We mentioned yesterday that birds were beginning to move already with the first signs of autumn passage getting underway. What we weren’t expecting though was a drake Common Scoter to drop into Holes Bay NE at dawn, just off the outflow channel. This was obviously a bird in transit as it only stayed for 30 seconds before flying off SW back over the railway bridge…a very interesting mid-summer record. There was some more interaction between a couple of Osprey at Middlebere with one bird eating a fish on the pole and another coming to harass it. An early fledged juvenile from somewhere, maybe hassling for some food? Or a fish envy altercation between the two birds present since early June? At Lytchett Fields the Little ringed Plover total went up to 7, with 7 Green Sandpiper, the 1^stGreenshank of the autumn, 21 Lapwing, 53 Redshank and 5 Spoonbill. Nearby, on Lytchett Heath a short ringing session saw the first juv Reed Warblers of the autumn caught along with 3 Cetti’s Warbler and several Reed Bunting. A quick check at South Haven produced 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Guillemot and a single Gannet off Pilots Point. This evening we hosted one of our mid-summer Nightjar walks at Arne and despite a gentle breeze we were treated to Barn Owl flying around the Middlebere Marsh, Osprey sat in the dead trees, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit calling and flying into the Middlebere Channel as the tide began to fall, and of course as darkness fell, a chorus of Nightjar, perhaps 5-6 heard along with some active territorial chasing between two males right past our group. 

Kingfisher – Holes Bay north – Olly Slessor

A better today with more signs of dispersal around the harbour, where a fresh juv Kingfisher was ringed in Holes Bay north. You can ID young Kingfisher quite easily this time of year, especially with a decent view. The tops of their feet are dirty brown and grubby and their overall plumage a duller blue with brown toned fringes to some of the feathers. Both adult and young Kingfisher disperse from their breeding grounds at the end of the summer and head down river to coastal spots which is why you can often encounter Kingfisher at places like Poole Quay, Poole Park and Baiter from now to Feb. The Osprey was again on the perching post in Middlebere for most of the afternoon. At Lytchett Bay a Red Kite drifted over Otter Island towards Turlin Moor and on Lytchett Fields there were 2 Little Ringed Plover and 5 Green Sandpiper. We’ve also had a decent amount of recoveries from a ringing site we’ve been running in the north of the harbour this spring called Fleets Corner. Earlier in the spring (mid-March) we experienced a rush of Chiffchaff, several of them already ringed. Below is the ringing history for those birds. Plus a recovery of one of the birds we ringed at Fleets Corner re-trapped elsewhere.

The first juvenile waders are already beginning to turn up in the harbour with good numbers of Lapwing appearing on Lytchett Fields along with the first juvenile Little Ringed Plover of the ‘autumn’. Little Ringed Plover don’t breed in the harbour as far as we know, although there are plenty of local quarry workings which could hold breeding LRP, so there’s a chance this juvenile hasn’t come very far. Juvenile Redshank are also beginning to appear on the Brownsea Lagoon with some adults still quite vocal and on territory at places like Middlebere and Arne Moors. We mentioned last week that the terns on Brownsea seem to be doing well and a check of our Brownsea Webcam highlights the remarks perfectly. The un-fenced islands now see ten’s of little feather balls bouncing around the shingle with the adult Common Terns busy trying to keep their chicks in check. The Sandwich Terns within the fenced islands are also holding on strong with only the occasional peck on the head from an angry neighbour presenting the biggest risks. It will be interesting to hear the official totals at the end of the season but it look’s like it could be the best Common Tern year for a very long time. The low cloud cover and mild temperatures got good numbers of Swift feeding over Poole Park boating lake, swooping low over the road and pavements. Back in 2012 a huge gathering of Swift (c800-1000) descended on the Poole Park area after a storm the night before had stirred up food sources in the area. It was an incredible urban scene as Swift dodged in and out of cars whilst others whizzed past your head at close quarters. 

That’s more like it! A June day full of rain…this is what we’re more used to. To be quite honest, it was much needed. So far this spring/summer we can count on one hand the number of times its rained sufficiently enough to actually have had an impact on plants and water levels. The rain filled up sites like Lytchett Fields and Holton Pools, which combined with the high tide forced out many of the roosting waders, although 2 Spoonbill, 4 Green Sandpiper and a Shelduck familywere attracted in on to French’s Pools. The Osprey was again on the post in Middlebere for a short while before disappearing, presumably to shelter from the rain.

We’ve also just published dates for our Winter Bird Boats, which start this December. This winter we’re hosting four trips including a new Wareham Channel/Harbour Cruise trip. For full details and to book on CLICK HERE

Shelduck – Middlebere – Olly Slessor

The male Osprey was on the post in Middlebere again today having gone missing for a couple of days. It caught a whopping great big mullut(?) and proceeded to eat it alive…head first! Who’d be a fish? Up on Ballard, juvenile Whitethroat were moving around the hedgerows which are almost certainly the initial daring adventures of locally fledged birds rather than signs of autumn passage getting underway, although give it another four weeks and our locally fledged youngsters will be joined by wanderers from further afield. The 5 Spoonbill were again on Brownsea. Initial signs seem to indicate its been a good breeding year for local birds with good numbers of juveniles of many species beginning to emerge, lets just hope that pattern is replicated across the whole of Europe and that we’re about to witness a huge passage of birds this autumn period. 

With the whiff of autumn migration just several weeks away it seems us birders are the only ones wishing away the summer each year. Towards the end of July passerine migration gets underway with the first pulse of Willow Warblers, Garden Warblers even Grasshopper Warblers all beginning to move south with waders following suit a week or two after. As we approach the end of June, sightings still remain limited as thoughts turn to cloudy sky’s over cool coasts during the autumn. Late June and early July can still see small arrivals of birds and things have definitely started to stir with Little Ringed Plovers and Green Sandpipers already beginning to turn up with mid-July also being a good time for early returning Ruff and Wood Sandpiper. So, as we approach July its well worth keeping an eye out for early signs of passage and for those first returning lemon yellow Willow Warblers amongst those Long-tailed Tit flocks. Today, just the 5 Spoonbill were reported to us and the Avocet pair are still on their nest with another 2 keeping a helpful eye out too.

Little Egret – Middlebere – Olly Slessor

Fox cub – Middlebere – Olly Slessor

We’ve been receiving daily updates on the sitting Avocets on the Brownsea Lagoon and there’s still no news/sign of any hatching yet so the waiting game continues. Also on the lagoon today were the 5 Spoonbill, 1 Greenshank and another 3 Avocet. On Lytchett Fields again, there was just a single adult Little Ringed Plover.

Sandwich Tern – Brownsea Lagoon 

Common Tern – Brownsea Quay 

Well, the good news is that the Avocet pair are still sitting tight on the Brownsea Lagoon. Its not know when the eggs were laid but with Avocet chicks hatching at other sites around the UK it could be any day now we see young arrive, that’s assuming the eggs are fertile and still alive. The 5 Spoonbill were back on the lagoon again too. At Lytchett Fields there was just the 1 Little Ringed Plover today but an increase of 6 Green Sandpiper already. This evening we also helped out Terry Elborn from the Borough of Poole Heathland management team along with Stour Ringing Group as we carried out a Nightjar ringing demo on Canford Heath. Terry and other members of Stour Ringing Group have been researching Nightjar populations on Canford for several years now and its great to be able to showcase some of this work to local residents. Although the forecast was a bit touch and go, by dusk the wind had dropped off completely and right on cue the Nightjar activity began. As the anticipation amongst the keen group of visitors grew, one of our team returned from a net-round with a Nightjar in hand and eyes grew wide as it was extracted from the bird bag. Seeing Nightjars is special in any circumstance, but to be able to see one this close is a real treat and after many questions and much discussion the group went away with beaming smiles. 

Female Nightjar – Canford Heath – Simon  Treasure

Despite a bit more searching today for Wednesdays Elegant Tern, the bird still never reappeared, however something equally as exciting was discovered on the lagoon mid-afternoon. The discovery didn’t involve a rare bird this time, but in fact something which is relatively common throughout the winter here in Poole Harbour. During an early evening ‘tern hunt’ yesterday some locals noticed an Avocet sitting tight next to a log on the opposite side of the lagoon. Being early evening this could have simply been a favored pre-roost sitting spot although it’s motionless stance and eagerness to stay hidden seemed interesting. Today the bird was in exactly the same spot having not budged for almost 24 hours. Then, at around 14:00 a chance check on the bird saw another Avocet walk over to the sitting Avocet, nudge it out of the way and then settle down in exactly the same spot…A NEST SHIFT CHANGE OVER! This behavior confirmed that the pair is actually on eggs, which in a Poole Harbour/Dorset context is incredible news. Avocet haven’t successfully nested in Dorset for many many years, with the last attempt taking place on Brownsea in 1999 when two pairs hatched young but were sadly predated. The nest is now being closely monitored to see when the eggs hatch, but being in such close proximity to so many Great Black-backed Gulls it could be a rough ride for any new Avocet parents and their chicks. We’ll keep you posted along the way. There was just a single Spoonbill on the lagoon today with another 4 on Lytchett Fields where there were also 2 adult Little Ringed Plover still, 41 Redshank, 7 Teal, 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull and the first Hobby for the site went through.

Well, all the excitement from yesterday was short lived as the Elegant Tern which roosted on the Brownsea Lagoon, and was still viewable on our webcam through the night, upped sticks and left around 5:00am never to be seen again…throughout the day anyway. A small flow of people made their way to Brownsea throughout the day in the hope the tern may arrive back, but sadly it never did. During its short stay on the Sandwich Tern islands it was receiving quite a bit of grief from the parent Sandwich Terns, so maybe it had just very quickly out-stayed its welcome? Other birds seen on the lagoon whilst waiting for the tern included the 5 Spoonbill, 1 early/late Common Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit and several Black-tailed Godwit. At Arne one of the Osprey was on the perching post again and 2 were seen fishing out in the Wareham Channel late afternoon. On Lytchett Fields there were 2 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Green Sandpiper and 62 Black-tailed Godwit with the seasons first newly fledged Black-headed Gull seen in Lytchett Bay. When watching the Elegant Tern yesterday we were trying to get some film footage but frustratingly the battery ran out on our gear and we thought we’d walked away ‘footageless’. However, when uploading our memory card we were thrilled to find we had managed to get a relatively decent 15-second video of the bird canoodling with the Sarni Terns before our camera conked out. 

Elegant Tern – Brownsea Lagoon – 21/06/17

Elegant Tern roosting at night on  Brownsea Lagoon – 21&22/06/17