Pretty blowy today, making general birding difficult, but the Peregrine family on Asda were incredibly active with the adult male flying just 10s of meters above Asda customers heads, pigeon in talons as all four juveniles followed in pursuit, constantly calling. There were 4 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon mid-afternoon and both adult White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel this afternoon.
Adult male Peregrine on the Asda flats, Holes Bay
Juvenile Peregrines on the Asda flats
A quiet day for sightings today, possibly due to the unusual combination of humid weather and strong winds! Highlights from Middlebere Hide this early morning include a Cuckoo, 13 Swift and a Barn Owl. Good to also have confirmation that the breeding Peregrines on Corfe Castle have produced 3 chicks this year, all of which look to be growing nicely! The same is true of the four Osprey chicks over on the Carey nest, who have all almost finished growing their juvenile feathers and are now looking much more like their parents! As ever 022 is keeping his family well fed, with several fish deliveries throughout the day, including a large whole Bass in the late afternoon. Every nest is different, but here Bass seems to play an important role in their diet in the nestling stage, and alongside Mullet forms their main food source during this period, but this year in particular it 022 seems to be bringing them in even more frequently than usual. Perhaps its been a particularly good year for Bass? Or maybe they’ve been an easier species to catch in this year’s winder conditions? Sounds like an interesting research project for a local student perhaps…
Three Peregrine chicks – Corfe Castle – Garry Hayman
A stunning first day of meteorological summer, as many young birds already start to appear. The juvenile Marsh Harrier at Swineham was seen flying around briefly, and multiple juvenile Bearded Tit were seen off Swineham Point. The roaming 2 White Stork were once again seen over Carey Secret Garden during one of our Osprey watch sessions this afternoon. At Lytchett Fields there were 12 Lapwing, 6 Redshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Oystercatcher, 18 Teal and 5 Gadwall. Also a decent count of 23 Little Egret is another typical early summer occurrence. In Middlebere female White-tailed Eagle G466 flew over Coombe viewpoint early, whilst 5 Spoonbill were in the channel, and a Cuckoo was calling there still.
Male White-tailed Eagle G463 chasing down male Osprey 022 from our Sunset Safari last night – Harry McBride
Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon from our Sunset Safari last night – Harry McBride
Early returning Turnstone on the Brownsea Lagoon from our Sunset Safari last night – Harry McBride
Female White-tailed Eagle G466 over Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne this morning – Alison Copland
2nd cal year Spoonbill in wing moult over Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne this morning – Alison Copland
A very exciting day all-round! Today we announced that we now have a second breeding pair of Osprey in southern England, Rutland female 1H1 who fledged from their Manton Bay nest in 2022 and Poole Harbour male 374, who was translocated in 2021 as part of our Osprey project in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. We are delighted to announce that on April 24th, 1H1 laid her first egg! A clutch of three eggs were laid in total, and on June 3rd their first chick hatched quickly followed by a second on June 5th: an excellent result for first time breeders! You can read further about this fantastic news here: https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey-news/breaking-news-second-breeding-pair-of-osprey-in-the-south/
It was all action on the Carey Osprey nest during our Carey Osprey Tours today. Female CJ7 began alarm-calling at 9am this morning, closely followed by an adult female Honey Buzzard appearing behind the nest and landing in a nearby tree. CJ7 then went in pursuit and we had a fantastic aerial display of both birds, with the Honey Buzzard eventually being driven away. 4 Red Kite were also seen from the viewing platform. There were more signs of autumn migration in the harbour, with 4 Green Sandpiper and 2 breeding plumage Spotted Redshank seen at RSPB Lytchett Fields, all fresh in today. Also present were 8 Redshank, 9 Lapwing, and 9 Teal. A Marsh Harrier was seen over the breeding Gull islands in the harbour this morning. From this evenings Sunset Safari, it was all go, with male White-tailed Eagle G463 seen chasing down male Osprey 022 for his fish, which he promptly dropped and the eagle dropped down to retrieve from the water. We also had an adult Hobby cross the Wareham Channel and what looked like a fresh juvenile Marsh Harrier was around Swineham. There were more signs of autumn passage getting underway on the Brownsea Lagoon with 8 Avocet, the first 8 Common Redshank and first Greenshank of the autumn, plus a lone summer plumaged Turnstone.
1H1 and 374 landing on their new nest on April 6th
Another gloriously sunny and warm day across the harbour. Lytchett Fields held further signs of early autumn migration with 6 Curlew. There was also 7 Sandwich tern and 4 Common tern feeding out in the bay.
Common swifts were enjoying the heat today with double numbers recorded across Poole town and Hamworthy. 2 male Cuckoo continue to call at Arne road, any day now they will be departing and heading south.
Coombe heath was busy in the morning with 2 White-tailed eagle, Hobby, Buzzard, several Common swift, a further 4 Curlew and several Dartford warblers. Showy Dartford warblers were also recorded at Upton heath.
The Corfe Castle Peregrine falcons have quietly hatched chicks but we’re still unsure how many chicks are in the nest.
Peregrine falcon chick at Corfe Castle – cornishpasty1.bsky.social
Dartford warbler – Upton heath – petey632.bsky.social
Another hot, sunny day in the harbour. From our Carey Osprey Tours today we saw 1 Red Kite circling high over the Carey Osprey nest, with female Osprey CJ7 alarm calling and being protective of the nest. There were 3 Buzzard circling high on the thermals, as well as 1 distant Kestrel hovering. Male Osprey 022 gave a stunning display, soaring high over the Osprey viewing platform during one of the tours. Also seen from the platform were 5 Mistle Thrush and c10 Swift. Elsewhere in the harbour, Teal have started to return to RSPB Lytchett Fields, with 6 drake and 1 female present on Sherford Island. Later this afternoon, 1 Roseate Tern was seen flying and calling over Brownsea Lagoon. From this evenings Nightjar walk at Slepe Heath prior to the Nightjars we were treated to Hobby, 2-3 Cuckoo, male Osprey 022 catching a fish in the Wareham Channel and then 7 Nightjar bombing and chasing each other around to a backdrop of glowingly spectacular sunset.
Nightjar, Slepe Heath – During our Nightjar walk
Summers back with a 25 degree heat shimmering over the harbour today, although there were more signs of autumn passage today with 20+ Curlew new in out on the mud flats of the Wareham Channel this morning. White-tailed Eagle pair G463 and G466 have become more active in the Wareham Channel in recent days, with both seen hunting at different times during the course of the day, and a juvenile was over Hartland Moor about lunchtime. Male Osprey 022 made full use of this mornings massive low-tide, by catching multiple small ‘chequered’ bass for his hungry family up at Carey Secret Garden. There were what sounded like multiple fledged Bearded Tit broods along the reed bed edge at Swineham Point. We saw 5+ from this morning Summer Safari, but heard lots more! The Peregrine family at Asda, Holes Bay have been giving phenomenal flying display views over the last couple of days, even when your stuck at the traffic lights, to have 4 Peregrines swirling above your head/car makes the painful that much more rewarding. There were 3 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon.
A very hide tide during late morning meant that the Brownsea lagoon was busier than recent times with highlights being 4 Spoonbill and 4 Avocet. The Common terns and Sandwich terns continue to frantically feed their young and several tern chicks are close to fledging.
Common tern chicks – @wildontheroad.bsky.social
Elsewhere in the harbour, an Osprey was briefly seen fishing in the Wareham channel during mid-morning. Probably male 022 catching another fish for the hungry family!
4 Curlew in Lytchett Bay and a further 5 at Turlin Moor, showing that non-breeders are already on the move. 6 Black-tailed godwit, 6 Oystercatcher and a single Mediterranean gull also at Turlin Moor.
Lytchett fields recorded a Marsh harrier and Lytchett Heath had 1 Water rail, 5 Bearded tit (at least 3 males and 2 female), 6 Reed warbler, 2 Siskin and 3 Reed bunting.
Although we’re only in the early stages of the summer months, the first signs of autumn migration occurred today right on cue with the first 2 Green Sandpiper of the autumn appearing at Middlebere this evening, with another logged in north Dorset the day before. The BTO also announced today that some of their sat-tagged Cuckoo’s from this summer are already now down in central France, also having started their autumn migrations south. There were 2 on Hartland today, but these were probably birds that have been around for most of the spring. Also another possible sign that autumn is creeping in was an adult Yellow-legged Gull in Middlebere. These are the southern European equivalent to our Herring Gulls, and tend to breed a bit earlier in the year. Many then have a northerly Autumn migration with adults often arriving mid-late summer and fresh juveniles often following suit it August. There were 2 adult Little Ringed Plover on the Stilt Pools, Swinheam, and 3 different White-tailed Eagles were seen including both our resident adults (G463 & G466) which were around Middlebere and the Wareham Channel, and recently arrived 2024 juvenile G704.
Green Sandpiper – Middlebere – Garry Hayman
Adult Yellow-legged Gull – Middlebere – Garry Hayman
Another stunning Sunset Safari Cruise this evening with male Osprey 022 hunting in the Wareham Channel and a gorgeous Marsh Harrier flyby in the evening light! Other highlights included a summer plumage Spotted Redshank on the mudflats, 2 Bearded Tit, and a flock of 50 Sand Martin surrounding the boat in the River Frome, plus the cacophony of Sandwich and Common Terns on the Brownsea Lagoon to end the trip. Elsewhere Yellowhammer, Woodlark and Cuckoo were all recorded at Morden Bog, with the latter also heard at Arne and Stoborough Heath: possibly birds making one last stopover in the UK on their migrations south to sub-Saharan Africa!
Marsh Harrier – Wareham Channel, Sunset Safari Cruise – John Thorpe
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