Despite the lockdown, this is turning out to be one of the harbours best springs for scarcities in a while. Two weeks ago saw Hoopoe and White Stork, last week saw Cattle Egret turn up again and this evening, a local to Stoborough was out walking at Bog Lane and saw a Purple Heron flying up the Frome Valley, heading west. This is only the 6^th Poole Harbour record and just goes to show what’s out there at the moment. With these easterlies continuing right into next week too, it’s possible more goodies are on the way (or are already here), so whilst out on your fitness walks be sure to keep an eye on the sky. Also in the Bog Lane area were 6 Egyptian Geese and 1 Wheatear. A Red Kite was over Soldiers Road this evening and one of the wardens on Brownsea found a very early Nightjar back on the heathland there. At Swineham a Cuckoo was still calling away and there were 2 Swift over the gravel pit. A migrant Marsh Harrier was seen over a central Poole garden and at Lytchett Fields the first Common Sandpiper of the spring arrived and there were 4 Whimbrel in the bay. At Hamworthy Beach there were still c30 Turnstone and on Ballard there were 4 Wheatear and a Yellow Wagtail flew over.

Now for an Osprey update. For those of you that are giving up hope, there was good news yesterday that one of the 2017 chicks from a Welsh nest at Dyfi, a bird named Aeron, returned to his natal nest during the afternoon. This is good because although this bird is from a Welsh nest, Aeron is the same age as LS7 meaning these 3-year old Osprey are still arriving into the UK. All we can say is keep watching and those fingers crossed because with the forecast over the coming week (or two), then if LS7 is on his way, then the weather should hopefully help him.

Tawny Owl on nest – Lytchett Matravers

rain and heavy low cloud Saturday. That said, the rest of the county saw a good fall of migrants yesterday which we sadly couldn’t replicate anywhere. Highlights from the last few days have included an exciting moment when someone spotted an Osprey high over Ridge and Swineham whilst CJ7 was on the nest cam. Then, after about 5 minutes CJ7 left and the observer saw the two birds interact for a short while which must have been an exciting moment. However, the encounter was short lived as CJ7 soon returned back to the nest cam and the ‘visitor’ carried on up the Wareham Channel to Lytchett Bay and soon disappeared off north. Again, its good to see these younger Osprey beginning to come through now meaning LS7 (or other available males) may not be too far behind.

Also, yesterday afternoon saw 4 Cattle Egret head up the Frome Valley. Cuckoo’s have been very vocal at sites like Swineham, Bestwall, Slepe Heath and Hartland. Also at Swineham were 14 singing Cetti’s Warbler,15 Reed Bunting, 16 Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler and 2 Lapwing. At Hamworthy Beach there were signs of passage too with 1 summer plumaged Dunlin and 29 Turnstone. There was a Red Kite over Bourne Valley nature reserve and 2 over a house in Sandford. The Wareham Channel was stuffed with Med Gulls with many calling over Upton and Lytchett Minster as the passed over peoples house on their way in land. Swallows continued to pulse through for a lot of the day. There were 12 Common Tern on the Browsnea Lagoon and 2 late Wigeon too. A resident at Fleetsbridge had 4 Common Whitethroat outside their house along with a Willow Warbler and Blackcap. At Alum Chine a Marsh Harrier drifted over a birders flat and yesterday an Osprey was over another residents house in Poole Town (home birding can be great). Around Baiter yesterday there were 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, several House Martin and a Sparrowhawk. Yesterday was a Swallow day with several hundred having passed high over the harbour during the course of the day. At Morden Bog there were 5 Wheatear, 2 Woodlark, 2 Cuckoo, several Stonechat and Linnet and good numbers of Skylark in surrounding fields. The first Swifts of the season were over Swineham briefly, with more on the way soon hopefully. A migrant Marsh Harrier lifted out of Swineham on Friday but hasn’t been seen since. Whimbrel are coming through in decent numbers now with small flocks logged at Lytchett Bay, Holes Bay, Swineham and several flocks sound recorded migrating at night.

Sparrowhawk in Lytchett Minster Garden

Another gorgeous day with droplets of excitement dotted around the harbour throughout the day. It started off at Lytchett Fields where the early morning cloud cover saw a series of waders drop on to the fields. This consisted of 14 Ringed Plover arriving in from the south in several small groups which stayed only for several minutes before carrying on north, and they were also joined by 2 summer plumaged Dunlin. There were still 2 Spotted Redshank present, one in full summer plumage also 1 Whimbrel, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 14 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Lapwing, 2 Willow Warbler and 11 Swallow. At Swineham 3 Cattle Egret were on the scrapes and 7 Reed Warbler, 9 Cetti’s Warbler and 3 Redshank were also logged. On the Brownsea Lagoon 6 Common Tern arrived in which are the first of the season and Red Kites were logged (again) over Hartland, Upton, Lytchett and Sandbanks. A young male Marsh Harrier passed north of Upton mid afternoon. At Wareham Common there was a single Little Ringed Plover, 1 Sedge Warbler at the base of Wareham north walls and a distant Cuckoo was calling there early morning.

There was also a heart in mouth moment when we received photos from one of our remote trail cams on a different Poole Harbour nest platform which initially showed female Osprey CJ7 having a bit of breakfast all on her own, but she was quickly joined by a second bird which looked to be a male but sadly it didn’t have any rings on, so it wasn’t LS7. The encounter was all to brief and she looked like she was more interested in protecting her snack than showing any signs of wanting ‘befriend’ him. What this does indicate though is that the younger sets of birds (like LS7) are now beginning to pass through, so once we get this band of rain out of the way tomorrow he could be arriving any day now.

CJ7 and mystery male on harbour platform briefly

Cattle Egrets – Swineham – Garry Hayman

Well, for a brief moment we were able to take our minds off Osprey’s when we received some really exciting news mid afternoon, but more on that in a moment. Firstly general sightings from the harbour included Osprey sightings at Lytchett Bay and the Wareham Channel with Lytchett Fields seeing 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Egyptian Geese, 2 Lapwing, 2 Stonechat and plenty of Blackcap singing around the area plus Whimbrel and a partial summer plumaged Spotted Redshank in the bay. At Swineham, warbler song is all kicking off with 21 Cetti’s, 12 Reed and 1 Sedge Warbler all singing around the two rivers walk with several Swallow and Sand Martin about too. Over Meyrick Park Golf Club a flock of c20 Crossbill flew over and a Hobby passed over Corfe Castle.

However, the news of the day (which will provide nightmares for us tonight) was the news we’d been waiting for, for almost a year when Tim Mackrill called to say that he had just received data that showed that one of the Isle of Wight Sea Eagles was heading right towards the harbour. Without a second to spare various bedroom windows and verandas quickly became observation points to try and scan the sky for the 8ft winged monster. Sadly it seems we had received the news just a few minutes too late as the next set of data that came through 10 minutes later showed the bird had carried on west towards Wareham and then SW towards Weymouth and ultimately down in to Devon. Below is a map showing the different fixes from the sat-tag as it crossed the harbour, with each point marking 5 minutes of time between each point. As frustrating as it was that no-one saw this spectacle as it shadowed the harbour it seems there will be plenty of opportunity over the coming months and years for these kinds of experiences to become a bit more frequent as the Sea Eagle reintroduction grows.

Sea Eagle journey across the harbour today

And finally, a day wouldn’t be complete without talking about our favourite female who had so much press coverage today we’re surprised she hasn’t vacated to Hollywood! Female Osprey CJ7 was in the Mail Online and printed Daily Mail, the Telegraph online and then Radio 4 this afternoon on the PM show. It’s fair to say that she certainly has ‘the will of the nation’ behind her hoping to see ‘her man’ turn up soon. We’ve made a nice update video for you which covers her behaviour and activity from the last week….

Although the sun shone today, it really felt like April again with a real drop in air temperature making it almost unpleasant (for the early part of the day) to be outside….especially after all this fine warmth we’ve gotten used to.

There were still a few birds being reported from various sites across the harbour including Cuckoo’s at Hartland and Corfe. Up on Ballard 2 Common Whitethroat a Peregrine, 1 Wheatear and 3 Swallow were logged. At Godlingston Heath 2 Wheatear, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Swallow and 2 Raven were counted and a couple more Red Kite were over Lytchett Matravers, Poole and Sandford. A Marsh Harrier was at Lytchett Fields along with 1 Little Ringed Plover. On Wareham Common 2 Little Ringed Plover were still on the wet area.

Osprey update – female Osprey CJ7 sat out another day in the cold easterly wind, nest prepping, re-arranging and basically being an absolute trooper. She also got herself in a right state trying to add a particularly awkward stick to the nest. Little does she probably know that she appeared in the national press today and that she currently has a whole nation now behind her, routing for the safe return of LS7. I hope for his sake he doesn’t arrive back and then find a different female because the social media fall out that would follow him would be unthinkable!

CJ7 getting ‘stuck’

Here’s a round up from the Easter weekend. After a week of blissful sunshine, the weather turned today and a cold NE wind began to blow. That said it provided a decent run of waders at Lytchett Fields with 282 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Knot, 2 Greenshank and 2 Red Kite went over, Yesterday there were 5 Whimbrel in Holes Bay and two late Wigeon remained. Red Kite were over Upton, Lytchett Matravers, Morden Bog, Corfe Castle and Studland. At Slepe Heath a Cuckoo was calling and another was a Morden Bog and yesterday they were logged at Sunnyside Farm and Stoborough Heath. A Common Whitethroat was seen at Ballard. At Wareham Common 2 Little Ringed Plover were there again with several Sand Martin and Swallow. After a week of being on a nest platform in the harbour, female Osprey ‘Beaky’ seemed to have left yesterday which is disappointing, but we’re sure she’ll be back a bit later in the season.

However, female Osprey CJ7 continues to be the star of the show on the live nest cam, and this morning featured on Chis Packhams Self Isolation Bird Club show, which you can watch HERE at 7 minutes in. She’s been so active on the nest, it’s been a real privilege to be able to witness all her comings and goings, with continuous nest cup scraping, stick collecting, moss rearranging etc. She even warned of a Red Kite the other day and continues to fend of the local Ravens. There’s still plenty of time for things to develop with LS7 hopefully arriving back sometime in the next week or so.

Whimbrel – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

Was it really only April 9^th today? It could have been July 9^th as the sun beamed down and as the light SE wind blew. It reached 20 degrees in some parts of Dorset today and long may it continue. Positivity is much need at the moment and nothing brightens a nations mood than a good sunny bank holiday…well, normally!

This morning our current star of the show, female Osprey CJ7 made her debut (online) TV appearance when we were invited to host a video on Chris Packhams daily morning wildlife show ‘The Self Isolation Bird Blub’ You can watch the whole show HERE (as it’s all great), but if it’s Osprey info you’d like, you can skip to 26:30 and see our piece. Huge thanks to Meg and Chris for inviting us on, it was great to be able to give the project this boost and allow so many people to witness the magic!

CJ7 displayed some interesting behaviour both on and off the nest today. She had actually been ‘doing the rounds’ early morning and had been present on a different harbour nest platform about 10 minutes before arriving on the webcam. She then spent most of the late morning bringing a few large sticks to the nest and some dry moss too, before disappearing off for a feed in the afternoon. It seems any time between 6am and midday is a good time to tune in, but her behaviour will change as the days and weeks progress, so lets see what happens. We also mentioned yesterday the presence of a SECOND Osprey that’s also in the harbour currently. We sure it’s ‘Beaky’ and she too has taken up semi-residence on a harbour platform and is currently looking settled. How long she’ll stay for is any ones guess but LS7 better hurry up soon!

Other sightings from across the harbour today included a good pulse of Swallow north with many people logging them whilst out on their health walks. Another Osprey, this time a migrant was seen heading north over Upton in the early afternoon and yet more Red Kites were logged at Wareham Forest, Upton, Branksome, Ashley Cross, Parkstone, Poole Town and Canford Heath. A Cuckoo was calling in Wareham Forest, a couple of Tree Pipit were back on territory and a male Wheatear were present. At Lytchett Bay the first Reed Warbler of the spring was singing and Bearded Tit were on territory. A couple of migrating Tree Pipit were logged, one over Lytchett Matravers at night, and one arriving in over Alum Chine. Then, to top things off, what was assumed to be Tuesdays White Stork over Wareham was seen again in the Frome Valley near Holmebridge.

Female Osprey CJ7 on other harbour platform this AM prior to arriving on the nest cam

Well, today was the day we’d been waiting and hoping for, but more of that in a minute. General birding sightings consisted of 2 Spotted Redshank (including a sum plum individual), 5 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Wheatear, 7 Swallow, 1 Sedge Warbler and 1 Red Kite at Lytchett Fields along with late/migrating Pintail & Avocet. It was another Red Kite day today with 2 over Ballard, 1 over Canford Heath, 1 over Studland and 1 up the Piddle Valley.

Now, as many of you will know from our social media posts, last week, on April 2nd at 11:11am, CJ7 touched down in the harbour having returned from Africa for her fourth year in a row. For those that don’t know, CJ7 is (now) a 5-year-old female originally from Rutland Water, who has shown real intent in settling here in the harbour over the last 4-years. Last summer, she paired up with one of our translocated males, LS7, who was back in the UK for the first time since being raised and released here back in 2017. As he returned later back to the UK, as most young Ospreys do, they were unable to breed last year, so the couple spent the summer pair bonding and solidifying their relationship on numerous nest platforms around the harbour.

So, her return last week was a welcome sign of things to come. Now she has appeared on the livestream webcam and has made herself busy with prepping the nest, we hope that she will continue to spend time on this nest, awaiting the return of a male. Here’s this clip of CJ7 appearing on the nest for the first time:

With regards to the webcam, we want to make sure we communicate with viewers well and that we are able to answer any burning questions you may have. While we are always keeping one eye on the nest, we do have other things going on too, so please help us out by following these guidelines:

• Please help us keep the nest protected by not disclosing or discussing the location of this nest (or other nests on private sites).
• On weekdays (excluding bank holidays) one of the staff team will be available to answer questions in the Youtube chat between 10-11am. If you have general enquires about the project or the Ospreys, please use this time to get in touch and ask us, so that everyone can see the response, rather than calling us. Emails regarding the webcam can be sent to bophhq@birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk. Please contact us by phone about the nest in urgent cases (for example, if the nest is at risk) on 01202 641003.
• We aim to post a short summary each weekday about Osprey activity on our website (under the “Osprey Project” tab). We will keep you updated with any major developments, including bird arrivals, laying or hatching, at weekends too. Make sure to look for these summaries for anything you want to keep up to date with the comings and goings. Know that, while we will record as much info as possible, sometimes less significant activities may slip through the net!

Harbour Activity Update

Several people following our updates realised that CJ7 went somewhat incognito for a few days after her brief spell on a nest platform last week. Concerned for her whereabouts and keen to know if she was active anywhere else, Birds of Poole Harbour staff were given permission by the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team to carry out monitoring of Osprey activity in the harbour under strict guidelines, in order that we can detect any breeding activity and put in place necessary protections. On the morning of April 6th, a small team of four of us carried out a co-ordinated survey to look for activity. Literally within 10 minutes we logged Osprey activity in an area we hadn’t previously considered, but sadly the bird gave us the slip before we could confirm who it was. So, yesterday morning one of our team ventured back out and sure enough the Osprey were there again, only to discover it was CJ7 looking safe, well and happy in her new location. Little did we know that only 24 hours later, she would be on the livestream webcam!

Meanwhile, an un-ringed Osprey suddenly appeared on one of our camera traps on the morning of April 5th that we thought we recognised. Since then, this particular bird has been visiting a nest platform in the harbour which has allowed us to analyse the plumage, and we’re pretty sure it’s ‘Beaky’ (a ridiculous nickname that was given to her (by us) in a thoughtless moment that has sadly now stuck)! She’s only been present for a couple of days now, but it’s great news she’s back and looking settled, bringing in huge fish to the nesting platform each day. Last year she only stayed for 10 days in the spring before leaving for the summer, only to return again in August. This year she’s back much earlier, indicating she too may want to give Poole Harbour a try for her first nesting attempt?

We’d like to say a huge thanks to the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team for their co-operation and support. With their help we’ll continue to monitor when and where we can and keep an eye on things as they progress, with the intent of protecting any nesting attempts. We’d like to remind everyone that disturbing any bird on a nest, not just Osprey, during the breeding season is a criminal offence so please help us help them by keeping our distance (we’ve had enough practice!) this spring if you’re lucky enough to see an Osprey whilst out on your health walk. 

Thanks again to everyone for following this story, your support in funding the webcam, help and kind words over the last few months. We hope everyone is staying safe and well and we look forward to keeping you updated. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this short video from this morning of CJ7 bringing in nest material.

It was a warm one today and although it clouded over later in the day, it actually made it easier to spot ‘fly over’ birds which paid dividends for a friend of ours here at the charity, Sean Walls from Biotrack, who had 4 White Stork fly over West Morden, just north of the harbour. There were way more Swallow and Sand Martin passing over today too and with these easterlies set to continue until next week, let there be many more. There have still been 2 Osprey sighted in the harbour and with a bit of detective work today we’ve managed to get to the bottom of the conundrum and will be posting an update tomorrow. At Upton CP 3 late Wigeon remained and 2 Cetti’s Warbler were along the shoreline with an Egyptian Goose also in Holes Bay.

Female Osprey CJ7 at secret site within the harbour looking safe and well