrations and it won’t be long until more begin to arrive which will soon include adult males and fresh juveniles. Let the Osprey-bonanza begin! Separate to the Osprey-fest were 3 different Marsh Harrier, 2 in Middlebere and a lovely adult male over Gigger’s Island. There were also 3 different Cattle Egret with 2 roosting on the Swineham island and another at Lytchett Fields. Also at Lytchett Fields were 1 Ruff, 2 Spotted Redshank, 18 Greenshank, 12 Green Sandpiper, 6 Common Sandpiper, 98 Black-tailed Godwit, 23 Dunlin, 9 Ringed Plover, 40+ Redshank and 1 Yellow Wagtail. Just outside Wareham a Pied Flycatcher was along the North Walls along with a Yellow Wagtail, 1 Whitethroat and 1 Wheatear. The Brownsea Lagoon was looking great again with 8 Spoonbill (14 had been seen earlier in the Wareham Channel), c280 Dunlin, c110 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Stint, 1 juv Curlew Sandpiper, 3+ Sanderling, 1 Knot, 14 Avocet, 12 Greenshank and 2 Wheatear. Also in Middlebere were 3 Pintail still, 10 Greenshank and 30 Black-tailed Godwit. At Holes Bay/Upton CP good numbers of birds gathered on the huigh tide just off the ‘Stone Bench’ including 104 Little egret going into roost, 10 Common Sandpiper, 760 Black-tailed Godwit, 354 Redshank, 4 Knot and 4 Wigeon. 

Sandwich Tern – Wareham Channel – Rene Goad

Marsh Harrier – Brownsea Lagoon (yesterday) – Rene Goad

Spoonbill – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Cattle Egret – Lytchett Fields – Rene Goad

Osprey – Middlebere – Alison Copland

This week marks the start of our Osprey Cruise schedule meaning the open areas of the harbour will receive some good coverage over the coming days. Today the weather held firm and we were treated to a nice mix of birds with 3-4 Osprey seen, although some distantly but stunning views of a freshly arrived juv Marsh Harrier which cruised in over the Brownsea Lagoon. Along the fringes of the Wareham Channel and Brownsea good numbers of Common Sandpiper were feeding (13 in total) as were 2 Turnstone, 1 Whimbrel and c100 newly arrived sinensis Cormorant were feeding together.

Studland South Beach/Ballard Down saw 2 Parakeets, 9 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap and 1 Sparrowhawk. At Old Harry 2 more Chiffchaff, 7 Whitethroat, 50+ Linnet, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Raven and 1 Buzzard.

Middlebere totals; 1 Osprey, 13 Little Egret, 10 Greenshank and 3 Whimbrel

The Brownsea Lagoon was busy with 8 Spoonbill, c150 Dunlin, c50 Ringed Plover, 8 Greenshank, 1 Little Stint, 11 Avocet, c40 Common Redshank, 3 Sanderling and 3 Wheatear.

Lytchett Fields saw 1 Marsh Harrier, 7 Little Egret, 15 Dunlin, 6 Ringed Plover, 25 Lapwing, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Greenshank, 3 Redshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Wood Sandpiper & 1 Ruff with 1 Tree Pipit, 2 Yellow Wagtail and 2 Wheatear also around the site. At South Haven migrants were logged too with 1 Whinchat, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Tree Pipit, 2 Wheatear and 6 Willow Warbler. Holes Bay north saw c800 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Marsh Harrier and at Upton CP a Spotted Flycatcher and 6 Willow Warbler were in and around the SANG. At Middlebere an un-ringed Osprey was observed via our trail camera carrying a stick to (or away from) the Middlebere nest platform…very interesting!

Northern Wheatear – Brownsea Lagoon – Joe Parker

Legs of Mystery Osprey bringing stick to the Middlebere nest