A bit of a quieter day today with 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Ruff, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 70+ Dunlin, 2 Peregrine and a Sparrowhawk at Lytchett Fields. On the southern shoreline of Upton CP a decent count of 1246 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Knot, 10+ Dunlin, 20+ Redshank, 1 Wigeon and 1 Shoveler. In Middlebere there were still 2-3 Osprey fishing and feeding on and off throughout the day, often using the nesting platform. Our night recording session on the night of the 5^th was productive with 18 Tree Pipit, a nice flock of Yellow Wagtail, 4 Robin, the first 2 Song Thrush of the autumn and yet again another Ortolan Bunting.

We’re continuing with our night migration study rom our listening station in Old Town Poole and although recent nights have been quiet due to the SW wind and rain, things perked up a bit in the still wet night last night as a few waders were on the move. Totals between 20:45 and 04:45 included 7 Ringed Plover, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 3 Common Sandpiper and 8 Tree Pipit. At Middlebere the 3 Osprey were still on show, constantly moving between the nesting platform and dead trees for most of the day and the 2 Green Sandpiper were on the pool in front of the hide again. At Lytchett Fields there was 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 2 Ruff, 1 Knot, 155 Dunlin, 13 Bar-tailed Godwit and 10+ Yellow Wagtail. On the Brownsea Lagoon Curlew Sandpiper, Knot and Spotted Redshank all showed superbly on the webcam whilst 9 Spoonbill stayed at the back of the lagoon.

Knot – Brownsea webcam

Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea webcam

Spotted Redshank – Brownsea webcam

The SW wind eased throughout the day and what started off as quite a blustery morning finished as still but wet dank night! However, there were some good birds on offer with a Pied Flycatcher in front of the Middlebere Hide briefly in the morning with 2 Green Sandpiper, 4 Stonechat and several Chiffchaff there too along with 2 Wheatear on the barn roof, 5 Greenshank, 20 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Curlew, 1 Dunlin, 1 Spoonbill and the ‘normal’ 2-3 Osprey that came and went throughout the day, often sitting on the nesting platform. Up on Slepe Heath there were 3 Redstart, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Whitethroat, 30+ Yellow Wagtail, 5 Dartford Warbler, 15+ Stonechat, 1 Peregrine, 4 Raven and a Hobby over Arne Moors. At Lytchett Fields the Wood Sandpiper remained with 1 Little Stint, 48 Dunlin, 1 Ruff, several Yellow Wagtail and good numbers of Redshank, Lapwing and Snipe. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 5 Curlew Sandpiper, 8 Spotted Redshank, 21 Greenshank, 2 Sanderling and 8 Spoonbill.

 Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – James Phillips

Yellow Wagtail – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Wheatear – Middlebere – Peter Moore

Green Sandpiper – Middlebere – Peter Moore

Migrants have been hard to come by the last couple of days and an Ortolan Bunting that was seen and heard flying along Soldiers Road at about 08:10 heading north was a surprise find, especially with the recent SW winds, although perhaps maybe not that surprising when how many have been sound recorded at night recently. Around the Slepe Heath area just a few Spotted Flycatcher and Whitethroat were noted with around 20 Yellow Wagtail near Slepe Farm and plenty of Dartford Warbler and Stonechat. It was also the Arne Raptor Weekend where you get the opportunity to visit various viewpoints around the Arne reserve in the hope of catching up with the likes of Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Hobby etc. Luckily the Osprey’s put on a great show with at least 3 visiting, fishing and feeding in the Middlebere Channel by mid-afternoon. On the Brownsea Lagoon counts consisted of 820 Oystercatcher, 17 Curlew, 105 Redshank, 8 Spotted Redshank, 21 Greenshank, 10 Common Sandpiper, 3 Knot, 5 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Little Stint, 60 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, 2 Sanderling, 8 Ringed Plover, 45 Avocet, c200 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Spoonbill and a Wheatear on the sea wall. At Lytchett Fields there were singles of Wood Sandpiper and Little Stint with a flyover Osprey and Marsh Harrier there too. 

Osprey – Middlebere nesting platform 

To watch in HD click on cog shaped symbol and select 1080

Green Sandpiper – Middlebere pools in front of hide

To watch in HD click on cog shaped symbol and select 1080

There were at least 3 Osprey in the harbour today with 3 seen together at Middlebere but later in the day 3 off Swineham Point in the Wareham Channel so possibly even up to 6 present buts its more likely some of these consisted of the same birds. At Lytchett Fields there was 1 Knot, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 18 Green Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 3 Ringed Plover, 25+ Dunlin and 4 Greenshank, whilst a ringing session at Lytchett Bay was pretty quiet with just a handful of Reed and Sedge Warbler and a single Cetti’s Warbler. On the Brownsea Lagoon there was at least 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank and 11 Spoonbill. 

Cetti’s Warbler – Lytchett Bay

We also paid a visit to Littlesea, Studland where we met with the National Trust Purbeck team to look at the new Tern Rafts that we’ve had built to help expand Poole Harbours Common and Sandwich Tern colonies. These will be completed and set in place in time for next springs returning breeding terns. This was a joint project between both organisations and funding from Birds of Poole Harbour came from money raised through our monthly field trips schedule and our Dorset Discovery wildlife tours. 

New Tern rafts – Littlesea – Studland

The good vibes from yesterday continued in to today when the Aquatic Warbler was found again at Lytchett Fields, this time viewable from one of the viewpoints giving people the opportunity to visit throughout the day, although the bird only showed intermittently but still, this is the first ‘watchable’ Aquatic Warbler in Poole Harbour for decades! There was a good mix of waders for people to enjoy too whilst waiting for the Aquatic to rear its head with 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 2 Ruff, 10+ Green Sandpiper, 1 Knot and the usual common waders. The Middlebere Osprey show really got going about 10:20am when 4 were soaring on a thermal together for a short while before all splitting off and heading to different directions. One of the Osprey now seems quite faithful to the nesting platform and returns to it on and off throughout the day which is great news for visitors in Middlebere, the raptor hide at Arne and up on Coombe Heath. Up on Hartland there were c80 Yellow Wagtail in the cow fields with several Whitethroat about too. On the Brownsea Lagoon there was still at least 1 Curlew Sandpiper and 8 Spoonbill.

Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – Mike Davidson

Osprey – Middlebere – Barbara Bisset

Today was one of those really special autumn days that seem to come around only once or twice a year. It started of when local patch birder Ian Ballam found an ‘in the field’ Aquatic Warbler at Lytchett Fields. The bird its self is rare enough, but with almost all observations of this species in the UK consisting of mist netted individuals, to get such high quality photos of one not in someone’s hand was a job well done. Unfortunately it flew and wasn’t seen for the rest of the day. The status of Aquatic Warbler in a global context is that it is now classed as critically endangered mainly due to loss of suitable breeding habitat in eastern Europe, and as a result it has become equally rare as an autumn migrant in the UK. CLICK HERE to view the status of Aquatic Warbler in a Poole Harbour context.

Aquatic Warbler – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Aquatic Warbler – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Aquatic Warbler – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

There was another special and historic moment today when one of the juvenile Middlebere Osprey’s landed on the converted nesting platform for the first time ever, where it quite happily fed on a fish for several hours. This is significant as it means the birds are possibly identifying and recognising the platform as a nest and see it as a safe place to eat. This in turn could mean they remember this on their return journey north in a few years and may wish to stay and breed? There are obviously many if’s and but’s but it’s a very positive response to the man made structure.

Osprey – Middlebere nesting platform – Jason Fathers

Osprey – Middlebere nesting platform – Barbara Bisset

Whilst the 2 Middlebere Osprey chilled out and ate fish it seemed a third was causing havoc over in the Holes Bay/Upton CP area, upsetting the 250+ roosting Black-tailed Godwits and 1 Common Sandpiper. At Lytchett Fields a supporting cast of 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 4 Ruff, 43 Dunlin, 40+ Redshank, 300+ Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 1 Knot, 3 Ringed Plover, 15+ Green Sandpiper, 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull and a Peregrine Falcon. Up on Ballard Down a night sound recording session was held from 1am – 5:30am in the hope of trying to piece together this Ortolan Bunting phenomenon, which unfortunately didn’t come to fruition as the only birds sound recorded going over in the dark were 2 Tree Pipit, 2 Robins and 1 Ringed Plover. However, birding around Ballard at dawn was more productive with 9 Tree Pipit, 3 Wheatear, 1 Redstart, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Whitethroat, 10 Yellow Wagtail and 10+ Chiffchaff. However, there was more news from Nick Hopper who was night sound recording from Stoborough, near Arne and he had another 2 Ortolan Bunting over the course of the night! We’re definitely just at the tip of the iceberg with this bizarre discovery at the moment but as we mentioned a few days ago, we aim to try and link all this data up with field observations too and more night monitoring. 

The Osprey interest is building with 2 individuals using the dead trees at Middlebere for most of the day, one even looked as if it was going to use the nesting platform but decided to ditch it at the last minute. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 11 Spoonbill, 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 4 Spotted Redshank, 2 Ringed Plover, 5 Greenshank, 2 Knot and a Peregrine. At Lytchett Fields there were 2 Ruff, 2 Little Stint, 30 Dunlin, 2 Greenshank, 15+ Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 31 Redshank, 50+ Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Yellow Wagtails and 20+ Chiffchaff around the site. Despite the urban setting, Poole Town Centre can be great for migrants, you just needed to know where to look.  In the scrub around Holes Bay north there was 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 6 Blackcap and 10+ Chiffchaff, on the bit of rough ground behind Kerry Foods there was a Redstart, 4 Blackcap, 10 Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat and out on the Twin Sails site 2 Wheatear and a Whitethroat.

A stiller, calmer day produced a selection of migrants from various locations. At Swineham 7 Yellow Wagtail were in with the cattle opposite the entrance to Swineham Farm, also 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler and several Chiffchaff and Reed Warbler still about. At Holton Heath there were still 6+ Spotted Flycatcher about along with a post breeding flock of 11 Mistle Thrush feeding on Rowan Berries. At Middlebere there were 2 Osprey feeding together in the trees at Middlebere, one even looked as if it was going to perch up on the nesting platform opposite the Middlebere hide but at the last minute decided not to. On Lytchett Fields there was an arrival of Ruff with 5 by late evening along side 2 Little Stint still and a nice selection of Common and Green Sandpipers, Common Snipe, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Lapwing. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 10 Spoonbill, 30+ Avocet, 1 Spotted Redshank and 7 Greenshank.

We also placed on social media this evening that after analysing all our night recordings from August 22^nd to 26^th its likely we may have had a passing of Ortolan Bunting each night over the five nights, including 3 likely pass overs on the night of the 24^th.  If you combine this info with the news that Nick Hopper had 4 over Portland on the night of Aug 24^th then it seems something very interesting is going on with this species at night during the latter part of August. Our recordings between August 22^nd and 26^th consist of several different call types ranging from full sequences of flight calls to just singular calls although all are distinct and seem to be consistent with Ortolan Bunting. We’ll continue our night recording sessions throughout the autumn combined with field observation work too to see if we can experience and gain more evidence of this phenomenon.

Spotted Flycatcher – Swineham – Peter Moore

Common Whitethroat – Swineham – Peter Moore

Sedge Warbler – Swineham – Peter Moore

Reed Warbler – Swineham – Peter Moore

With the SW wind settled for a few days now, migrants are becoming harder to come by. At Lytchett Fields 2 Little Stint, 2 Ringed Plover, 4 Greenshank, 44 Dunlin, 1 Whimbrel and 1 Knot were the pick of the bunch on an early round. A corking adult male Redstart was on Holton Lee heath whilst in Holes Bay there were 204 Black-tailed Godwit, 165 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Knot, 2 Snipe and 6 Ringed Plover along with 1 Little Grebe back for ‘the winter’ 21 Little Egret, 125 Teal, 2 Raven and a Spotted Flycatcher. Night recording has been very quiet since last weeks bonanza night with just a handful of Tree Pipit, Robin and the odd wader in recent nights, what we really need is another dark, dank and wet still night like last Thursday to bring the birds down to an audible level. The Osprey was feeding on a fish again in the dead trees at Middlebere.