Still feeling more like mid-summer than early April today. More arrivals of the spring into the harbour too with the first singing Reed Warbler at Swineham in the Lower Piddle Valley this morning and the first Common Whitethroat at RSPB Arne this afternoon. The Pink-footed Goose was still present at Swineham although elusive, along with the 1st winter Little Gull, travelling between the Frome Valley and Arne Moors. 2 Little Ringed Plover were still in the Piddle Valley too as well as 1 Ruff. 5 Red Kite were soaring high above the Arne Car Park and 6 Spoonbill were still off Shipstal. There were a few Osprey sightings with birds seen at Middlebere, the Wareham Channel, Lytchett Bay and Swineham. Singles of Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail were over Lytchett Bay. 3 White-tailed Eagle were moving between the south of the harbour and Wareham Forest.

Little Gull – Swineham, Sluice Field – Peter Moore

Little Gull – Swineham – Peter Moore

Another stunning day in the harbour and some fantastic news with the arrival of 2021 translocated male Osprey ‘374’ into the harbour today! He was first seen giving a close flyby from our Spring Safari Cruise in the Wareham Channel this morning. This is 12 days earlier than he arrived last year (17th April 2024). This is really exciting news and hopefully he’ll go on to pair up with a female on a nest platform (1H1?) and have a successful breeding season. Fantastic news that he’s arrived safely again! He’s already been checking out some of the other artificial nests this afternoon.

1 Osprey was also seen over Oakdale too and the unringed female was still in the Middlebere Channel. The Forster’s Tern gave close views from our boat in the Wareham Channel, although it was difficult to pin down later in the day. The Pink-footed Goose was still present at the same spot at Swineham. A total of at least 7 Little Ringed Plovers were also recorded at Swineham with 5 in the Frome Valley and 2 in the Piddle Valley, so clearly some more arrivals in recent days. 2 Ruff were also in the Lower Piddle Valley and 1 Green Sandpiper in each river valley. There were big numbers of hirundines arriving all round the harbour, of mainly Sand Martin and Swallow as well as 1 House Martin reported. More Red Kite were moving today with 3 high over Brownsea and eventually over Poole Quay as well as at least 2 more over the west of the harbour. 3 Spoonbill were still at Shipstal, Arne and 1 was feeding early morning at Swineham. 1 Spotted Redshank was still visible from the Rock Lea Viewpoint, Lytchett Bay.

Osprey 374 from our Spring Safari Cruise this morning – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride

Forster’s Tern from our Spring Safari Cruise – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride

The day started off with promise as a blanket of cloud and very light rain welcomed us at dawn, almost perfect conditions to down some migrants. however, that wasn’t to be the case with very little found out and about at first light. Up on Ballard the only returns were 5 Chiffchaff and a Swallow through, plus a light passage of Linnet and Meadow Pipit. A Yellowhammer was found on territory which is a blimming good record these days, with hardly any singing around the harbour fringes. A pair of Marsh Tit were found nest building in woods along the Studland Road, which may constitute the only Poole Harbour pair as far as we’re aware, with no other confirmed breeding sites for several years. The Forster’s Tern was on the Brownsea Lagoon again and a couple of Osprey (separate to the local pair) were moving about between Middlebere and the river valleys. On Wareham Common, c35 Cattle Egret were feeding in a couple, several now coming in to nice orange breeding plumage. The Little Gull was on Swineham GP, 3 Little Ringed Plover were on the Lower Piddle Floods and there was 1 Ruff. the Pink-footed Goose was seen again this afternoon and was off Swineham Point this evening and on Brownsea 2 Common Tern were new in. So although the day started pretty slowly…..it was actually a pretty good day!

Yellowhammer – Ballard Down

The overcast dawn and light rain in the air made things feel very different from the warm, windy days of late, but it also felt perfect for a few new migrants to ‘drop in’. Perhaps a Hoopoe or a Red-rumped Swallow? No…neither of those, but instead a very wintery Pink-footed Goose! These have been incredibly rare in the harbour over the last few decades, with the last confirmed record in 2017 of one very briefly at Holmebridge. It was first found in Lytchett Bay this morning, but soon flew off towards the Wareham Channel direction where it was re-found this evening off Swineham Point with 4 Canada Geese. A great spring record and seemingly the first ever April record for the area. There was also a good number of hirundines over Swineham GP this evening, mostly Sand Martin, but with Swallow mixed in too. There was another good ‘harbour north’ record today with a Little Ringed Plover in the NE sector of Holes Bay which flew off calling east over McDonalds. This is only the 3rd site record for Little Ringed Plover at Holes Bay and shows that a bit of cloud and light rain really does bring the birds down. There were 2 un-ringed Osprey about, with the female (Beaky) on the Middlebere nest platform pretty much all day, and another eating a fish at Morden Bog. Red Kite were moving around once again with 3 at Lytchett Bay, 4 over Wareham Common and  2 over RSPB Arne. The Forster’s Tern was once again on the Brownsea Lagoon.

Pink-footed Goose – Swineham Point – James Leaver

Hello April! The year is already flying by and the sun continues to shine. More migrants are arriving and this morning saw the first proper (small) pulse of Swallows arrive with c20 seen flying north across the surface of the water this morning from our Spring Safari Cruise. The stiff ENE wind made things tricky, but we certainly weren’t left wanting, and manged to also log the 1st winter Little Gull at Swineham, along with 1 male Bearded Tit at Swineham Point, plus c800 summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Red Kite over, 1 House Martin, c80 Sand Martin and we also managed to witness a food pass (of a rat?) between a male and female Marsh Harrier. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Forster’s Tern showed really well at the northern end along with c200 Mediterranean Gulls, 10 Avocet, 5 Grey Plover, 4 Ringed Plover, 4 Sanderling and c40 Sandwich Terns. There were several different Osprey around the harbour today, all un-ringed, with individuals seen at Middlebere, the Wareham channel and Morden Bog.

Marsh Harrier food pass – Sue Ketteridge

Sandwich Tern – Shipstal – Sue Ketteridge

Forster’s Tern, Sandwich Terns, Black-headed Gull and Mediterranean Gulls – Brownsea Lagoon – Sue Ketteridge

Black-tailed Godwits – Wareham Channel – Sue Ketteridge 

Osprey – Morden Bog – Ian Ballam

After a relatively quiet weekend, things landed with a bang again today when the Forster’s Tern suddenly reappeared on the Brownsea Lagoon mid-morning. This isn’t only good news for local birders, but highlights the amazing feat of bird movements, as it seems this very bird was up in Lancashire at 19:30 yesterday evening, before being re-found on the Brownsea Lagoon late this morning! Thats a distance of 255 miles covered in about 15 hours….thats pretty good going. There’s the obvious 2-bird theory to rule out, but looking at comparison head shots of yesterdays Lancashire bird and the Poole bird, the eye mask pattern seems to match up. There were more Osprey arrivals today, including the return of Beaky, who touched down on the Middlebere Channel nest at 18:12 this evening. She arrives every year, normally around April 1st, and stays for about a week before moving on to her breeding grounds, wherever that may be? Female Osprey 1H1 is still touring the harbour looking for a suitable male and was seen on the Middlebere Farm nest this morning, and was then later giving CJ7 and 022 hassle again at their nest site. White-tailed Eagles were seen over Wareham Common, Middlebere, the Wareham Channel and Swineham and 4 Spoonbill were also in Middlebere. There were up to 4 Mandarin Duck on the River Piddle between Carey and Wareham Common.

Female Osprey 1H1 in Middlebere this AM catching breakfast – twamers.bsky.social

Crass comparison of Lancashire Forster’s Tern yesterday (left) Paul Slade and Poole Harbour Forster’s Tern Aiken Lau

Another gorgeous day, which delivered the first Common Tern of the spring on the Brownsea Lagoon, where there were also 45 Sandwich Tern. This evening 46 Cattle Egret went into roost which is a good early spring total. Lets hope they stay a few more months yet. Raptors were seen displaying right across the harbour with Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk, Goshawk all displaying over areas west of the harbour, with a Goshawk even observed drinking from a water body this afternoon along the Piddle Valley. Up to 7 Spoonbill were moving between Middlebere and Shipstal, 3 White-tailed Eagle were moving around the Wareham Channel and Swineham area, including the local adult pair and a Green Sandpiper was on the Sunnyside Pools. In the still morning warmth, it was a delight to hear multiple Woodlark singing at traditional breeding sites, with a chorus of Chiffchaff as the backdrop.

Woodlark – West Poole Harbour

This sun is lovely, but the blasting NW wind thats building each day is keeping birds at bay. There were 7 Spoonbill in Middlebere this morning and 11 Cattle Egret were near Holmebridge. Raptors were displaying this morning with Marsh Harrier and White-tailed Eagle active in the Wareham Channel. A trickle of Swallow were coming through but there weren’t any new migrant species logged today. Brownsea Lagoon was busy with Med Gulls and saw 158 counted and 2 Little Ringed Plover were on the Lower Piddle Floods.

Great news in Poole Town as the newest pair of Peregrines that have been eyeing up the Asda flats this spring are now incubating on top of the flats. They haven’t taken to the 2 nest boxes that were installed by Dorset Raptor group, but instead opted for a gutter, where a tray was installed by the group just in time to provide a dry, safe spot for the eggs to be laid.

Peregrine – Asda flats 

Despite the wind and the early morning rain, it turned out alright today, with more good birds passing through. There was news of 2 Common Crane that had been seen arriving in to the Lower Frome Valley this morning from the west, before moving off east towards Arne. Unfortunately they were only seen by the lucky observers, so presumed to have passed on through the harbour. More settled were the Cattle Egret with 20 still in fields around Holmebridge. Hirundines are starting to trickle through now with smaller pules of Swallow now arriving and small gatherings of Sand Martin now a daily occurrence, calling above different sections of the Frome and Piddle Valley. White-tailed Eagles were seen over Corfe Castle, in the Wareham Channel and in Middlebere and there was an intruding Osprey that kept visiting our nest site which we assume is female 1H1 still, but being late March we could now start seeing other ‘interested’ individuals also give our pair hassle. Yesterday, Peter Hadrill logged the springs first Hobby, which drifted over the ridge of Slepe Heath, highlighting another incredibly early spring record. There are still a few Redwing clinging on with c10 at Carey Secret Garden this morning. There was no sign of yesterdays 2 Garganey reported at Lytchett Fields, but the Spotted Redshank was still there, and there are now up to c40 Sandwich Tern back in the harbour. A Willow Warbler was singing in SE Creekmoor. There have been good numbers of Red Kite passing through already with passage normally occurring from February through to May, with individuals logged over the Piddle Valley, Swineham and Slepe Heath today.

Red Kite – Slepe Heath