With a minor break in the weather last night and this morning, some birds managed to migrate during the night, before the cloud and rain settled in mid-morning. The ringing station in the Lower Piddle Valley, at Carey saw another push of Sedge Warbler with 46 ringed along with 6 Grasshopper Warbler, 5 Willow Warbler and an unexpected Hobby in the mist nets. Some of the Sedge Warbler were storing large amounts of fat, with most weighing about 11.0g, but this morning several were 17.0g and one even weighed 20.0g. This afternoon at Lytchett Fields there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 30 Greenshank, 6 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper and small numbers of Common Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. Our Osprey Cruises delivered again today, despite the wind and infrequent showers, with 2-4 Osprey in and around the Wareham Channel, 1 White-tailed Eagle on Gold Point, RSPB Arne and visits to Brownsea logged c55 Spoonbill, c150 Ringed Plover, c15 Avocet and a few remaining Sandwich and Common Terns. At the Sunnyside Farm screen/scrape (which has recently been cut and is looking good) there were 4 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Green Sandpiper and 1 Wheatear. Wader numbers in Holes Bay are building nicely with 352 Redshank, 301 Black-tailed Godwit, 34 Curlew, 26 Oystercatcher and 6 Dunlin logged today, plus 1 Greenshank and 1 Common Sandpiper in the SE sector.

Adult male Eurasian Hobby – Lower Piddle Valley, Carey – Ed Betteridge

Adult male Eurasian Hobby – Lower Piddle Valley, Carey – Ed Betteridge

The morning and afternoon Osprey cruises proved to be eventful and plentiful. 4 Ospreys were observed in the morning, one catching a large flatfish before then dropping it! During the afternoon trip, up to 6 individual Ospreys were seen, 4 managing to catch a fish despite the slightly choppy water conditions.

A White-tailed Eagle was seen first thing in the morning from the Ham Common pop-up event. It was chasing an Osprey that had caught a fish. Both birds disappeared behind trees so the ending of the chase is unknown! Later in the day, a White-ailed Eagle was seen distantly over Round Island.

A Marsh Harrier was spotted flying over Ham Common, numbers of these birds are gradually rising as visiting birds arrive for the winter. Elsewhere, other migrant birds are increasing in number with the first Shoveler (4) seen for a long while and Teal numbers now at 10 in the Wareham Channel and over 150 on the Brownsea lagoon.

Brownsea lagoon is getting busy with an impressive 210 Ringed Plover counted, 23 Avocet (these are likely to rise significantly very soon), 52 Spoonbill (with at least 4 Dutch ringed individuals)3 Curlew, 74 Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 158 Dunlin, and singles of Sanderling, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit. On the lagoon wall, 2 Wheatear stood keeping watch while a group of 11 Common Sandpiper roosted on the northern shore of Brownsea Island.

Ospreys continue to be observed in Lytchett Bay, a couple of Tree Pipit, 20 Goldfinch and 2 Reed bunting also seen here.

An unringed Osprey in Lytchett Bay – Peter Corbin

Yesterday, 55 White Stork were reported heading East, flying over Dorchester. One report came in today that the flock was seen over Worgret yesterday at 15:30pm. Today, there was 1 White Stork that was seen from our Osprey Cruise this afternoon in the Wareham Channel that then tracked north and was seen over Wareham Forest. We also saw 2 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel this afternoon and of course plenty of Osprey, including a Scottish Ringed bird from 2020 235 (pictured below). There were 2 Spotted Redshank and 16 Greenshank seen from Lytchett Fields and 1 Osprey was perched in the trees behind. In the Middlebere Channel there were 14 Spoonbill this evening, as well as 2 Knot, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshank and 1 flyover of White-tailed Eagle G466 while being dive-bombed by 1 Osprey.

Unringed Osprey from our Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Scottish Osprey 235 from our Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 from our Osprey Cruise today – Martin Wright

White-tailed Eagle and Little Egrets from our Osprey Cruise today – Martin Wright

Ospreys are dominating the sightings across the harbour with three seen in Lytchett Bay, one having caught a sizeable fish and another photographed and appearing to be 5H3. It’s great that this individual continues to be seen around the harbour, hopefully he’ll attempt to establish a breeding territory next year. Lytchett fields also had a single Whimbrel and Greenshank.

Middlebere also had a hunting Osprey on the rising tide with another spotted over Coombe heath, interacting briefly with a Common Buzzard.

At Arne there were signs of the ongoing autumn migration with a few of the first returning Teal. Also, singles of Shelduck, Spoonbill and a Sparrowhawk. Three Green Woodpecker also observed. This species has taken a dive in recent years in south Dorset but currently it seems they’re having a better breeding season.

Female White-tailed Eagle, G466, was as usual, harassed as soon as she took flight. This time an Oystercatcher provided consistent mobbing even after she’d landed on the Arne shoreline.

Male Osprey 5H3 over Lytchett Bay – Peter Corbin

Oystercatcher chasing White-tailed Eagle (G466) – Arne – kayakpoole@bsky.social

A stunning day in the harbour with up to 8 Osprey seen in the Wareham Channel during our Osprey Cruises, including 2 juveniles! At one point we had 5 Ospreys all flying together with both White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 looking on from their favourite tree. Also seen were 3 Bearded Tit in the mouth of the River Frome, c60 Curlew, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 200 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Common Buzzard, and 2 Marsh Harrier. 1 Spoonbill was feeding in the Rock Lea Channel in Lytchett Bay, with 25 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 53 Black-tailed Godwit also in Lytchett Bay. 1 Wryneck was still present at Sugar Hill in the Wareham Forest, alongside 1 Hobby, 8 Spotted Flycatcher and 25 Willow Warbler.

Spotted Flycatcher – Sugar Hill – @borneokirb.bsky.social

Osprey – Wareham Channel – @alisoncopland.bsky.social

Sandwich Terns – Wareham Channel – @rosekate.bsky.social

Another beautiful day with Osprey sightings pretty much constant all day. It seemed like a few had left, and in fact we even saw one leave on migration from this afternoons Osprey cruise as it circled up to great height over the Wareham Channel before then making a bee-line south towards the Purbeck ridge. There were at least 7-8 present for the most part of the day though with individuals spread across Lytchett Bay, the Wareham Channel and Middlebere. Female White-tailed Eagle G466 was soaring high above the Wareham Channel too this afternoon and there were 2 Marsh Harrier at Swineham. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 170+ Ringed Plover, 100 + Dunlin and 47 Spoonbill. 

Osprey – Middlebere – Mark Wright

A lovely sunny day with multiple Osprey sightings across the harbour, including adults and juveniles from the Carey nest. Lytchett Bay has been very productive so far this migration season, with 1 unringed adult catching a fish and heading towards Holton Lee seen from Rock Lea Viewpoint and 1 juvenile practice-diving this morning. 1 adult, likely 022 or CJ7 was seen heading up the Piddle Valley towards the Carey nest. 5R3 managed to venture from the Carey nest today and was seen in the Middlebere Channel. During our Osprey Cruise this afternoon we had up to 6 Osprey including at least 1 juvenile. At one point 3 were seen together, with the two adults both with a fish! On the exposed mud in the Wareham Channel were 2 Spoonbill, c200 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Greenshank as well as 1 juvenile Peregrine Falcon flying quickly over the Arne shoreline. 1 Great White Egret was also seen earlier in the Wareham Channel. At RSPB Lytchett Fields today there were 2 Spotted Redshank including 1 fresh-in juvenile, 2 Wheatear, and 2 Tree Pipit. The Wood Sandpiper seen yesterday on French’s Pool was back this evening alongside 8 Common Sandpiper and 17 Green Sandpiper.

Osprey with fish – Coombe Heath – @dizzygirl66.bsky.social

Juvenile Osprey from Carey Nest 5R3 – Middlebere Channel – Mark Wright

The first (visual) Wood Sandpiper of the autumn was seen today on Sherford Pools at Lytchett Fields and a Little Stint was on there this evening, plus 1 Spotted Redshank was still in the bay as well. There were several sightings of Osprey in Lytchett Bay throughout the day, as well as an individual at Newton Bay. At Middlebere there were at least 3 Osprey active and at least one of these birds was ringed. Also present was 1 Great White Egret and 16 Spoonbill before the peak of the high tide. 1 Redstart was seen at Parkstone cemetery. Numbers of Wheatear sightings are picking up with several individuals at Godlingstone Heath, Greenlands Farm and Studland.

We had another excellent White-tailed Eagle and Osprey chase in the Wareham Channel from our Osprey Cruise this morning as G463 again forced CJ7 to drop her fish. Neither bird ended up with the fish as it fell in to the reeds near Swineham. There were a further 3 Osprey active in the Wareham Channel along with 1 Great White Egret and 2 Spoonbill. On the Brownsea Lagoon 2 Little Tern were new in, with one being an adult and one a juvenile. There were also 1 Knot, 10 Avocet and 32 Spoonbill. Also, for the first time since his return earlier this summer, 2023 juvenile male Osprey 5H3 visited the Carey nest and was soon seen off by this years young female 5H3. Finally, another juvenile Purple Heron was logged for the harbour today, this time at Swineham GP. Whether it’s the same as the juv that was seen at Little Sea, Studland a few weeks ago is unclear, but this species certainly seems to becoming a more regular (almost annual) occurrence now considering they’ve always been an incredibly rare bird for Poole Harbour.

Wood Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields RSPB – Ian Ballam

Brands bay was busy on a rising tide with growing numbers of Teal (11) and Great-crested Grebes (14). 67 Curlew, 104 Black-tailed Godwit and 64 Mediterranean Gulls were also present.

Lytchett Bay had another unringed Osprey this evening plus a second Osprey that took eight attempts to finally catch a fish! 19 Greenshank and 25 Carrion crow were also recorded here.

Hartland moor was busy with autumn migrants this morning with 10 Spotted flycatchers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 4 Woodlark and 1 Redstart. Chiffchaff (10) are beginning to out number Willow warbler (2) as most of the latter would now have migrated.

The Osprey cruises began their morning and afternoon trips today. The morning was on a high tide and 3 Osprey were seen perching in a dead tree on the Arne peninsula. A White-tailed eagle provided distant views as it flew across the Wareham channel. Spoonbill were on the move with 9 seen flying in the Wareham channel and later 36 recorded on the Brownsea lagoon. The Brownsea lagoon had growing numbers of Ringed plover (50), Dunlin and Avocet numbers are now in the 30’s. Two year old male Osprey, 5H3 was also seen and photographed at the mouth of the River Frome.

The afternoon cruise was on a lower tide with good numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, a Greenshank and 6 Great-crested grebes seen in the Wareham channel. A White-tailed eagle briefly flew and landed almost completely camouflaged in a pine tree. Thankfully, a second, more obliging White-tailed Eagle (female G466) was found perched on a low, dead tree. After a few minutes, an adult Osprey was seen mobbing the eagle persistently before heading off to hunt for fish in the Lytchett Bay area. A Peregrine, Hobby and small groups of Whimbrel were also observed whilst cruising around the Wareham channel.

Hobby – Wareham channel – Harry McBride

Greenshank – Wareham channel – Harry McBride

White-tailed Eagle, female G466 – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride