Today was a historic day as we went and ringed the Poole Harbour Osprey chicks, the first clutch of four that our pair have produced since establishing in 2022. Luckily the settled weather allowed for an early morning climb with the oldest chick reaching 40 days old today and the youngest being 33 days old. This meant today was the ‘sweet spot’ which allowed for a fairly calm affair, before the chicks get too feisty. They seemed a tad tricky to sex this year with the three oldest sitting in the overlap zone of around c1600g. They were ringed 5R0, 5R1 , 5R2 and the youngest we decided to ring ‘out of sequence’ 5H6. Originally we thought we may have had 2 male and 2 female, but having liaised with Tim Mackrill and discussed the weights, there’s an outside chance we could actually have 4 well fed males! We’ll observe their development over the next few weeks, but that would be an incredible result.

Elsewhere the first Spotted Redshank of the autumn was in Middlebere yesterday evening and this evening a ringed Osprey was seen on the Middlebere nest platform, although annoyingly the camera didn’t take any photos! At RSPB Lytchett Fields this morning there was a good run of waders including 6 Green Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 26 Redshank and 2 Greenshank. A Cattle Egret was in Wytch Lake, 2 Spoonbill were in Middlebere.

Osprey chicks in nest during ringing this morning

BoPH Team Member Paul Morton ringing the chicks in the nest this AM – Mark Wright (BoPH Volunteer)

No sign along the Purbeck coast of the Red-footed Booby from earlier in the week sadly, but apparently 8-9 Puffin were logged at Dancing Ledge last night. This evening a pair of Garganey dropped onto Swineham GP where there were also 4 Common Tern and a female Marsh Harrier. At the Osprey nest site today, panic broke out amounst the family when an intruder Osprey was seen over the nest. Later on one was then reported on the new Middlebere Nest Platform, opposite the RSPB Middlebere lookout hide.

Juvenile Sandwich Terns – Brownsea Lagoon – Martin Adams

Have we missed a Red-footed Booby? With an amazing photo surfacing yesterday evening of a Gannet shaped bird settling on a rescue boat off Warbarrow Bay, near Lulworth, heads were scratched as to what it could be. As it turns out, it was Britains 3rd(?) Red-footed Booby resting up for 50 minutes, before moving off east. This is quite a remarkable record and chances are it’s probably headed back out into the English Channel, but birders along the Dorset coast will be checking every channel marker and channel buoy this coming weekend to see if it can be re-found still resting up. So, if you’re down the beach this weekend, don’t forget to look out to sea and check anything that looks suitable for a sea bird to sit on, as you never know….!!

It was cold again today and bird news seemed slow with only news of a Spotted Flycatcher family on Hartland, White-tailed Eagles and Osprey spotted in the Wareham Channel, 2 Hobby and a Goshawk over Carey Secret Garden, 2 Little Ringed Plover at Holme lane GP and 3 Spoonbill in Middlebere.

Linnet – Slepe Heath 

An absolute scorcher today. One of our followers who logs the temperature at home commented today that the temperature maxed at 27.4°C today on the outskirts of Poole Harbour, easily making it the warmest day of 2024 and the warmest day since the 7th (28.0) and 9th (28.6) of September 2023. Only last June 15th (27.9), 13th (29.3) and 9th (27.5) were warmer last year.

With this in mind the birds mainly kept their heads low today. We did receive some good data back though from local birder Rene Goad who got info back from 2 colour-ringed Sandwich Terns he logged on Brownsea recently. The photos can be viewed below and the info came back as: White ‘354’ was ringed as a nestling on 21st July 2021 at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex & Red ‘KHP’ was ringed as a chick on 12th August 2018 at Ynyslas NNR, Borth, West Wales. This is good data, especially the 8 year old. Sandwich Tern life span is usually around 12 years old, but the oldest ringing recovery was of a 30 year old individual.

There were more waders arriving today in the shape of 51 Curlew and 6 Redshank in Brands Bay and a Marsh Harrier was over the Lower Frome Valley and this evening 2 Osprey were in the Wareham Channel.

Sandwich Tern ‘354’ – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Sandwich Tern ‘KHP’ – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Quite quiet today with the 4 Spoonbill logged again in Middlebere which seems to show (thanks to Mark Wrights great photo) an adult breeding plumaged bird (left hand bird). Perhaps its a failed breeder thats returning early? Or maybe an individual that looked to set up territory a bit closer to home?  This evening our Purbeck Puffin cruise logged 5 individuals  off Dancing Ledge as well a the first newly fledged Guillemots and Razorbills off the cliffs at the Durlston CP colony.

Spoonbills – Middlebere – Mark Wright