Hmmmmm. The less said about today the better. 30mph winds, heavy rain and sodden optics don’t make for good bird watching opportunities. The Bonaparte’s Gull was again on the Brownsea Lagoon for most of the afternoon and 2 Spoonbill were in Middlebere. An Osprey braved it on top of the Middlebere platform. Then everyone went home and had a hot cup of tea. 

The nice weather continued and it seems more birds are on the move. The first Tree Pipit of the autumn called overhead at dawn near the Wytch Channel and another 10-15 Yellow Wagtail also passed overhead over the course of the day. Yesterdays Sand Martin passage intensified today with an even bigger push of many hundreds going through throughout the day, mostly heading south along the southern shores. Today the Sand Martin were joined by a big pulse of Swift as c300 went through around 11am. There were 2 Osprey again at Arne with both feeding in the dead trees at the back of Middlebere, with 6 Spoonbill again in Middlebere. The Bonaparte’s Gull was present on the Brownsea Lagoon again but for the morning only.  A ringing session at Lytchett Bay produced 21 Sedge Warbler, 17 Reed Warbler, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler, 1 Common Whitethroat, 5 Willow Warbler and a selection of commoner species. 

Well, as luck would have it yesterdays Bonaparte’s Gull that was found on the Brownsea Lagoon mid-afternoon re-appeared mid-morning today and thankfully stayed around all day for plenty of birders to enjoy. Nestled in amongst the Black-headed Gulls it gave a good comparison and ID opportunity to get to grips with this Poole Harbour first. Then, in late afternoon we received a call that an orange ringtail harrier was spotted over Lytchett Fields. Thankfully it was seen again a couple of times by another birder later in the afternoon who managed to get a clear set of features indicating it was a juvenile Montagu’s Harrier, a real mid-summer treat! At Arne 5 Spoonbill were feeding in the Middlebere Channel mid-morning and 2 Osprey were in the dead tress at the back of the Middlebere marsh. All day there was a good passage of Sand Martin with many hundreds heading south with House Martin and Swallow mixed in, all pulsing along the southern shores of the harbour and heading along the channels of the Wytch and Middlebere channels. At Greenland’s Farm, Studland the first Yellow Wagtails of the autumn were passing over-head with c10 over the course of the day. Waders from around the harbour included good numbers of Whimbrel in all the bays around the harbour with their familiar calls echoing out across the salt marsh. At Lytchett Fields there were 36 Dunlin, 8 Greenshank, 9 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Yellow-legged Gull. At Lytchett Heath a juvenile Nightjar was ringed which was good as it proved breeding at this site this year (unsuccessful last year) and a decent count of 610 Jackdaw went into roost near by.

We also have a week’s worth of work beginning at Holton Pools, which will see the scrapes and pools expanded to create a larger open area for waders. This project began back in March this year and this next phase will hopefully make it more attractive to waders, ducks, gulls, Kingfishers, herons, passerines etc. 

Its not everyday a Poole Harbour first occurs but two within a month of one another and from the same bird hide seemed quite unlikely, however from the Mac Hide today, where last months Elegant Tern was found Poole Harbour’s first Bonaparte’s Gull was photographed as it bobbed around in the shallows around 2:30pm before disappearing off. Sadly it was only seen by the finder, so there’s hope it stays around as long as the Longham bird did a few weeks ago…maybe making an impromptu stop off at Poole Park to feed on bread? Here’s hoping! An Osprey was in the dead trees at Middlebere and 5 Spoonbill fed on the falling tide mid morning. 

Bonaparte’s Gull – Brownsea Lagoon – Lorne Bissell

The day started off fairly fine but ended as grim as the night before. Some ringing and monitoring during the hours of sunshine were productive though with 18 Sedge Warbler and 12 Reed Warbler ringed during a session at Lytchett Bay, 13 Willow Warbler counted at Holton Lee with Greenshank, Tawny Owl and Nightjar noted during a short night sound survey and on the Brownsea Lagoon a full survey saw 7 Greenshank, 76 Redshank, 4 Common Sandpiper, 7 Curlew, 9 Avocet, 34 Black-tailed Godwit, 19 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, 154 Oystercatcher, 7 Little Egret, 1 juv Yellow-legged Gull, triple figures of both Common and Sandwich Tern, 11 Gadwall, 26 Teal and 1 Peregrine. There was also a flock of 14 Common Sandpiper at Seymers Marsh on Brownsea. An Osprey was in Middlebere mid morning. 

Pot of gold in the Wareham Channel

Today saw the first returning Wheatear of the autumn drop down onto Lytchett Fields mid morning with 1 Little Ringed Plover, c10 Green Sandpiper, and the usual cohort of Redshank, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit out on the fields. On Brownsea 2 Spotted Redshank were still present and 4 Spoonbill were feeding in the Wareham Channel on the low tide. The Arne Hobby chicks seem to be doing well and there seem to be plenty of Whimbrel and to a lesser extent Grey Plover in the far reaches of various creeks and channels with Middlebere, Wytch, Brands and Redhorn all seeing returning birds.

Osprey Translocation Update

A quick check on the birds this evening before the afternoon shift finished saw 6 of the 8 all perched and almost ready to go. We’re just giving them a few days to get used to eating larger sections of fish before ‘the big off’ as we’ll continue to place large (and even whole) fish on the feeding platforms out in front of the pens after they’re released. We took a quick snap through one of our spy holes this evening too, just because we couldn’t resist. 

Barn Owl – Arne Farm – Ian Brown

Wheatear – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Osprey LS1 – Look mean and keen

Kingfisher – Middlebere – Ian Brown

An interesting report came from a sighting several hundred miles north of Poole Harbour today, when it was confirmed that the male Osprey S1 which has been at Arne/Poole Harbour all summer has ventured back north again to his natal area of Rutland Water. Moving north for the autumn seems a strange behaviour for an Osprey but an identical situation occurred last year when another Rutland 2^nd summer male over-summered in the New Forest, only to leave on July 26^th and arrive back at Rutland on July 27^th. It seems they can’t stay away from their natal areas and was perhaps interested to see what had happened on his home patch this summer before venturing back south again properly for the winter? On Brownsea there were 2 Spotted Redshank and 2 more Garden Warbler ringed at Fleets Corner, near Holes Bay. At Lytchett Fields there were 28 Dunlin, 4 Common Sandpiper, 17 Green Sandpiper and an adult Yellow-legged Gull in the bay. The 2 dark-bellied Brent Geese that were in the Wytch Channel earlier in the month are still there and more signs of autumn included 16 Common Gull back in Brands Bay with 13 Whimbrel and 1 Greenshank. In Bramble Bush Bay there were 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Whimbrel. In Middlebere there were 2 Spotted Redshank and 5 Greenshank. 

Garden Warbler – Fleets Corner – Olly Slessor 

Another yucky summers day, just prime for the summer holidays! At Arne an Osprey was sat in the dead trees at Middlebere early morning. At Lytchett Fields there were 22 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 17 Green Sandpiper. A very wet and windy boat trip around the harbour saw plenty of newly fledged Common Tern out feeding near the harbour entrance, a fresh juv Peregrine Falcon was up to no good on the Brownsea Lagoon, although its obvious lack of any kind of hunting skills made it quite clear all waders and terns were safe. Several Great Crested Grebe were out in central harbour and a Kingfisher was in Holes Bay.

Osprey Translocation Update

We’re now up to six birds using the perching posts on and off and its looking like a release next week some time is on the cards. Some foul weather over the coming weekend may delay things slightly but we’re hoping to at least get everything set up and in place ready for the big day(s). 

LS0 and LS1 enjoying the Poole Harbour sunset

August is slowly but surely creeping up on us…the month of true variety. It tends to be that you can see more species of bird in Poole Habour during August than any other month in the year and signs are already showing it could be a busy month. Waders are already flowing through with 8 Common Sandpiper feeding on the Holton shoreline, good numbers of Whimbrel feeding in numerous bays around the harbour, 2 Spotted Redshank on the Brownsea Lagoon, and Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin numbers on the increase. In the Wareham Channel 5 Spoonbill were feeding on the low tide with around 80 Little Egret in the area. At Holton Pools the colour-ringed Greenshank that first appeared at Lytchett Fields last year was close enough for a decent photo, and at Lytchett Fields there were c20 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, c50 Redshank, c60 Black-tailed Godwit and 9 Dunlin on the fields with a Woodlark flushed there too. At Arne there was another Osprey, this one a tatty looking individual which doesn’t seem to be S1 the 2-year old male that’s spent all summer at Arne.

Colour-ringed Greenshank – Holton Pools – Ian Ballam