The harbour didn’t quite reach the predicted warmer temperatures with overcast conditions and a light SW wind. The Spotted Redshank in spectacular summer plumage was seen again over at Lytchett Fields along with a Common Redshank. A Great White Egret also flew in at Lytchett Bay which is the first in the harbour for quite some time now.

Over at Brownsea Lagoon the 6 Spoonbill seen yesterday have stuck along with 16 Bar-tailed Godwit. The Tern chicks continue to flourish and grow in confidence. The Holten Lee Webcam captured a lovely Siskin and a variety of other finches.

The predicted thunderstorms never materialised today, well not yet anyway. In Corfe Village the welcome sound our c20 Common Swift welcomed us as we collected in our sound recording equipment from Corfe Castle. The recording session its self was not very productive with only 1 Moorhen and 1 Lapwing sound recorded passing through the gap during the night. On Hartland newly fledged Reed Bunting were bounding along the heather and 2 Hobby were at the east end of Slepe Heath. At Lytchett Fields a single Little Ringed Plover was logged but there was no sign of yesterdays Spotted Redshank. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Spoonbill number is rising already with 6 today out from the Mac Hide. An Osprey was seen out hunting over the Wareham Channel before heading back towards Wareham Forest.

An overcast day in the harbour has made for muggy conditions but sadly no Osprey sightings. The Sandwich Tern chicks are looking big and strong and almost ready to fledge. A chick has finally appeared from under the pair of Oystercatcher, nesting alongside the Common Terns and Black-headed Gull. 4 Spoonbill, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Little Egret were also seen.

An exciting development over at Lytchett Fields with the first Southward bound Spotted Redshank dropping in at the back of Sherford Pools. Also there 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Green Sandpiper,  19 Redshank, 30 Lapwing and 12 Teal were also seen in post breeding movement along with 48 Black-tailed Godwit.

Holten Lee Webcam captured a lovely Dunnock (not regular on the webcam) along with the usual Great-spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Robin.

Despite the cold night, warmer temperatures up to 19C today and a gentle easterlies breeze most the day. Poole Park sees over 210 Greylag moulting on the main lagoon, 9 Canada Geese (9 goslings), 12 Mute Swan, 20+ Mallard, Moorhen and singing male Blackcap. Brownsea lagoon webcam count today includes the usual wildfowl, waders, gulls and terns. 22 Canada Geese (6 goslings), 143 Shelduck (12 ducklings), 2 Moorhen (2 chicks), 1 Avocet, 107 Oystercatcher, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit, 178 Black-headed Gull (173 juvs), 39 Great Black-backed Gull (12 juv), 74 Common Tern (31 juv), 201 Sandwich Tern (131 chicks), 32 Cormorant, and 4 Spoonbill. At Slepe Heath 1 Hobby was seen over the heath and  single Spotted Flycatcherwas seen in Slepe Copse. Tonight we also hosted our last Puffin Cruise of the summer with an excellent 11 Puffin counted. Also logged were 4 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon, c200 Guillemot and 5+ Razorbill, c15 Kittiwake, 2 Peregrine and 3 Gannet.

Puffin – Dancing Ledge – Paul Morton

A beautifully sunny day in the harbour has brought positive news for Osprey with 3 spotted circling over Wareham channel this morning, a lone male drifting over Holten Pools towards Lytchett Bay about 15.45 and 2 Osprey in flight above Morden bog, with one doing some strange (almost display like) manoeuvrers. Could this be a 2^nd returnee from our 2017 chicks?

At Holten Lee the bird feeder attracted a juvenile Great-spotted Woodpecker, who spent quite some time feeding on sunflower hearts. The Oystercatcher who have nested near to Marina on Poole Quay have been busy feeding their growing chicks.

Over on Brownsea Lagoon the Common Tern and Sandwich Tern chicks are getting brave and tottering around the islands and occasionally dropping in for a swim. 3 Spoonbill, 1 Little Egret, 14 Bar-tailed Godwit, 82 Oystercatcher, and 7 Gadwall have also been counted.

Hoorah! Its getting mild(er). More bugs and it seems more birds. At Sunnyside scrape a decent group of Swallow were feeding over the pool along with 2 territorial Lapwing defending 3 chicks and there were 2 Egyptian Geese there too. At Holton Lee a good Swift gathering of c30 birds was high over the arable fields. An Osprey was seen hunting out in the Wareham Channel mid-afternoon and on Holton Pools 24 Black-tailed Godwit and 3 Gadwall were in front of the hide. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 6 Avocet but sadly no signs of breeding yet this year, also 14 Bar-tailed Godwit, 82 Oystercatcher, 3 Spoonbill and 134 Sandwich Tern chicks.

It’s almost the longest day of the year, and things are due to warm up considerably next week so maybe we’ll get that summer feeling soon after all? There are an abundance of young common birds around the harbour currently with post breeding Starling flocks now forming in various areas and a group of nearly 200 along the Slepe Heath edge heading into an Arne Moors reed bed. At Holton Lee a really tatty female Marsh Harrier lofted over the heath and out towards the Bay both Ospreys CJ7 and LS7 drifted east towards the Wareham Channel. On Holton Pools there were 22 Black-tailed Godwit and at Lytchett Fields there were 172 with 7 Redshank and 3 Teal. At Middlebere a Cuckoo was still calling and a Hobby was over Slepe Heath.

Things seem to be getting a bit milder at last and the birding interest hotting up…slightly! Todays star bird was undoubtedly a Stone Curlew that flew north over Lytchett Heath at 8:30am. This is only the 8^th Poole Harbour record, so it’s quite a significant find! Two Osprey, assumed to be LS7 & CJ7 were seen off Hydes Heath out in the Wareham Channel and one was also seen briefly at Morden Bog. This evening we hosted our 4^thNightjar walk of the summer which was an absolute belter. We had a minimum of 4 Nightjar flying around us really close, a post breeding flock of c30 Mistle Thrush on Slepe Heath, 1 Willow Warbler singing and 1 Cuckoo. On Brownsea the 4 Spoonbill were still there and Hobby were over Holton Lee and Lytchett Fields.

Another wet and blowy day meant sightings were few and far between. Still, both the Ospreys were seen on the outskirts of Wareham Forest which allowed better viewing of the male and his leg ring, which proved that we read the leg-ring incorrectly last week upon his discovery. Initially we thought it was LS1 that had returned back, but due to an ill positioned piece of mud, it was actually LS7 who was our safe returner! This actually makes a bit more sense as he was the first to be released, the first to leave on migration, the first to be seen in West Africa and now the first to arrive back. And the fact they both have ‘7′ on their leg rings can  only mean good luck??!!

At Holton Pools there were 22 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Green Sandpiper and 3 Lapwing and at Lytchett Fields 172 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Redshank, 4 Lapwing, 8 Teal, 30 Gadwall and a Marsh Harrier too. At Sunnyside Scrape the 3 Lapwing are all still present and in tact and a pair of Gadwall had young too which is a good Poole Harbour record, as was the female Shoveler which also had ducklings following her along on the Brownsea Lagoon today. At Arne there were numerous Dartford Warbler, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and a Hobby through over Coombe.

Windy westerlies today with some sun, looking way better than the last few days anyway! A Brownsea webcam count reveals some long-time-no-see arrivals of 1 Redshank and 3 Teal, otherwise 1 Greylag, 21 Canada Geese (6 Juveniles), 2 Mute Swan, 87 Shelduck (10), 7 Gadwall, 2 Mallard (4), 2 Moorhen, 2 Avocet, 83 Oystercatcher and it appears there are 2 nests, 12 Bar-tailed Godwit, 204 Black-headed Gull (60), 3 Herring Gull, 28 Great Black-backed Gull (4), 89 Common Tern (22), 139 Sandwich Tern (92), 23 Cormorant, 2 Little Egret, 4 Spoonbill, as well as Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Starling and Pied Wagtail. 

Hyde’s Heath, at Arne saw Great spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Woodlark, Stonechat, Raven, Dartford Warbler, Buzzard, Nightjar, and 3 Swift at Coombe Heath, Arne. A seawatch at Branksome cliffs out to Poole Bay shows Manx Shearwater, 3 Gannet, 3 Sandwich Tern, and 2 Mediterranean Gull. At Holton Pools 2 different Marsh Harrier were logged too.