Again Brownsea held some nice birds as the Black Tern remained moving from one resting spot to another for most of the day. 2 Knot, 2 Spotted Redshank and the Ruff were all viewable from the lower hide on the lagoon too. At Lytchett Fields a Yellow Wagtail passed over and an early male Merlin dashed through with other falcons including a Hobby and a Peregrine passing over too also 17 Green Sandpiper, 53 Lapwing, 8 Greenshank, 17 Dunlin, 668 Black-tailed Godwit and the usual Redshank, Black-headed Gulls. At Arne a Marsh Tit has been visiting the feeders for the last few days, which is nowadays quite a rare occurrence! 

The Brownsea Lagoon catered for nice range of species today which were all at some point over the course of the day viewable on our Lagoon Webcam. The Black Tern was settled on ‘The Boomerang’ sand bar in the center of the lagoon for part of the afternoon. Down in front of the lower hide 2 Knot, 1 Ruff and 1 Curlew Sandpiper were feeding and roosting with 20+ Redshank, 30+ Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank and 2 Spotted Redshank. In Holes Bay there were 3 Garden Warbler again in scrub and at the Twin Sails Bridge the Wheatear was present again. At Lytchett Fields 500+ Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Common Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, 12 Dunlin, 7 Greenshank, 1 Marsh Harrier, 8 Sedge Warbler and 10+ Willow Warbler were noted. At Hamworthy Park 8 Turnstone were on the Pier and 14 Swift passed overhead. 

Curlew Sandpiper – Screen grab from Brownsea Lagoon webcam

Black Tern – Screen grab from Brownsea Lagoon webcam

These constant SW winds aren’t doing us any favors in terms of bringing migrating birds in off the continent with no species like Wood Sandpiper recorded in the harbour yet so far. However our first Osprey of the autumn passed over Sandford mid afternoon heading towards the harbour so keep an eye out around the Wareham Channel area. The Black Tern was again on the Brownsea Lagoon moving about with Common Tern group and 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Avocet, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Turnstone, 3 Greenshank and 2 Knot were also on the lagoon. A co-ordinated count at Lytchett Fields for Green Sandpiper hit 20 which is a new site record and a Knot was also on site with 4 Common Sandpiper, 9 Greenshank, 10 Dunlin and 536 Black-tailed Godwit. In scrub at Holes Bay north a Garden Warbler and 4 Willow Warbler were feeding with 5+ Blackcap.

Green Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

There was a nice little run of autumn migrants this morning with 3 Garden Warbler, 5 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler and a Common Sandpiper in Holes Bay north. At the Twin Sails bridge the first Wheatear of the autumn was playing on the road. Night recording last night from our Old Town Poole Listening station revealed 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover and a Redshank. From Hamworthy Park 7 Turnstone were back on the Old Pier at the western end, 20+ Swift passed overhead and plenty of Common and Sandwich Tern feeding out in central harbour. At Lytchett Fields there were still high numbers of Black-tailed Godwit with around 500 on Sherford Pools along with 9 Greenshank, 9 Snipe, 8 Green Sandpiper, 11 Dunlin and 1 Common Sandpiper.

Wheatear – Twin Sails Bridge, Poole

Garden Warbler covered in Blackberry juice! – Poole Harbour north

Autumn juvenile Willow Warbler (Top) and Chiffchaff (Bottom)

There was a really nice mix of birds today including the first Black Tern of the autumn which went past Pilots Point, Studland and in through the harbour mouth with 2 Whimbrel in Brands Bay and several Willow Warbler in that general area too. From Coombe Heath, Arne there was a single Spoonbill in the Middlebere channel with 3 Avocet, while on Brownsea there were a further 7 Avocet and 4 Spotted Redshank. At Lytchett Fields a Common Sandpiper was ringed along with 9 Sedge Warbler and 10 Reed Warbler and on Lytchett Fields 617 Black-tailed Godwit 3 Little Ringed Plover, 18 Dunlin, 10+ Common Sandpiper, 4+ Greenshank, 5+ Green Sandpiper, 6 Snipe and loads of Redshank and Lapwing. At Swineham there were 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Willow Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler, 3 Cetti’s Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler and 6 Reed Bunting. A night sound recording session from our listening station in Old Town Poole produced 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Redshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin and plenty of calling Oystercatcher. 

Common Sandpiper – Lytchett Bay – Shaun Robson

Willow Warbler – Holton Heath

At Holton Heath some passerine passage was in evidence as 2 Willow Warbler and4 Spotted Flycatcher were seen feeding together in dead trees near the train station. On Holton Pools there were 7 Greenshank, whilst on Lytchett Fields a great count of 14 Green Sandpiper was almost knocking on the ‘record count’ door, but not quite as 4 Greenshank, 7 Common Sandpiper and 500+ Black-tailed Godwit were also counted. 

At Lytchett Fields the wader theme continued as 1 Little Ringed Plover, 8 Common Sandpiper, 5 Green Sandpiper, 13 Dunlin and 2 Greenshank were noted as the highlights in amongst the Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Lapwing. A night sound recording session at Holton Lee as part of the Big Wild Sleep Out included 1 Woodlark, 1 Greenshank, 3 Oystercatcher, a Curlew flock, 1 Nightjar and a Tawny Owl.

Sightings a bit thin on the ground today other than a few more signs of autumn with the first Garden Warbler of the season ringed in Poole Harbour north with 6 juv Blackcap and 4 juv Chiffchaff. At Lytchett Fields; Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed godwit, Lapwing, Redshank, Little Ringed Plover and Snipe were all recorded. On the Brownsea Lagoon 5 Spotted Redshank were present with 13 Avocet and a Knot.

Juvenile male Blackcap going through post-juvenile moult – Poole Harbour north

First Garden Warbler of the autumn – Poole Harbour north

A slightly slower day compared to recent days with 1 Knot and 5 Spotted Redshank on the Brownsea Lagoon and rising numbers of Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank. On Lytchett Fields there were 4 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and the usual spread of Redshank, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit.