Well, it was only yesterday that we mentioned good birds turning up in May, when a potential Montagu’s Harrier decided to appear in the Swineham/Bestwall area before venturing over towards the Piddle Valley. This rare migrant has retracted as breeding species right across the UK mainly due to persecution and is now considered the rarest breeding bird of prey in the UK. If today’s sighting was a ‘Monty’ Harrier then it will just be passing through either en route to mainland Europe where the population is more stable, or it could be a non-breeding bird just venturing back to Northern Europe for the first time and having a bit of a wander. Also around the Swineham area was a single Cuckoo and c15 Swift. Lytchett Fields had a single Ruff and 2 Greenshank.

We also got some nice footage of CJ7 away from then nest cam today on a different harbour platform having her afternoon tea, whilst trying to make friends at the same time! Joking aside, she’s been spending a bit more time off the nest cam recently and visiting other harbour platforms, do doubt in search for her missing mate LS7. Then, around 20:30, keen viewers of the webcam noticed that CJ7 had been behaving a bit strange, only to discover she’d laid a second unfertilised egg. This is still her going through the motions of wanting to breed, which she will do eventually, whether its this spring, next spring or the spring after her tie to Poole Harbour is now very strong.

CJ7 befriending a crow on a different harbour nest platform

Early May has the potential to turn up absolutely anything, absolutely anywhere. Dream May birds tend to be species like Golden Oriole, Bee-eaters and Red-backed Shrikes. Who knows, maybe even a cheeky Roller? We know everyone is in lockdown but there are still instances in Poole Harbour where these exciting species have been encountered from peoples gardens, for example a group of 3 Bee-eater over a Broadstone garden in May 2009 and a singing male Golden Oriole in Studland Village in May 1967. Ok, these are pretty exceptional records, but hey, you need to have some sort of focus and level of expectation as the lockdown continues.

Today no such luck but a nice flurry of waders were encountered at Lytchett Fields with 12 Whimbrel, c20 Dunlin, 3 Curlew, 1 Redshank and 1 Peregrine came down for a quick meal whilst the local Tawny Owl chicks there are making good progress in the box. At Swineham 2 Cuckoo were singing, c15 Swift were over the main pit and over Slepe Heath 2 Hobby were seen. In Holes Bay NE 4 Whimbrel were feeding and Reed and Sedge Warbler were logged along the northern reedbed fringe. An early dawn listen session from north Poole heard Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel and Curlew traveling north, with a Cuckoo also heard in northern Poole and an Osprey was seen along the Ower shoreline. A Common Crossbill was seen on Meryick Park golf course and Lesser Whitethroat and 1 Wheatear were on the outskirts of Wareham near the Wareham Walls.

Tawny Owl chicks – Lytchett Bay

We’re not sure if everyone across the harbour experience todays down pour, but for a moment today it looked as if May had been welcomed in with a blanket of snow. A torrential hail storm beat down around mid day which made CJ7 go in to hiding as well as many people that were un-suspectably doing work in their gardens or out on their health walks. That said, the day returned a good number of sightings including 1 Little Ringed Plover, 4 Curlew, 7 Whimbrel, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank and 1 Swift at Lytchett Fields. At Swineham there were 2 Little Ringed Plover on the ‘Stilt Pools’ and a Cuckoo there too with 4 Sandwich Tern in the mouth of the Frome, CJ7 was seen out in the Wareham Channel and there were c20 Swift over the main gravel pit and a Whimbrel in the paddock. There was some great warbler totals returned with 56 singing Reed Warbler and 27 singing Cetti’s Warbler logged along the Two-Rivers Walk and 7 singing Sedge Warbler.

Whimbrel – Holes Bay – Martin Adams

Although the day started off ok, by 10am the wind had really hit so with a combination of weather and lockdown sightings were rather thin on the ground. However, bird of the day was undoubtedly a Turtle Dove that was seen flying over a central Poole garden, which is likely to constitute the only harbour record this year! We barely get rural records of this species so to get an urban record, during lockdown is pretty remarkable. A group of 8 Swift were over Poole Town centre and a couple of pairs of Firecrest were located near Branksome Chine.

Female Osprey CJ7 arrived back on the nest today and was present until midday at least before going off for the afternoon. It’s now getting to the stage where if LS7 doesn’t arrive back within the next 10 days then he would have missed the breeding window for this year, which to be honest, may not be a big deal for him seeing as he’s only 3-years old. Lets simply just hope he returns at some point so he can continue to build his bond with CJ7 this summer, and if we see a breeding attempt, well, then even better.

Siskin (male) – ringing Lytchett Matravers

Well, it was nice whilst it lasted, but the sad reality that we are still only in April returns tomorrow with heavy rain forecast all day. But to be honest, the gardens could do with a drink and all this fine weather has actually been so good for the birds that many migrants just haven’t bothered to stop. Hopefully a decent bit of rainfall might encourage some passage waders to take refuge in the harbour, or may force a few warblers, chats or flycatchers in to people’s gardens, offering an unexpected lockdown tick.

Talking of peoples gardens, it was all happening in Poole Town centre when a local birder not only managed to log a migrant Whitethroat and Swifts in and over his garden, but also managed to clock a passing Hobby and could see a Cuckoo in the Toby Carvery garden. It’s great to see that the Bournemouth Peregrines have now hatched 2 chicks. With our Brownsea tern cameras, the Poole Harbour Osprey cam and the Bournemouth Peregrines, there’s certainly plenty to choose from the local TV channels. More Red Kite were logged today with a group of 6 together over Lytchett Matravers. Around the Studland area there were 3 Whimbrel in Brands Bay, 3 Sanderling on Shell Bay and a possible Purple Heron was noted over Little Sea. There was a Spotted Flycatcher near Wareham Walls along the Piddle and the Grey Wagtails have fledged young at North Mill plus 4 Swift were over Wareham. At Lytchett Bay a Tawny Owl nest was located with 2 chicks seen inside and a Lesser Whitethroat was singing there too.

Finally, we’ve been trying to provide as much content as possible, to keep people updated with the historic and future story of the Poole Harbour Osprey project. Today our Osprey project officer Brittany Maxted provides an overview of our current star of show & screen and her current no-show bad boy of a mate.

What a glorious weekend. It was hoped that the cloud cover tat crept in over Friday and a bit of Saturday would help down a few migrants, and a few were logged but there’s still no real great numbers appearing. Many will be going straight through with all this glorious weather, but with next week seeing ‘a turn’ in the weather, will our fortunes change?

The best of the weekend involved the occupation of the tern islands by both the Common and Sandwich Terns on Brownsea Island which can both be watched live on our website HERE. We know everyone’s been getting a bit obsessed with the new Poole Harbour Osprey cam, but this is arguably more exciting (and certainly a bit more entertaining….currently! More Swifts have been arriving with birds seen over Poole Town, Swineham, Wareham and Corfe. Cuckoo’s seem to be back in reasonable numbers so far with birds singing on all the local heathlands and up the river valley’s. Another Nightjar was logged, only it wasn’t on a traditional heathland site, rather it was sat in the middle of a sub-urban road in Broadstone getting mobbed by a Blackbird before it decided to take flight off over the houses. Firecrest seem to be having an INCREDIBLE year with territories being recorded right around the perimeter of the harbour. Considering this was a rare breeding bird less than 10 years ago, we’d predict there’s a minimum of 10-20 pairs currently in the harbour, and possibly more. Migrating passerines have been limited to just a couple of Yellow Wagtail and a Lesser Whitethroat at Lytchett Fields, 3 Willow Warbler and 2 Wheatear along Soldiers Road, good numbers of Reed and Cetti’s Warbler and to a lesser extent, Sedge Warbler along the Frome. A Black Redstart was in St Mary’s Churchyard, Wareham. Female Osprey CJ7 has had her share of action the last couple of days (not that kind of action). She was ‘buzzed’ by not only the local Ravens and Carrion Crows, but also Cuckoo and what looked like a Hobby too. She obviously got a bit bored a couple of time this weekend as our camera traps on other harbour nest platforms photographed her dropping in, we guess in the hunt for LS7!

Common and Sandwich Terns gathering on breeding islands – Brownsea Lagoon

The days are getting warmer and warmer and the birds are getting hard and harder to find. High-pressure systems always kill of any chances of finding good numbers of passage migrants with birds able to pass right through quickly with no need to make landfall on Dorset coast lines. Still, it gives us a good opportunity to watch the sky, and with Swifts and Hobby now arriving, there are more chances to add new species to your garden lists. Talking of Swifts and Hobby, both were logged today with a Hobby over Slepe Heath and another reported at Swineham. Also at Swineham were 2 Swift and a single was over Poole. Bird of the day was a late spring record of Short-eared Owl out on Arne Moors. A mid-afternoon sky watch at Lytchett Bay produced 6 Red Kite. Also at Lytchett Bay/Fields were a migrant Sedge Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat. Cuckoo were still calling at Ridge and Swineham. Around Little Sea there was 1 Reed Warbler and 2 Willow Warbler and off Redhorn 7 Whimbrel and 3 Sandwich Tern. At Greenland’s there were 3 Wheatear and a fine adult male Redstart. And just below North Wareham Walls there was a Little Ringed Plover, 1 Whinchat and 1 Wheatear.

Finally, it’s been a busy week for female Osprey CJ7 despite her mate having not turned up yet, but to give you all the latest updates, BoPH Osprey Project assistant Liv has done a weekly round up for you to enjoy.