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. 

As we mentioned yesterday our partners in the Poole Harbour Osprey translocation project, The Roy Dennis Wildlife foundation have been busy up in Scotland this weekend collecting chicks ready to bring down next week. We’re so close now and we can’t wait to meet our new arrivals soon. We’ll get a final update tomorrow as to how they’ve done and whether the team have managed to get all eight chicks for the project but as things stand its looking promising. We’ll be keeping you up to date with all the developments this coming week so make sure not to miss anything! As a reminder, Roy has written a detailed overview of the project on the Foundations website which will provide you with much of the reason behind the project and our collective objectives for the species. Poole Harbour Osprey Project – Roy Dennis

Elsewhere around the harbour the beginnings of autumn migration continued to bubble along and Lytchett Fields saw a decent total of 14 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 96 Redshank, 65 Black-tailed Godwit, 51 Lapwing and 1 Little Ringed Plover. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were definitely 2 Roseate Tern which were seen together. In Middlebere an Osprey was in the dead trees mid morning. A female type Marsh Harrier was floating around the mouth of Middlebere/Wytch Lake late afternoon and Hobby were over Arne, Hartland Middlebere. 

With the Sandwich Terns now beginning to fledge on Brownsea and the Common Terns to follow shortly, its safe to say it’s been a bumper year for both species. Rough counts of chicks for Sandwich Tern is said to be around c60 and Common Tern came in at around 101! This is great news seeing they’ve struggled in recent years. The Avocet is still sitting tight at her nest site, although things are getting a little late. Will the pair pull it out of the bag and hatch the first Avocet young in Dorset for many years or will this story have a sadder ending? There’s still time for a happy ending so we’re all still keeping fingers well and truly crossed. A Roseate Tern was on the lagoon again as were the 6 Spoonbill. At Arne there were 2 Osprey again around the Middlebere area and the Hobby camera was getting a lot of attention in the visitors centre. There was also a Turtle Dove reported from a private garden near Studland. 

Osprey Translocation Update

It’s been a couple of weeks now since we announced the exciting news we’re helping facilitate an Osprey translocation project here in Poole Harbour. Our partners in the project include Jason Fathers from Wildlife Technology Company Wildlife Windows, and Jason has been slogging away over the last month getting everything in place ready for the chick’s arrival. Our other partners are the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and this week they’ve been busy assessing nest sites up in Scotland and even began collecting chicks today ready to bring down to Poole. Depending on how the next couple of days go we are hoping to see ‘the class of 17′ arrive early next week, which is beyond exciting. As we hope you’ll understand, the location of the holding pens has to remain confidential but we’ll be blogging and providing updates on the chicks progress, and as they’re only in the holding pens for a couple of weeks, it won’t hopefully be long until they’ll be flying free around the harbour. Today we received some photos from Tim Makrill and Roy Dennis, which provide the first images of the two of our eight Poole bound Osprey chicks. More to follow over the coming days and next week will certainly be worth waiting for.

Roy Dennis with two Poole bound Osprey chicks for the Poole Harbour translocation project