Where are all the Swallows? As each day goes by during May, we’d expect multiple sites to now be occupied with nesting Swallows. House Martin are back (albeit in low numbers) and have been seen trying to collect mud from the river banks due to the incredibly dry conditions, and last night 23 Swift were logged interacting over Wareham, but there seems to be hardly any Swallow anywhere? Ok, yes there are some back at traditional sites, and in those areas it may seem that nothing dramatic has changed, but during our recent boat trips and various walks our team have carried out over the last 3-weeks there seem to be next to none in standard farmland/rural habitats around the harbour fringes. Is this just a Poole Harbour thing or is anyone else noticing this?

A Spoonbill was in Middlebere this morning, 2 Hobby were over Swineham and another 2 were over Wareham Common. There were 3 Marsh Harrier over Swineham Point again and the brownsea Lagoon breeding sea birds were counted again by Dorset Wildlife trust and logged 251 Sandwich Tern, 108 Common Tern, 225 Black-headed Gulls (lagoon only) and 11 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Common Terns – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton

The day started off promising with a new mystery Osprey settling really briefly on the Middlebere Channel nest platform, although frustratingly it landed in the nest and we couldn’t see if it was ringed or not. Hopefully it will re-appear over the coming days and prove its self to be one of our 2023 juveniles perhaps? With a Hudsonian Godwit appearing in Hampshire today and then disappearing by this evening, a flock of 258 Black-tailed Godwit on the Stilt Pools drew extra attention. Alas, all were checked and the Hudsonian couldn’t be found. The Poole Asda Peregrines have now hatched 3 chicks, which is great news. Hopefully they, and the adults won’t suffer the same fate many other Peregrines have around country this summer with bird flu rearing its ugly head again.

Mystery new Osprey on Middlebere nest platform this morning

It was way colder to start with today, with our Spring Safari once again seeing multiple wooly hats and thermal gloves worn to keep out the chill. There was a real mix out there today though with plenty of interest. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 2 Little Gull first thing this morning and a few Mediterranean Gulls soaring over Poole Quay. At Swineham 4-5 Bearded Tit were off Swineham Point, the Lapwing family were doing well on the Stilt Pools at Swineham with all 3 chicks still present and accounted for, plus there were c150 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Little Ringed Plover also on the pool. There were more Swift around again with c20 over Swineham and 50+ across the lower valley landscape. The Marsh Harrier pair were busy seeing off various intruding arrivals that got close to the nest with some truly aggressive behaviour noted out over the mouth of the River Piddle. A Spoonbill was on Giggers Island, a breeding plumage Great White Egret was in Middlebere and 4 Red Kite passed north high over central harbour. There’s also been a mystery blue-ringed Osprey ‘kicking about’ over the last 24 hours which was seen at both Middlebere and the Carey Secret Garden nest site today, identifiable as the same bird with photos showing the same underwing markings. We don’t know who this is until it lands on a nest somewhere, but it could be Rutland female 3H3  back again, or it could be one of our 2023 juveniles returning for the first time. Hopefully time will tell !!

Reed Bunting – Swineham – Harry McBride

Common Tern – Brownsea Lagoon – Harry McBride

Breeding plumage Great White Egret – Middlebere – Kate Plater

Top photo – Mystery Osprey at Carey – Alison Copland / Below photo – Mystery Osprey at Middlebere – Kate Plater

The day started off slow, but got better towards the end. The Swineham ‘goosathon’ continued with a newly arrived Bar-headed Goose settling at Swineham Point this evening. This is 7th species of goose to be at Swineham over the last few months (Greylag, Canada, Barnacle, Egyptian, Pink-footed, White-fronted and now Bar-headed), which although the latter is a feral escape from somewhere, highlights the areas qualities for wildfowl and especially geese! Swineham and the Two-Rivers walk is holding good numbers of warblers with 63 Reed Warbler and 13 Cetti’s Warbler also 7 Reed Bunting, 2 Bearded Tits along the River Frome and 2 Mash Harrier. There was an intruding Osprey at the Carey nest this evening which was captured on the webcam being chased off by 022. In Middlebere a juvenile White-tailed Eagle settled briefly and was soon seen off by a Common Buzzard. Also at Middlebere were 2 Hobby, 1 Cuckoo and c20 Swift. There seemed to be more Swift around Wareham Town centre and Wareham Common today with c50 bombing around. There were 2 Hobby hunting insects over Wareham Common, a 2nd cal year Little Gull was on Lytchett Fields and 4 Red Kite were over Liliput, Poole.

Bar-headed Goose – Swineham Point – Garry Hayman

Common Buzzard mobbing juvenile White-tailed Eagle – Middlebere – Alison Copland

Dartford Warbler – Middlebere – Alison Copland

022 chasing off intruding Osprey in the background as CJ7 watches on

Another really warm May day in the harbour with most areas looking very dry and not much rain in sight! Lots of activity at Swineham this morning with 217 Black-tailed Godwit, 71 Reed Warbler, 23 Cetti’s Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler and 1 Little Ringed Plover all recorded. At Arne RSPB from Coombe Heath 1 Osprey was fishing and 1 Cuckoo and 1 Goshawk were also seen. 3 Spoonbill were still off Shipstal. A 2nd calendar year Marsh Harrier was hunting over the Decoy Pond at Morden Bog. Good to see a few Spotted Flycatcher back here along with a couple of pairs of very active Cuckoo and Hobby. Individuals of Red Kite were over Wareham Common and Holmebridge and 1 Hobby was over Little Sea, Studland

Little Ringed Plover – Swineham – Gary Hayman

It was a quieter day across the harbour today, but the chance encounter of seeing a fully Black Adder out on Hartland Moor this morning certainly made our day. There were several slightly scarcer spring migrants with a Little Tern in Shell bay with c500 Sandwich and Common Tern, plus 15 Sanderling and 2 Dunlin were on Shell Bay beach. A Little Gull was on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Cuckoo was on Hartland and 3 Spoonbill were in Middlebere.

Black Adder Hartland Moor

Black Adder Hartland Moor

Prime conditions for our early morning ‘Up with the Lark Cruise’ this morning, with plenty of bird song up the River Frome of 5+ Cetti’s Warbler, 10+ Reed Warbler and 1 Sedge Warbler along the river. A couple of Bearded Tit also showed really well from the mouth of the River Frome. On the Brownsea Lagoon the 2 Curlew Sandpiper were still present along with the 2nd summer Little Gull and 4 Avocet, including 2 that were looking territorial, fighting off Oystercatchers for grass space. A count of tern and gull nests was conducted by the Dorset Wildlife Trust on the Brownsea Lagoon and saw 231 Sandwich Tern nests, 87 Common Tern nests, c267 Black-headed Gull nests and 11 Great Black-backed Gull nests. 1 Red Kite was also over Poole Quay. At Morden Bog at least 4 Hobby were hunting Dragonflies but still no sign of any Red-footed Falcon in Poole Harbour. 1 passage Green Sandpiper also flew over here. At Bog Lane, along Holme Lane there were 12 Cattle Egret and 1 Great White Egret and 5 Spoonbill were still off Shipstal. Will all 5 of these over-summer? Also this evening, newly arrived Rutland female Osprey 3H9 was seen again in Middlebere.

Male Bearded Tit – Mouth of the River Frome from our Up with the Lark Cruise – John Thorpe

Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon from our Up with the Lark Cruise – Samantha Roberts

This morning we went and surveyed the important gull islands in the Wareham Channel, specifically to count Black-headed Gulls and more importantly, the Mediterranean Gulls. The Med Gulls are a schedule 1 species and also a Poole Harbour SPA (Special Protection Area) feature species, meaning they’re an important bird for the on going protection of Poole Harbour. We’re only able to access the islands as we obtain a Natural England schedule 1 license each year, due to the fact it’s normally illegal to intentionally disturb nesting Mediterranean Gulls. The survey yielded some low totals unfortunately, resulting in:

Black-headed Gulls – 2901 nests
Mediterranean Gulls – 43 nests
Great Black-backed Gulls – 2 nests
Sandwich Tern – 3 nests
Oystercatcher – 2 nests
Gadwall – 2 nests

We also received info of a new Osprey in the harbour this morning, which at a distance looked like it was ringed. We’re now in the period where 2-year old Ospreys begin to arrive back, and we’re on the look out for ring numbers 5H3, 5H4 and 5H5. Could this mornings bird be one of those. Fortunately it landed on one of our nest platforms which allowed us to read the ring number as 3H9. This wasn’t one of ours, but yet another Rutland female, our fourth to visit the harbour this spring! Also at Middlebere today were 5 Spoonbill, 1 Cuckoo and 1 White-tailed Eagle flew over.

Gull Islands at dawn – Terry Elborn

Black-headed Gull chick in nest – Paul Morton

Female Rutland Osprey 3H9 – Middlebere

The glorious spring weather continued in the harbour today. Quite a few waders favouring the mud at Lytchett Fields still with 7 Ringed Plover, 4 Dunlin, 1 Greenshank and 2 Little Ringed Plover. 2 Hobby were at Hyde’s Heath, 1 over Brownsea and 2 were hunting at Wareham Common. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Knot, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank and 1 Sanderling. This evening a rather late Short-eared Owl was out hunting on RSPB Arne Moors.

House Martin collecting Mud – Lytchett Bay – Mick Brooks