Another bright sunny day in the harbour which seemed to bring a big arrival of Swift into the harbour. 2 flew over our Spring Safari Cruise this morning in the central harbour and then a flock of c30 were flying around Swineham/Wareham. The Forster’s Tern was on the Brownsea Lagoon again, even further into it’s summer plumage making it tricky to pick out, looking more and more like a Common Tern.  1 juvenile Little Gull was also on the Lagoon this morning along with 7 Avocet and 8 Bar-tailed Godwit. There were 2 Osprey fishing between the Wareham Channel and Middlebere and 1 in Lytchett Bay. 4 Spoonbill flew from Swineham into the Wareham Channel. 2 Whimbrel were off the Shipstal shoreline. 1 of the immature White-tailed Eagles flew over the Osprey viewing platform from one of our Carey Osprey Tours this afternoon and another adult was seen over Corfe Common. 1 Spotted Redshank was at Lytchett Fields along with 7 Greenshank,  6 Whimbrel, 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Cuckoo that flew across towards Holton. The first Lesser Whitethroat of the year was behind the Turlin Screen in Lytchett Bay and 2 Whimbrel were in front. 1 Yellow Wagtail was in the farm fields with cows at RSPB Arne.

Immature White-tailed Eagle – Careys Secret Garden from our Carey Osprey Tour – Alison Copland

Lots of Osprey sightings in and around the harbour today with an unringed male seen fishing in Lytchett Bay, a ringed English/Welsh female in the Wareham Channel seen from our Spring Safari Cruise catching a fish and another male Osprey later in the Wareham Channel. So at least 2 possibly 3 active Osprey other than the local nesting pair. From the boat this morning we also had 2 Ruff in the mouth of the River Frome, at least 4 Bearded Tit, 1 Spoonbill, 1 Red Kite and 2 Marsh Harrier at Swineham. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were still c10 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank and 3 Avocet. Sandwich Tern and Common Tern numbers were really building here too. On Hydes Heath at RSPB Arne 1 Cuckoo was present along with 1 Hobby and 1 White-tailed Eagle seen early afternoon. 10-12 Whimbrel were in Holes Bay and a total of 22 singing Reed Warbler around the bay and Upton CP. 33 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Wigeon and 1 Avocet were still in Holes Bay too. 2 Whimbrel were in the Middlebere Channel.

Unringed male Osprey – Lytchett Bay – Mark Wright

Spring migration is in full swing with many areas of the harbour getting lively!

The Forster’s Tern showed at Lytchett Bay, now beginning to moult into summer plumage, the best way of spotting it amongst the Common Tern is the whiteness of it’s upper parts.

Also at Lytchett Bay, 2 Little Gull, 2 Spotted Redshank, 9 Greenshank, 7 Ringed Plover, 7 Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 183+ Black-tailed Godwit, Cuckoo, Osprey catching a fish, 2 Wheatear and a Sedge Warbler.

Good numbers of other migrants have now arrived around the harbour with 4 Blackcap and 4 Whitethroat at Whitecliff.

Little Gull – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Apologies for the delay in getting today’s sightings online. Exciting news from the Osprey nest this afternoon with CJ7 laying her 4th egg of the season at 13:23. This will be her final egg in the clutch – only around 1% of UK Osprey nests usually have four eggs, with three being the standard clutch size, so we’re fortunate to have four for a second year running. We expect the eggs to hatch from the 20th May onwards, usually staggered over several days as with the laying.

Plenty of Osprey activity elsewhere, with a ringed individual reported over the Wareham Channel this afternoon (most likely 022).  2 Osprey were reported in Lytchett Bay, along with 1 White-tailed Eagle, 1 Peregrine, 1 Marsh Harrier, 12 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank and 3 Whimbrel. 1 Osprey and 2 White-tailed Eagle were over Lytchett Fields, with 3 Whimbrel, 5 Ringed Plover, 1 Curlew, 50 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank and 12 Greenshank. Over at RSPB Arne, 1 White-tailed Eagle, 2 Whimbrel and 2 Spoonbill were seen, with the Forster’s Tern at Shipstal Point. There was a singing Grasshopper Warbler reported at South Haven at Studland this morning. 4 Whimbrel were present in Holes Bay.

CJ7 with the clutch of four eggs

A better bank holiday Monday than anticipated with the early rain and cloud cover bringing with it a number of Whinchat dropping in to south Dorset. There was 1 at Stoborough Heath as well as outside the harbour boundary, with individuals at St Aldhelms and Durlston Head. 1 Cuckoo was also at Stoborough Heath along with 1 male Wheatear. 1 Hobby was hunting over Hartland Moor. At Lytchett Fields passing Greenshank numbers were up to 9 along with 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Green Sandpiper and 1 Ringed Plover in amongst c20 Dunlin. This evening the first Common Swift of the year was over Wareham Common and 32 Cattle Egret flew over there at dawn.

The first 2-year old Osprey of the season appeared on the Careys Nest today, sadly not one of ours, but in fact yet another Rutland female from the 2023 Manton Bay nest ‘3H3’ !!

There was another Common Crane movement/arrival with a group of 3 heading down the Piddle Valley this afternoon followed by another single individual which all headed SE towards Swineham. Whether they landed or not is anyones guess but they were definitely heading south with purpose. There was a late Fieldfare at Greenlands Farm yesterday afternoon and Whimbrel are now being logged in pretty much every low tide area, but still in small numbers of just twos and threes currently. Other passage migrants were a bit thin on the ground but a single Common Sandpiper was in Lytchett Bay, 1 Spotted Redshank was in the Wareham Channel and c25 Bar-tailed Godwits passed out in Poole Bay past Branksome Chine.

Whimbrel – Middlebere – Mark Wright

A much better day than originally forecast with rain coming in first thing but bright sunshine by the afternoon. Never be put off by the forecast though as we had no rain(!) for our Spring Safari Cruise and some great species like 1 Little Tern that appeared briefly in the Wareham Channel, heading towards central harbour. Also 2 stunning summer plumage Spotted Redshank were in the mouth of the River Frome along with still c400 Black-tailed Godwit in the Wareham Channel. There was 1 2nd calendar year Spoonbill which flew through the Wareham Channel, eventually ending up on the Brownsea Lagoon with another 3 in Middlebere all day. Up to 7 Little Ringed Plover were  across both river valleys at Swineham along with 2 Whimbrel. 1 Red Kite flew from Hamworthy towards RSPB Arne and you can see our full species list from the trip here. There were also 5 Whimbrel in Lytchett Bay from Lytchett Bay View and a Wheatear and Sedge Warbler at Lytchett Fields.

In other exciting news, CJ7 laid her 3rd egg at the Careys Secret Garden Nest at 14:32. Will we have a 4th egg this season? We’ll have to wait until Tuesday to find out when the next egg would be due!

CJ7 with 3 Eggs this afternoon