With a dark rumbling sky approaching from the south it looked like we were about to experience our first drop rain for a whole week, and sure enough by 7pm the wind had built and the rain had begun, but it wasn’t until around midnight the real light show kicked off. Our first concern was the Osprey chicks and how they’d fare but you soon remember that these are wild birds who have to put up with all sorts out in the depths of wildest Scotland, and sure enough a 5:30am check on site for the first feed saw them all right as rain (and wet as rain too) eager for their next feed. Such hardy birds as well beautiful. LS0 is definitely the most advanced and is now flapping/flying from nest, to perching stump to perching bar showing real character and passion to explore its new area. That’s not to say it doesn’t often spend large parts of the day lounging about with legs stretched out as if playing the part of an ‘extra’ in Baywatch! We’ll be receiving some more footage from our CCTV monitoring system and will embed it on our sightings blog over the coming the days. In the mean time, enjoy these additional photos we’ve received from Ruth Peacey who helped out when the birds arrived last week.

Locally fledged birds are beginning to move around now and today juvenile Lesser Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatcher were seen on some of the heaths near Hartland. Two Willow Warbler were along the track down to Middlebere and at Arne an Osprey was in the dead trees at Middlebere. At Lytchett Fields there were 7 Spoonbill, 15 Green Sandpiper, 8 Common Sandpiper, 3 Dunlin, 91 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Greenshank, 109 Redshank and 87 Lapwing. On Brownsea the 3 Avocet chicks were all present and correct with 8 adults on the lagoon now too, 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Curlew, 1 Greenshank and ‘large numbers’ of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. 

Osprey chick LS2 upon arrival last week – Ruth Peacey

Spoonbill over Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

We can’t believe the osprey chicks have been with us a week already and to see the change in their size, structure and behaviour in such a short space of time has been amazing. We don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch but each of the eight has really taken to Dorset life. It’s certainly been a lot warmer this last week and compared to what they’ve been used to up in Scotland so as long as we’re not turning them into southern ‘beach bum’ softies we’re on course for a late July release. LS0 has began fly-hopping around its pen and today even took off for a very short while all the others are still wolfing down food and are visibly getting stronger by the day. With slightly unsettled weather approaching from the south in the coming days a nice bit of the ‘wet stuff’ my bring them back down to earth with a bump after a week of sun, sea and salmon.

Sightings from around the harbour included a good haul of waders at Lytchett Fields including 6 Dunlin, 6 Common Sandpiper, 9 Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 85 Black-tailed Godwit, 50 Lapwing and 30 Redshank along with 6 Spoonbill. The 4 Avocet chicks are now already down to 3! Although the parents were keeping a really good eye on them today and it seems the 7^thSpoonbill was favouring Brownsea rather Lytchett Fields with its mates. An Osprey settled on the Middlebere nesting platform early doors and there was 2 Whimbrel on the mud there at low tide. At Slepe Heath and Sunnyside Farm a few juvenile Willow Warbler were in scrub, but these could simply account for local fledged birds rather than passing migrants. There was some exciting news that Cattle Egret bred in Dorset this summer (not in Poole Harbour), but it will be well worth watching out for any more that could be returning to the harbour area in post breeding flocks along with Great White Egret too. 

The good news is that the 4 Avocet chicks have survived their first few days and are being watched over closely by their parents. The gull pressure this year has eased slightly with the sad news that the UK’s only pure breeding pair on Yellow-legged Gulls were unsuccessful with only one of the adults turning up to breed. This single pair of Yellow-legged Gull made them one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds and they’ve been successfully breeding on Brownsea for over 20 years. There’s a possibility one of the adults could have sadly died, meaning a replacement isn’t likely anytime soon. Breeding Med Gulls were also in short supply on Brownsea this year, possibly down to the protection and improved monitoring of  ‘Gull Islands’ in the Wareham Channel meaning most Med Gulls remained there to breed. The DWT are keeping a close eye on the Avocet chicks but as is standard in these situations, nature will take its course in whichever direction it fancies. The other exciting news today was that the Hobby on the Arne VC camera have hatched young! It will be a fascinating few weeks watching this pair deliver food to their new offspring and we highly recommend heading down there to take a look…the image quality is great and then after you’ve watched those for a while you can go and head out and see Osprey which was also present in Middlebere again. In Poole Harbour west local raptor watcher Peter Hadrill noted the first juvenile Marsh Harrier coming into the area to roost. It’s thought that this would be a juvenile from further afield rather than a local fledgling as there was no nest site confirmed within the harbour this year, although a niggling part of us still wonders that with regular Marsh Harrier activity during the summer, whether this could still potentially be a locally fledged bird from an unknown nest site? At Lytchett Fields there were 4 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Dunlin, 1 Kingfisher, 1 juv Willow Warbler and 1 Great Crested Grebe in Lytchett Bay.

Finally, we’ve been able to extract some footage from our CCTV within the pens which shows two of the Osprey chicks feeding and wing flapping quite vigorously. Our team have been constantly monitoring this behaviour since their arrival almost a week ago now. Over time the wing flapping will grow stronger and once we’re happy they’ve grown enough strength in their wings we’ll open up the fronts of the enclosures. We’re still a little way away from that yet but things are currently looking really positive. 

Please follow this link too for a write up from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation about their involvment in the project up in Scotland – http://www.roydennis.org/2017/07/14/translocation-to-poole/

Osprey chicks feeding and wing flapping 16/07/17

Its been a busy year for rare breeders across the UK with Cattle Egrets, Black-winged Stilts, Spoonbills, Little Bittern and Bee-eaters all wowing the crowds and paving the way for the future landscape of British breeding birds. However what may be common to some counties as a breeding species can still be rare for others. Take Avocet for example where good numbers breed at sites like Minsmere and other east coat sites but in Dorset Avocet are (were) a non-existent breeder despite over-wintering totals of over 1500. The Brownsea Lagoon has always looked right for breeding Avocet and in 1999 two pairs did hatch young which were sadly predated after a day. So, it was welcome news today when we heard that three and then four young Avocet chicks had hatched on the lagoon. A pair were seen swapping nest duties about 3 weeks ago and a close eye have been kept on them ever since. Then, today 3 chicks were spotted on the far side of the lagoon which was a welcome sight. Lets just keep everything crossed those hungry gulls stay away in the mean time. The ‘autumns’ first Great White Egret appeared today too with one in the Wareham Channel early morning feeding with Little Egrets. Breeding totals on the Somerset Levels are soaring so its no surprise we’re seeing an increase in wandering, passing, visiting GWE year on year with September and October now the peak months to see this species arrive. An Osprey was again on the Middlebere pole early morning and Spoonbill totals have now reached 7, all of which were on the Brownsea Lagoon along with 11 Common Sandpiper.  On Lytchett Fields there were 15 Green Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 2 Dunlin and 1 Little Ringed Plover.

 After going missing for several days an Osprey turned back up again on the Middlebere post early morning. There were 5 Spoonbill on Lytchett Fields with 5 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Kingfisher and an adult Yellow-legged Gull again. A ringing session on Lytchett Heath saw the first Sedge Warbler of the autumn passing through with 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 15 Reed Warbler and 2 Blackcap also ringed. In Middlebere late evening there were 4 Greenshank, 1 Barn Owl and c150 Black-tailed Godwit.

Osprey Translocation update

Not much change today, all birds doing well with LS4 eating a whopping 23 pieces of fish in 8 minutes! 

Spoonbill – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

 Juv Willow Warbler – ringed at Fleets Corner (12th July)

Sedge Warbler – Lytchett Heath 

The Osprey chicks are doing really well with some guzzling food back like there’s no tomorrow! Our team now has a flowing process which sees the birds fed 3 times a day, with food that’s to be eaten as well as un-eaten weighed out so we can gage how much the birds are taking on board. The coming weeks will see us providing the chicks with as much food as they need as to get them in peak condition, ready for fledging. We still don’t know when that will be just yet but the end of July/beginning of August is a good benchmark. We’ll try and get some video footage from the pens shortly so we can introduce you to each of the 8 chicks. We were hoping to take photographs and provide a profile for each bird when they arrived but it was raining so hard that we just wanted to get them into the safety and security of their pens as quickly as possible.

Monitoring HQ

Sightings from around the harbour consisted of 6 Spoonbill on Lytchett Fields with 2 Dunlin, 5 Greenshank, 6 Common Sandpiper, 8 Green Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel and 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull. The Hobby on the Arne camera in the main visitors centre is well worth a visit to watch. In Middlebere there were 2 Greenshank and a Green Sandpiper. On the Brownsea Lagoon an excellent 110 Common Tern chicks were counted with many beginning to fledge already. 

Spoonbill – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

We’ll do a longer blog soon we promise! But the last few days have been a bit full on, getting our new arrivals all settled in and our set up running smoothly. So in the mean time, just enjoy this screen grab taken today from our CCTV monitoring system, which shows two of our birds happy and settled into their temporary new homes. All 8 have been feeding well again today and already some are beginning to wing-flap quite hard.

Screen grab of Osprey Pen CCTV 

Sightings from today included the first juv Willow Warbler of the autumn ringed in Poole harbour north with this surely the first of many thousands over the coming weeks to push through the harbour. At Lytchett Fields the 6 Spoonbill were on French’s Pools and there were 2 Dunlin, 4 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank and 1 Whimbrel. On Brownsea there were 3+ Roseate Tern which were viewable on one of our Brownsea Webcams. 

Normally on wet, windy, miserable days like this there isn’t much to shout about and certainly not often much to get excited about. However, today was a momentous day as our first 8 Osprey chicks arrived safe and sound here in Poole Harbour after a long 630-mile trip from Scotland. After weeks of sun and sweltering heat the weather took on a traditional Scottish feel today to welcome our new visitors and within an hour of their arrival they were snuggling up in their new 5 star holding pens and chowing down on some top grade salmon and trout…not a bad welcome present. The chicks were split into our three holding pens based on those that were stronger and could feed them selves more efficiently. Each of our chicks is ringed with a blue ring on the right leg with white lettering with Osprey number one wearing LS0 and the last LS7 (with LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, LS5 and L6 in between).  A write up of their arrival can be read HERE. There’s obviously going to be a lot to update you all on over the coming weeks but at least they’re here now and we can keep a close eye on them.

Elsewhere in the murk the 6 Spoonbill were again on the Brownsea Lagoon with 2 Spotted Redshank and 1 Common Sandpiper. On Lytchett Fields a whopping 20 Green Sandpiper were recorded with 5 Common Sandpiper and 1 Common Tern fishing over the fields. At Swineham there was a single juvenile Little Ringed Plover and an adult male Yellow Wagtail. Maybe some more birds will appear after the dross clears away tomorrow morning?

Freshly arrived Osprey chicks in Poole Harbour for translocation project

As July progresses, more signs of migration begin to emerge with an adult Willow Warbler ringed this morning in Poole Harbour north at a site they definitely don’t breed at. It could have come from somewhere fairly local seeing as it was in heavy wing moult but it does show that some passerines are already on the move. At the same site near Holes Bay north a decent total of 42 juvenile Blackcap have been ringed too over just three mornings. These will be a mixture of fledged juveniles from the site plus other birds that have moved in to the area because of rich food sources. After an absence of several weeks, 3 Cattle Egret were seen briefly on the Wareham Channel side of Arne Moors with 16 Little Egret. An Osprey was yet again in the Middlebere Channel and on Brownsea 6 Spoonbill came in late evening. At Lytchett Fields there was a nice mix of common waders again with Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Lapwing all present with a roosting Common Tern on one of the islands, which is slightly out of character.  

Osprey Translocation Update

Not much to say other than…NOT LONG NOW!

The final preparations are getting underway for our Osprey chicks arrival mid week and it looks as if they’ll be bringing some classic Scottish weather with them! Despite the rain forecast, it hopefully won’t dampen the mood or sprits of this exciting arrival to Poole Harbour and we’re really looking forward to giving you some positive news upon their safe arrival. By all accounts they’re feeding well, each is very strong and they’re in really good hands so its all looking good. There has been a huge amount of work gone in to this project so far, and it hasn’t really even began yet. The real hard work starts this coming week, attending to, feeding and monitoring our eight new arrivals, making sure we give them the best possible start before release in a few weeks. As we said yesterday, we’ll be updating you as much as we can on the project over the coming weeks but don’t worry…we won’t just get lost in Ospreys….the full force of autumn migration is just around the corner so we can’t wait to hear about all the great birds you see around the harbour over the coming weeks with plenty sure to be on offer no matter where you go.

Today was another hot one with a Roseate Tern and 3 Spotted Redshank again on the Brownsea Lagoon, an Osprey (S1) in Middlebere, at Lytchett Fields 14 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank and 1 Whimbrel were recorded. A Red Kite drifted over Ridge and then Arne.