From our Pop-Up event at NT Corfe Castle today, we had view of Peregrine and distant White-tailed Eagle. Nice reports from Middlebere Channel again today seen from Coombe Heath at RSPB Arne with 3 Spoonbill and 4 different Osprey (including 1 juvenile). An early morning count on Brownsea Lagoon included 16 Spoonbill, 35 Teal, 1 Avocet, 25 Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover, 11 Curlew, 92 Redshank, 4 Greenshank, 193 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone, 1 Common Sandpiper and 6 Black-tailed Godwit, with 1 Whimbrel later reported. 1 Common Sandpiper and 300 Black-tailed Godwit in Holes Bay.

Spoonbill – Middlebere Channel – Alison Copland

Lots of nice sightings after the rain cleared this morning, including from our Summer Safari Cruise. The main highlights from our time in the Wareham Channel was a Marsh Harrier and Sparrowhawk moving along the RSPB Arne treeline, 1 White-tailed Eagle moving from Holton shoreline to Arne, and 3 Osprey including 1 juvenile. Sightings on the Brownsea Lagoon included 4 Avocet, 12 Spoonbill, 40+ Redshank and 2 Greenshank, as well as 1 Whimbrel on the north Brownsea shoreline. Reports from Coombe Heath and the Middlebere Channel from Arne this morning including 3 Osprey, 3 Spoonbill, 1 Avocet, 1 Hobby, and 1 Green Sandpiper seen from Middlebere hide. The Osprey-mania continued over in Lytchett Bay, with 5 seen throughout the morning and early afternoon. 17 Greenshank were reported in Lytchett Bay this morning and 2 Spotted Redshank on Lytchett Fields. 2 Cattle Egret were seen at Swineham in the early evening.

Juvenile Osprey – Wareham Channel – Darcia Gingell

Green Sandpiper – Middlebere – Rob Johnson

Plenty of sightings coming from Lytchett bay today with Osprey numbers really picking up. There were 3 separate sightings of Osprey with 1 over the Turlin shoreline early morning, 1 early afternoon eating a fish distantly from Rock Lea View and finally 2 fishing between 4:30-5:30pm in Lytchett Bay itself. It’s great to see activity building in Ospreys throughout the harbour with more migrants clearly arriving daily and Lytchett Bay being a favoured fishing spot again this year. 2 Spotted Redshank were also in the bay and 1 Great White Egret flew over. On French’s Pool at Lytchett Fields, 3 1st calendar year Spoonbill dropped in as well as 13 Green Sandpiper, 10 Common Sandpiper, 15 Greenshank and 1 male Yellow Wagtail, one of the first of the Autumn. Both White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel again today. In Brands Bay this evening there were 2 Grey Plover, 5 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and 3 Dunlin. 4 Avocet and 13 Spoonbill were reported on the Brownsea Lagoon today with no doubt some overlap with the 10 Spoonbill that were in the Middlebere Channel this evening as well as 1 Osprey. 3 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler and 20 Sedge Warbler were ringed at the Carey site this morning before the breeze picked up too much.

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 yesterday evening – Wareham Channel – Sam Ryde

In Lytchett Bay this afternoon there was 1 Spotted Redshank, 13 Greenshank and 1 Whimbrel, whilst nearby in Holes Bay there were 400+ Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel and 11 Teal. In Brands Bay Common Gull numbers are building with 28 counted, along with 177 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 126 Curlew and 4 Whimbrel. In the Middelbere Channel there were 2 Spoonbill, 1 Hobby and 2 unringed female Osprey interacting with juvenile male 5R2. From our final Sunset Safari Cruise of the season we saw 1 White-tailed Eagle, 3 Osprey and 1 Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel, along with 6 Common Sandpiper and 1 Whimbrel on the north shore of Brownsea, 2 Wheatear and 4 Turnstone on the lagoon wall, and 4 Avocet, 1 Greenshank and 200 Dunlin on the lagoon itself. Here 2 moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Sanderling and 1 Knot were also counted during the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS).

Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank & Oystercatcher – Holes Bay – Martin Adams

A stunning Sunset Safari Cruise this evening with an estimated 6 adult Osprey active over the Wareham Channel, 2 of which successfully caught a fish. Great to see the number of migrant Osprey building in the harbour as we approach our Osprey Cruises which start on the 14th August. Also in the Wareham Channel on the rising tide were 400+ Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Greenshank, 3 Lapwing and 1 Spoonbill in flight. It was also a raptor-fest, with male White-tailed Eagle G463 sat on Shag Looe, 1 juv Hobby over RSPB Arne Hill, 1 Peregrine perched on the Arne shoreline and a Marsh Harrier over Gigger’s Island. The eclipse drake Garganey was on the Stilt Pools at Swineham again this evening, as well as 1 Common Sandpiper over the River Frome. The Wood Sandpiper was still showing well on Brownsea Lagoon today, as well as a count of 12 Spoonbill, 4 Avocet, 2 Grey Plover, 8 Ringed Plover, 103 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Knot, 98 Redshank,  120 Dunlin, 13 Greenshank and 18 Sanderling. In Middlebere this morning there were 9 Spotted Redshank, along with 1 Great White Egret and 6 Spoonbill with another Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields.

Wood Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton

There was some really nice early August birding across the harbour today, with some obvious new arrivals, most notably a Wood Sandpiper on the Brownsea Lagoon. These speckled waders are still scarce autumn migrants, although these days they’re now at least annual at sites like Lytchett Fields and Swineham. Strangely they’re incredibly scarce of the Brownsea Lagoon which is where todays bird turned up, giving good views in front of the Avocet Hide. There were also new Osprey arrivals with 2 stunningly different un-ringed adult female Ospreys settling in and around the Middlebere area, one of which we saw catch a fish from our Summer Safari this AM before she headed to the Middlebere nest platform to devour her kill. An eclipse drake Garganey was on the Swineham Stilt Pools this evening along with 6 adult Yellow-legged Gulls. There are now 18 Spoonbill in the harbour with 9 on Brownsea this AM, whilst at the same time, 9 were in Middlebere. At Lytchett Fields this AM there were 11 Common Sandpiper, 12 Greenshank, 4 Green Sandpiper and 3 Common Snipe. At the Carey Secret Garden Ringing Station is was quieter this AM, although 5 Grasshopper Warbler were ringed, including the first adult of the season out of 55 caught in the last 3 weeks!

Wood Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – Martin Adams

Un-ringed adult female Osprey on Middlebere nest platform, having just caught a fish which was viewed from our Summer Safari Cruise this AM

The same female Osprey as above in flight seen before her fishing trip – Middlebere – Mark Wright

The second un-ringed female Osprey seen soon after – Middlebere – Mark Wright

Eclipse drake Garganey – Swineham – Peter Moore

Adult Grasshopper Warbler (note pale tone and worn tail) – Carey Secret Garden Ringing Station – Matthew Scraggs

What a fantastic moment today, when for the first time we logged our juvenile Ospreys down around the harbour. There was loads of Osprey activity this morning, initially with our youngster ‘5R2’ first being seen from our Summer Safari Cruise, before then being photographed by several people in Middlebere. Later in our trip we then saw another 3 Osprey circling together, one of which was our male 022 who started going into full display mode which would suggest one of the three was a visiting Osprey. Sure enough, later in the trip an adult bird flew past close to the boat, constantly diving, but not for fish, rather to wash. However, after about 10 minutes of this, it did eventually catch a fish. An adult un-ringed female was then later seen in Middlebere. Then, later in the day another Osprey was seen arriving in, this time from the north, over Holes Bay and last seen heading towards the Wareham Channel. Spoonbill numbers are building bang on cue, with the next small wave arriving which saw 13 on the Brownsea Lagoon, along with 259 Dunlin, 13 Ringed Plover, 4 Avocet, 7 Sanderling, 3 sum plum Grey Plover, 98 Redshank, 9 Greenshank, 26 Turnstone and 2 Knot. A Great White Egret flew over Wareham this evening heading towards the harbour and a Hobby was over Wareham Common. On the Stilt Pools this morning there was a perfect photo opportunity with Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring and Yellow-legged Gull all stood in a row. At Lytchett Fields there were 13 Greenshank, 7 Common Sandpiper and 3 Green Sandpiper. The White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel all day, but kept their heads low, hiding from the sun. The Carey Secret Garden ringing station produced 5 more Grasshopper Warbler, 81 Sedge Warbler, 11 Reed Warbler and 1 Common Whitethroat.

Juvenile Osprey ‘5R2’ being seen in the Middlebere Channel for the first time since fledging – Phyl England

Adult un-ringed Osprey passing over Middlebere – Alison Copland

Juvenile Osprey ‘5R2’ being seen again later in the Middlebere channel – Richard Saunders 

Summer properly landed today with temperatures topping 30 degrees. The clear, still weather got birds moving though as Middlebere saw a total of 10 Spoonbill and 6 Spotted Redshank, including a newly arrived full summer plum individual. A new Osprey arrived with an un-ringed female settling briefly on one of our harbour nest platforms this afternoon. At the Carey Secret Garden ringing station this morning, the autumns first Lesser Whitethroat was ringed along with another 2 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Kingfisher, 42 Sedge Warbler, 11 Willow Warbler and 3 Blackcap. Interestingly, a number of  birds being ringed this autumn so far have shown obvious fault bars on their plumage. Fault bars are a visible contrast in the plumage of juvenile birds which indicate periods of stress when in the nest, most regularly associated with periods of bad weather when they don’t receive enough food. This means feathers aren’t able to grow as strong as usual, leaving a visible ‘sign’ of bad weather and perhaps indicating a tough season for many young birds this year with May and June being so cold and unsettled. At Lytchett Fields this morning there were 12 Green and 7 Common Sandpiper this morning, also 7 Greenshank. A Goshawk was seen over Middlebere, 2 Hobby were over Wareham and a Marsh Harrier was in Brands Bay.

Un-ringed female Osprey – Middlebere 

Lesser Whitethroat – Carey Ringing Station – Matthew Scraggs

Obvious ‘fault bar’ on juv Sedge Warbler tail. 

What a sweltering day! It seems everyone was hiding away by lunch time, but this morning was really productive, especially at the ringing station at Carey Secret Garden, where the post dawn ‘push’ of Sedge Warbler was much in evidence with 65 ringed between 5am and 8am, plus another 18 Grasshopper Warbler. The flow of birds pretty much stopped after 9am, however last night saw an amazing 7 Nightjar ringed there too, a record catch for this species in a single net here in Poole. The White-tailed Eagle pair were active in the Wareham Channel for much of the day, 2 Spoonbill were on Brownsea with 3 Avocet, a Spotted Redshank was in Middlebere with a Great White Egret seen flying up the channel. Right on cue, the first Cattle Egret of the autumn appeared at Swineham on the Stilt Pools, the first to be seen in the harbour since May.

European Nightjar – Carey Secret Garden