A mostly cloudy day today with a high of 20°C. Brownsea Lagoon has seen a variety of species  including; 22 Spoonbill, 4 Black–tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 6 Avocet, 7 Greenshank, 12 Dunlin, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Peregrine, Redshank, c3 Curlew and 1 Kingfisher.

A Great White Egret was seen at Brands Bay and 37 Yellow Wagtail with the cattle by the road to Stoborough

An Osprey fishing, a Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobby, Green Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel, a Yellow Wagtail were logged  in the Wareham Channel and Lytchett Bay recorded 3 newly arrived Cattle Egret, fresh in from somewhere, 8 Spoonbill, 4 Curlew Sandpiper and a Knot whilst over at Lytchett Fields a Ruff was seen.

At Middlebere there were 2 unringed Osprey and 2 different Marsh Harrier.

2 House Martin, 1 Swift, many Sand Martin and a few Swallow were all seen at Swineham Gravel Pit whilst 1 Whinchat and 8 Stonechat were seen in Fields near Swineham Farm.

Unusually A flock of 17 Grey Heron were moving down the Piddle from Carey in the direction of Swineham and the Harbour.

A mostly cloudy day today with a high of 20°C. Brownsea Lagoon has seen a variety of species  including; 22 Spoonbill, 4 Black–tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 6 Avocet, 7 Greenshank, 12 Dunlin, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Peregrine, Redshank, c3 Curlew and 1 Kingfisher.

A Great White Egret was seen at Brands Bay and 37 Yellow Wagtail with the cattle by the road to Stoborough

An Osprey fishing, a Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobby, Green Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel, a Yellow Wagtail were logged  in the Wareham Channel and Lytchett Bay recorded 3 newly arrived Cattle Egret, fresh in from somewhere, 8 Spoonbill, 4 Curlew Sandpiper and a Knot whilst over at Lytchett Fields a Ruff was seen.

At Middlebere there were 2 unringed Osprey and 2 different Marsh Harrier.

2 House Martin, 1 Swift, many Sand Martin and a few Swallow were all seen at Swineham Gravel Pit whilst 1 Whinchat and 8 Stonechat were seen in Fields near Swineham Farm.

Unusually A flock of 17 Grey Heron were moving down the Piddle from Carey in the direction of Swineham and the Harbour.

There was a definite cold, crispness to the air this morning, with more than just a hint of autumn creeping in. More arrivals included 30+ Wigeon in Holes Bay, 21 Turnstone on Baiter and c75 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon heralding the start of colder days yet to come.

Yesterday’s sunny sky and gentle breeze was also all it took for some of our juvenile Osprey from this year’s project to up and leave with the sighting of 022 from our Osprey cruise being the last sighting of him before he headed south for the very first time. Other departures have included chicks 015, 016 and 018 meaning it won’t be long now before all of this years birds move on. A very sad but also very rewarding time. We’ve also seen our happy couple CJ7 and LS7 leave, with no sightings since late on Aug 28^th meaning they probably left early on the morning of Aug 29^th . We really do wish them both well and look forward to their safe return next spring!

There was plenty more on offer today including a rich looking Lytchett Fields which saw 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 12 Knot, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Ruff, 12 Greenshank, 264 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Green Sandpiper, 4 Ringed Plover, 100+ Redshank, 40+ Lapwing and 3 Spoonbill, along with 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Kingfisher. At the PC World Drain there were c15 each of Blackcap and Chiffchaff with 1 Common Whitethroat. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Spoonbill count had reached 25 and there was an adult Peregrine there. Marsh Harrier numbers keep increasing/decreasing regularly with a new bird in today that joined the (current) resident male and female, but some recent newbies have moved on already. In Middlebere an Osprey was very active hunting, catching a fish close to the Middlebere hide before taking it to the nest platform and a flock of c300 Black-tailed Godwit were spooked by a Peregrine.

Wheatear – Coombe Heath – Rene Goad

There was a definite cold, crispness to the air this morning, with more than just a hint of autumn creeping in. More arrivals included 30+ Wigeon in Holes Bay, 21 Turnstone on Baiter and c75 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon heralding the start of colder days yet to come.

Yesterday’s sunny sky and gentle breeze was also all it took for some of our juvenile Osprey from this year’s project to up and leave with the sighting of 022 from our Osprey cruise being the last sighting of him before he headed south for the very first time. Other departures have included chicks 015, 016 and 018 meaning it won’t be long now before all of this years birds move on. A very sad but also very rewarding time. We’ve also seen our happy couple CJ7 and LS7 leave, with no sightings since late on Aug 28^th meaning they probably left early on the morning of Aug 29^th . We really do wish them both well and look forward to their safe return next spring!

There was plenty more on offer today including a rich looking Lytchett Fields which saw 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 12 Knot, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Ruff, 12 Greenshank, 264 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Green Sandpiper, 4 Ringed Plover, 100+ Redshank, 40+ Lapwing and 3 Spoonbill, along with 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Kingfisher. At the PC World Drain there were c15 each of Blackcap and Chiffchaff with 1 Common Whitethroat. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Spoonbill count had reached 25 and there was an adult Peregrine there. Marsh Harrier numbers keep increasing/decreasing regularly with a new bird in today that joined the (current) resident male and female, but some recent newbies have moved on already. In Middlebere an Osprey was very active hunting, catching a fish close to the Middlebere hide before taking it to the nest platform and a flock of c300 Black-tailed Godwit were spooked by a Peregrine.

Today marked the last of our Osprey cruises for 2019 – and it didn’t disappoint! A total of 4 Osprey were frequently observed across the Wareham Channel, including 3 of our 2019 translocated juveniles. The trip concluded with a scan around Brownsea Lagoon producing 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 24 Knot, 1 Turnstone and 47 Avocet.

Sunnyside scrape is beginning to establish itself as a fruitful wader spot with today’s sighting of a Wood Sandpiper and 5 Yellow Wagtail. Middlebere was again a focal point of the day’s Osprey action, logging numerous sightings by midday. A Peregrine was also observed over Middlebere, flushing the c100 Black-tailed Godwit frequenting the channel.

Autumn continues to progress with 21 newly arrived Wigeon in Holes Bay along with 2 Greenshank. A visit to PC World Drain produced 2 Spotted Flycatcher and 3 Chiffchaff. In the early hours of this morning, nocturnal recordings at Corfe Gap logged a small Ringed Plover flock heading towards Harbour while at Lytchett Fields a single Wheatear, 2 Tree Pipit, 7 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Curlew Sand, 2 Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plover, 2 Spotted Redshank, 12 Dunlin, 10 Greenshank, also Wheatear and Whinchat were observed at Lytchett Fields.

Ringed Plover – Calls of night migrants over Corfe Castle – 01/09/19 @ 4:32am 

Today marked the last of our Osprey cruises for 2019 – and it didn’t disappoint! A total of 4 Osprey were frequently observed across the Wareham Channel, including 3 of our 2019 translocated juveniles. The trip concluded with a scan around Brownsea Lagoon producing 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 24 Knot, 1 Turnstone and 47 Avocet.

Sunnyside scrape is beginning to establish itself as a fruitful wader spot with today’s sighting of a Wood Sandpiper and 5 Yellow Wagtail. Middlebere was again a focal point of the day’s Osprey action, logging numerous sightings by midday. A Peregrine was also observed over Middlebere, flushing the c100 Black-tailed Godwit frequenting the channel.

Autumn continues to progress with 21 newly arrived Wigeon in Holes Bay along with 2 Greenshank. A visit to PC World Drain produced 2 Spotted Flycatcher and 3 Chiffchaff. In the early hours of this morning, nocturnal recordings at Corfe Gap logged a small Ringed Plover flock heading towards Harbour while at Lytchett Fields a single Wheatear, 2 Tree Pipit, 7 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Curlew Sand, 2 Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plover, 2 Spotted Redshank, 12 Dunlin, 10 Greenshank, also Wheatear and Whinchat were observed at Lytchett Fields.

Ringed Plover – Calls of night migrants over Corfe Castle – 01/09/19 @ 4:32am

With a sunny start to the day, temperatures reaching 21°C and a light breeze. A good number of sightings with our Osprey boat heading out to Wareham Channel spotting a mighty 6 Osprey, 2 Marsh Harrier (mobbing one of the Osprey), 2 Mediterranean Gull (1 Juv.) and building numbers of sinensis Cormorant. Middlebere observed a Wheatear, 1 Osprey, a Peregrine, c300 Black–tailed Godwit, 1 juv Little Gull and a Great White Egret.

Lytchett Fields recorded 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Whinchat, 1 Hobby, whilst over at Lytchett Bay 12 Greenshank and a Marsh Harrier were seen.  

Brownsea Lagoon 21 Spoonbill, over c600 Oystercatcher, c10 Shelduck, 20 Knot, 23 Ringed Plover, 1 juv Garganey, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank whilst over at Brands Bay unusually reported 1 Osprey (no ring) and also 1 Hobby, 2 Greenshank and a Knot.

Over at Poole Park just 1 lonely Greylag Goose is remaining along with 5 Tufted Duck, 14 Coot and 5 Moorhen. Reports also came in from Baiter Park of 22 Turnstone, 3 Ringed Plover, a Dunlin and a Common Tern. In Creekmoor a Pied Flycatcher was in a private garden.

A sunny, crisp start to the morning, great conditions for our Osprey Cruise. The boat headed over to the Wareham Channel where they had good views of 2 Osprey over at Arne, 2 over  Lytchett Bay and 1 attempting to catch a fish at Swineham Gravel Pits before then heading off back towards Arne. There were also several Hobby logged with 2 over Swineham Gravel Pits and 2 over Arne hill. On the return journey we passed the Brownsea Lagoon and saw 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 19 Spoonbill, a Peregrine, 1 Common Sandpiper and plenty of Sandwich Terns. 14 Curlew were also seen on the Brownsea Webcam.  

Other Osprey sightings came from Middlebere, Brands Bay, Lytchett Bay and Holton Lee.

The first Hen Harrier of the autumn was seen over at Slepe Heath, along with a Pied Flycatcher at Swineham and a Great White Egret at Middlebere with another Pied Flycatcher seen on Coombe Heath, Arne and 1 Spotted Flycatcher. Over at Lytchett Fields 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, 11 Green Sandpiper, 108 Redshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Whinchat and 14 Greenshank were seen along with 4 Spoonbill in Lytchett Bay. In Holes Bay the Wigeon number rose to 20 and at Sunnyside Farm there were 7 Yellow Wagatil with 2 Redstart along Soldiers Road. Finally a Black Tern was seen in central harbour between Poole Quay and Brownsea. 

Little Ringed Plover – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – Stephen Menzie

Common Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – Stephen Menzie

Today’s venture into the Wareham Channel on our Osprey cruise delivered 6 Osprey. We were thrilled to see 3 of our young birds from the 2019 translocation project exploring their new surroundings!

An influx of Curlew Sandpiper was documented about the Harbour with 4 juveniles observed at Lytchett fields and a further 2 on Brownsea Lagoon accompanying 22 Spoonbill.

Wigeon made an early return to the harbour, with 16 eager birds observed at Holes Bay this morning. Hartland held a small handful of passage passerines including 1 Common Redstart and 2 Wheatear.

This really is an exciting time of year with new birds turning up all the time. Today on the Brownsea Lagoon a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was with c100 Dunlin and 18 Spoonbill. At Arne 1 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 12 Willow Warbler, 1 Redstart and 1 Osprey. At Sunnyside Scrape 1 Hobby was having a ding dong with a Sparrowhawk and there were 2 Whinchat on the wires. On Hartland there were several Yellow Wagtail at Hartland Stud along with 2 Whinchat, 1 Hobby and 1 Redstart. At Holton Pools 12 Lapwing, 2 Green Sandpiper, 6 Greenshank and 1 Redstart were counted. Today we also re-started our Osprey cruises which saw great views of several more with one flying right past the boat and a couple more fishing out in the Wareham Channel. Also logged were 3 distant Hobby, 1 Marsh Harrier, several flocks of Common Tern heading high out of the harbour following the river Frome. Other Osprey sightings saw 2 in Middlebere, 1 catching a fish in Lytchett Bay and another flying over Holton Pools. We’ve also been sound recording night migrants in the Corfe Gap these last few nights with mixed success but another Ortolan Bunting was logged last night flying over our listening station at 11:25pm last night. The previous night saw us log 117 bird flying over using a thermal imaging piece of kit which was a revelation in understanding some of the conditions and the totals of birds moving on certain nights when we’re all tucked up in bed.

Ortolan Bunting Call of night time migrant – Corfe Gap 27/08/19 @ 23:25

Migrant Osprey seen from Osprey Cruise – Stephen Menzie