Today saw the harbours first (and hopefully not last) Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn, at the south end of Knoll Beach, Studland.  Sea-watched at Branksome have been fairly quiet, but an Arctic Skua was a nice welcome, along with more and more Brent Geese arriving in small groups. Lytchett Bay has seen a nice mix of birds on the new scrape that’s been created along the lane to the water works, including 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Ruff, 7 Greenshank, 132 Redshank, big numbers of Teal and Wigeon. There were 2 Sandwich Tern out on Baiter during the recent windy weather.  Brownsea Avocet numbers are growing day by day with around 400+ now present, and at least 32 Spoonbill were still on the lagoon. Down at Baiter a nice flock of 25 Turnstone were giving exceptionally close views down to a couple of feet!

During the gales of yesterday morning a sea watch at Branksom Chine came up trumps with 10 Arctic Skua and 2 Pomarine Skua, as well as 2 Arctic Terns, 4 Dunlin and 2 Mediterranean Gull. Great White Egrets were seen in Brands Bay, Lytchett Bay and this morning on the Brownsea Lagoon, all sightings most likely consisting of 2 birds. Also on Brownsea just 16 Spoonbill, a very poor show indeed compared to recent events! The ringtail male Hen Harrier was again over Hartland Moor, this time with a Hobby in tow and a Hobby was over Arne Moors again. Out on Baiter an Arctic Tern was seen hunkering down out of the rain with 2 Common Tern and a Sandwich Tern, along with 26 Ringed Plover, 50+ Dunlin, 10+ Turnstone and 200+ Oystercatcher. Brent Geese are arriving day by day at the moment with around 50 in the harbour so far, with birds gathering in Studland Bay and a few smaller groups venturing into the harbour. There was also a report of a possible Rose Coloured Starling just outside the harbour, around the back of Sandford on the edge of Wareham Forest.

A great day in the harbour today with a whole suit of nice birds to feast your eyes on. Starting off with the two Great White Egrets are still present, and choosing to do mini tours of the southern bays before meeting up at the end of the day to settle down in the Little Egret roost on Littlesea. One was on the Brownsea Lagoon first thing, whilst another was viewable from the Triangle Hide at Littlesea, and then one was feeding out in Brands Bay for a bit around midday. The Spoonbill flock on Brownsea continues to rise with 47 birds now present…will we make 50 this week? The Pectoral Sandpiper was also still at Lytchett Bay on and off throughout the day despite going missing for periods of time. Also at Lytchett Bay were 2 Ruff, 1 Firecrest and a juvenile Garganey.  There were also 2 Firecrest on Brownsea too. The Osprey was active in Brands Bay where a Golden Plover (rare for here) was also found during the WeBS count. On Brownsea lagoon also 373 Avocet, 14 Spotted Redshank, 220 Black-tailed Godwit and 60 Little Egret. 

Great White Egret – Brands Bay – David Whalley

The harbour is buzzing at the moment with three exciting bits of news. Firstly from early this evening when the discovery of Lytchett Bays only second ever Pectoral Sandpiper was found (the last being 22 years ago), which was only just viewable in the darky gloom but still an excellent record. Secondly, one of the recent Great White Egrets found its way on to the Brownsea Lagoon, which meant we could pick it up on the webcam, allowing people at home, work, school to watch the Great White monster! What was even nicer is that for some of the time it chose to hang out with part of the Spoonbill mega flock, which currently consists of 40 birds! This is one of, if not the largest gathering of Spoonbill ever recorded in Britain, so if you get the chance to head out to Brownsea soon, then please do. Elsewhere the ringtail Hen Harrier was up on Hartland Moor and a Hobby was hunting Hirundines over Arne moors. There are currently 5 Brent Geese out in Studland Bay along with 2 Black-necked Grebe still. The Brands Bay Osprey was still present today too.  The Holes Bay winter gang continues to increase with now 514 Wigeon present and 247 Black-tailed Godwit, also 123 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Kingfisher and 31 Curlew there. Forgot to mention that Lytchett Bay also had 3 Ruff yesterday.

With October now upon us it won’t be long before flocks of Redwing can be heard overhead on cold autumn nights and Fieldfare break the morning silence with mischievous chuckling as they arrive from the north. Talking of visitors from the north, the harbour saw a whacky if not slightly dubious arrival on Monday when a dead Red Grouse was washed up on the beach in front of the cottages on Brownsea! Where it came from is anyone’s guess, but the bird was relatively ‘fresh’ and easily identifiable so perhaps an unwanted bird from a local estate? The ringtail Hen Harrier was again present around the Middlebere/Hartland area. Brownsea is holding some really nice totals at the moment including a whopping flock of 39 Spoonbill which can be viewed on our Brownsea webcam. I’m pretty sure we’ll break the 40 mark this week, and who knows…could we possibly even see 50 by mid October? Also on Brownsea 17 Spotted Redshank, 3 Grey Plover, 4 Knot but only 150 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Avocet, indicating that a number of the new arrivals have already moved on to their Middlebere wintering area as there were 1029 Black-tailed Godwit and 354 Avocet at Middlebere yesterday. Also at Middlebere 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, 7 Greenshank, 7 Spotted Redshank, 15 Redshank, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 6 Med Gull, 3 Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine. Out in Brands Bay one of the Great White Egrets was present, also 34 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Osprey, 2 Grey Plover, 210 Black-tailed Godwit, 100 Redshank, 10 Pintail, 4 Whimbrel and 1 Kingfisher. In Holes Bay 5 Ringed Plover and 10 Turnstone were good records, also there 3 Kingfisher, 2 Grey Wagtail and a Common Buzzard. 

Incredible news today in that there was a new Great White Egret at Littlesea, Studland, meaning that there are now two birds choosing to roost in the Little Egret colony on a high tide. Both were seen together this morning, but weren’t seen again for the rest of the day, however chances are that they’ll hopefully be back again tomorrow… maybe even choosing to over-winter? We’ll have to wait and see. I mentioned Jays yesterday, well this morning I had a loose group of 21 high over my house in Lytchett Matravers in the space of a few minuets. Firstly a flock of 4, then 11, then 3 and then 3 again. On your way to work tomorrow, before you get in the car, just take a minute to look up and see if any are flying over your house. A Hobby was hunting over Arne Moors in amongst many, many hundreds of Swallow and House Martin. 

A ringing demo took place at Lytchett Heath, Lytchet Bay this morning which was joint event hosted by Dorset Wildlife Trust and carried out by Stour Ringing Group, of which I am a member of. The event was a brilliant success with all 30 places fully booked and superb range of species caught to show to the interested party. The species list consisted of Grasshopper Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 4 Bearded Tit, Stonechat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting and Blue Tit. Over in Brands Bay the Great White Egret was found again before relocating to Littlesea to roost, also in Brands Bay 1 Osprey, 1 Hen Harrier, 20 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Pintail and 18 Little Egret. At Swineham, good numbers of Chiffchaff and Blackcap plus a few small parties of Bearded Tit. Jays are becoming quite obvious at the moment with numerous birds passing overhead at a number of places, consisting of either local movements or possible migrants from the continent. 

Middlebere was the place to be this morning for raptors with the harbours first Merlin of the autumn putting in an appearance, also the ringtail Hen Harrier along with Kestrel, Peregrine, Buzzard and Marsh Harrier. There was also a Hobby hunting over Arne Moors and a Sparrowhawk hassling hirundines making that pretty much a full sweep of likely raptors for this time of year.  The Great White Egret was seen briefly at Middlebere along with 2 Sand Marin and 2 Green Sandpiper. Lytchett Bay seemed quiet with just 9 Greenshank, 1 Dunlin and 1 Grey Wagtail, but a flock of 10 Jay was nice to see. Yesterday at South Haven saw 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 25 Chiffchaff and 10 Goldcrest while at Brands Bay there were 2 Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Knot and 1 Whinchat.

Fairly quiet from the last few days but still some nice sightings. South Haven saw 1 Redstart, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Tree Pipit, 7 Blackcap, 50 Chiffchaff plus at least 3 Brent Geese entering the Harbour mouth. At Lytchett Bay 4 Bearded Tit, 1 Ruff, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Stonechat, 5 Sedge Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail and a whopping 917 Teal.  An Osprey was over Coombe Heath, Arne. 

The vis-mig (visible migration) season is now certainly upon us with a decent flurry of birds recorded from the top of Glebelands, Ballard today as our ‘BoPH’ surveyor Nick Hopper monitored migrating birds overhead. The definite highlights were a Lapland Bunting and then a male Ring Ouzel. Other birds from the overhead count included 1 Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Wagtail, 27 alba Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 224 House Martin, 8 Sand Martin, 595 Swallow, 87 Linnet, 26 Chaffinch, 28 Goldfinch and 7 Skylark. On the ground 1 Whinchat and 4 Wheatear were present. At Lytchett Bay 9 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Little Stint, 5 Green Sandpiper, 40+ Snipe, 1 Dunlin, 7 Redshank, 1 Peregrine, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 3 Grey Wagtail. Holes Bay is now picking up too as the autumn progresses with 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 289 Redshank, 183 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Wigeon, 1 Common Tern and 1 Little Grebe. Brownsea is also looking great at the moment with 20 Spoonbill, 1 female Pintail (rare here) 10 Wigeon, 330 Avocet, 13 Spotted Redshank, 12 Greenshank, 8 Curlew Sandpiper, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit and a Great Black-backed Gull eating a Teal. The Great White Egret was again in and around the Brands Bay/Littlesea area.