A nice mixture of birds today with what was the springs first ‘proper’ fall of migrants. An Osprey drifted over the Arne car park late afternoon, and 2 Spoonbill were in Middlebere. At Lytchett Fields there were 2 (possibly 3) Little Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 5 Gadwall, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 singing Blackcap and still around 200 Teal. At Studland there were 11 Wheatear at Greenlands and 4 at South Haven, 5 Swallow through north and 2 Willow Warbler. Up on Old Harry there was 10 Wheatear, 7 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 10 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 1 House Martin and a Red Kite.

Today we hopefully saw the last of that chilly northerly wind…well, for a little while at least. It all but killed off any passage with only a tiny handful of Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin being reported from Swineham, Lytchett Fields and Studland. A Serin found singing in Corfe was undoubtedly todays highlight, but was only seen by the lucky finder. Whether this was a quick migrant stopping off or a possible loiterer we don’t know but I assume someone will be checking in the milder weather tomorrow. On Brownsea there were 4 Spotted Redshank, 1 Spoonbill, 3 Greenshank, 6 Knot, 13 Grey Plover, 400 Black-tailed Godwit, 40 Bar-tailed Godwit, 72 Med Gulls, 22 Sandwich Tern and 6 Avocet.  The Great Grey Shrike was again on Godlingston.

I also had another Water Rail migrating over my garden last night (two in two nights), this time producing a clearer, slightly louder call.

Second Water Rail – Flight call of a night time migrant – Lytchett Matravers

Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who entered our competition that was set at the beginning of the week, many of you entered and a good range of species were guessed, but in the end, after todays random draw we’re pleased to announce that the winner is John Keates from Poole who correctly guessed Black-headed Gull, Med Gull, Shelduck, Turnstone and Black-tailed Godwit.

Spring stepped up a notch today with an obvious movement of migrants. This included a large movement of Meadow Pipits right across the county with groups ranging in size from 2-20 as they passed overhead. At Lytchett Fields today there was another Little Ringed Plover plus 3 Spoonbill, 4 Gadwall, 2 Greenshank and 12 Pied Wagtail were present. At Studland a few Sand Martin came in off the sea as did a single Swallow and the Great Grey Shrike was still at Godlingston.

After analysing some more garden night time recordings, I was thrilled to discover (thanks to some help from Magnus Robb at the Sound Approach) that a sound that I originally thought was a Barn Owl was in fact a Water Rail flying over. Interestingly this call came less than an hour after the Moorhen call in the same night, so maybe there was a small concentrated movement of rails/crakes that night in the area…who knows???

Water Rail – Flight calls of a night time migrant – Lytchett Matravers

A few more summer migrants arrived into the UK today with both Reed and Sedge Warbler, Yellow Wagtail and a handful of Willow Warbler all recorded. Still pretty tough going locally, but I think that’s mainly down to a lack of coverage rather than no birds.

I continued my night-time recording efforts last night and was thrilled to get a garden tick when a Moorhen passed right over my garden at 3am. This is pretty incredible considering I live in rural Lytchett with no body of water for a few miles. In the recording you can hear the bird approach, then pass right overhead and then move on again.

Moorhen – Flight calls of a nocturnal migrant

The strong wind kept the birds at bay again, but a report of 2 Whitethroat at Arne RSPB reserve would certainly be the first of the spring. A Spoonbill and a Marsh Harrier was at Lytchett Bay. Why not have a go at our completion by following the below link and take a guess of the 5 species of bird in the screen grab from our  Brownsea webcam today….

http://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds-poole-harbour-competition-0

It’s been a tough couple of days bird wise with spring migration coming to a complete halt, and many of our winter birds having left resulting in ZERO sightings being reported. So, to spice things up a bit we’re going to host a competition this week which will give you the chance to win a copy of ‘Catching the Bug‘ a guide to the birds of Poole Harbour, written by local publishing company, The Sound Approach.

All you have to do is email us at info@birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk and name the 5 species of bird that appear in the screen grab below, taken yesterday from our Brownsea webcam . All correct answers will go into a hat, and a winner will be drawn at random this Friday afternoon.

GOOD LUCK! 

This weekend has almost been a total right off with strong winds and quite a bit of drizzle/rain. Our March field trip, which was held yesterday at Studland was tough going, but we managed a few nice birds with Peregrine, Stonechats, Reed Buntings, Fieldfares, Grey Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Pintail, Brent Goose, Great Crested Grebe and Chiffchaff all noted. Today was the Poole Harbour WeBS count and the big area of low pressure kept the tide high, not revealing much mud to count waders. Holes Bay still had reasonable counts of Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Redshank, and I then popped over to Baiter afterwards and counted c200 Brent Geese still, then decided to do a short sea watch from North Haven watching out towards Old Harry and out in Poole Bay, where 3 Purple Sandpiper were still present on the groynes, 1 Great Northern Diver was in Poole Bay along with 2 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Gannet were active fishing, 2 Kittiwake passed and a Common Scoter passed west. The Great White Egret was out in Brands Bay again and 2 ringtail Hen Harrier were present on Arne Moors. Highlights from the Brownsea Lagoon included 2 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 75 Black-tailed & 17 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Sandwich Tern and a Med Gull. A gull roost count on the lagoon last night produced 400 Herring, 150 Great Black-backed Gull, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Common Gulls, 45 Meds and 11 Sandwich Tern.

Not wanting to be a copy-cat too much, but I have been inspired by Nick Hoppers and the Portland Obs recent nighttime recording shenanigans, so have been setting my equipment up in my garden recently on calm, windless nights. I have only done two full nights recording so far, but I am already fully addicted and I am constantly keeping fingers crossed for decent weather at the moment. Having a set up that monitors an entire nights activity over one location is a hugely insightful project and I have already captured a good range of sounds in the first two nights alone. Waders, wildfowl, owls, thrushes, passerines, rails even gulls and corvids all call/move at night so over a period of time you could record pretty much anything! Below are three sounds you would pretty much expect at this time of year as birds depart, and I have also included the sonagram for each sound too.

Redwing – Flight call of nocturnal migrant – Lytchett Matravers

Blackbird – Flight call of nocturnal migrant – Lytchett Matravers

Song Thrush – Flight call of nocturnal migrant – Lytchett Matravers

I’m not quite sure where march has gone, it seems only yesterday I was getting excited about the first Wheatears and Sand Martins arrive and now we’re almost in Reed Warbler and Cuckoo time territory!!  There has been some nice birds of note over the last couple of days including a Red Kite over Hatch Pond today, also there, 7 Common Snipe and several singing Chiffchaff. At RSPB Lytchett Fields yesterday (and today) there were 6 Spoonbill, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 4 Gadwall, 2 Lapwing, 1 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Kestrel hunting. Along Soldiers Road there were 2 Woodlark feeding close to the road edge, also 1 Peregrine, 1 Hen Harrier and a rubicola type Stonechat on Slepe Heath.

I also ventured down to RSPB Lytchett Fields yesterday since the new signage was put in place and I have to say, the site is looking great. If you haven’t heard or don’t now about this new footpath then you can read about it HERE. Below are a couple of photos of the new viewing areas.

IMPORTANT – If you’re booked on to tomorrows walk at Studland then it is still going ahead. However, due to the forecast, we understand if you don’t wish to attend.

Lytchett Bay came up trumps again today with a drake Garganey out on the water. Unfortunately it didn’t stay around too long, but it could easily reappear on Lytchett Fields, however there were 5 Spoonbill present roosting in the bay. A Willow Warbler was heard singing at Baiter yesterday. AT North Haven a Wheatear was on the rocks, along with a Purple Sandpiper and 50 Med Gulls out in Whitley Lake. There was also a Wheatear at Shell Bay, 1 Spoonbill, 12 Gadwall, 17 Sanderling, 76 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit and 15 Turnstone in Bramble Bush Bay. The Great White Egret was on Littlesea again and 3 pairs of Stonechat were on Greenlands Farm. On Brownsea there were 106 Med Gulls, 1 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 12 Sandwich Tern, 2 Turnstone, 2 Pintail, 2 Firecrest, 2 Buzzard and 2 Raven. A Bittern was seen flying along the Frome Valley near Swineham this evening, 2 Hen Harrier and a Merlin were present in the west of the harbour near Stoborough Heath.

Apologise for the lack of updates, I’ve been in Holland for the last three days on business and of course birding. Great find of Goshawk over South Haven, Studland yesterday that did 2 passes over the area. A Jack Snipe was also present which was new for the site this year and the Great White Egret remains. On Friday last week the harbours first Little Ringed Plover was on the new Lytchett Fields, along with up to 8 Spoonbill, 1 Red Kite north, 6 Greenshank and 1 Spotted Redshank. South Haven also saw a bit of vis-mig with small numbers of Bullfinch, Siskin, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet and Chaffinch as well as a few alba Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Reed Bunting. Also 15 Sanderling and 3 Black-necked Grebe were off Middle Beach.