It was much of the same today, left overs from teh weekend with 2 Osprey in and around Middlebere and the southern shores, 1 adult and 1 2nd cal year White-tailed Eagle over Corfe and Middlebere, a Spotted Flycatcher was at RSPB Arne and another at Carey Secret Garden. An Osprey caught a fish on Lytchett Fields during the high tide, a Goshawk was over Holton Lee and 2 Marsh Harrier were in and around Swineham Point.

Male Osprey ‘5H3’ near RSPB Arne yesterday – Mark Wright

Another warm day in the harbour with conditions more settled. Lots of raptor activity, especially with the local Peregrine families with the Poole birds flying well now and at Corfe Castle 2 chicks getting very close to fledging. Ospreys 6J8 and 5H3 were seen interacting again in the Middlebere Channel as well as catching fish successfully. Also present in Middlebere were 1 Spoonbill and 1 White-tailed Eagle. There was a decent count of 25 Common Swift over Upper Parkstone this morning and there were a few more signs of ‘autumn’ progressing with 13 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon now, along with 4 Teal, 3 Redshank and 11 Bar-tailed Godwit, plus 1 Spoonbill, also the emergence and dispersal of young from the local breeders suggest autumn passage is just around the corner with young Common Whitethroats moving around out on Ballard Down.

Outside of the Poole Harbour boundary but, this evening we took out a successful Seabird and Puffin Cruise to Dancing Ledge with 2 Puffin sat on the water at Dancing Ledge plus another 2 observed on the cliff ledge, along with 6 Fulmar, 6 Kittiwake, 500+ Guillemot and 3 Razorbill. 

Juvenile common Whitethroat – Ballard Down Peter Moore

A slightly better day, and although the wind persisted, but faded away by sunset, the sun started to make things feel warmer by late afternoon, giving us a taste of the weekend to come. A decent return across the harbour included 2 Osprey in Middlebere this AM including Scottish female 6J8, and a Hobby was over the Middlebere hide. This evening an Osprey caught a fish in the Wareham Channel and there were 2 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon with 4 Sanderling and 9 Avocet, and at Swineham a pair of Bearded Tit were active and a Hobby was over RSPB Arne Moors. This afternoon another Osprey was hunting over RSPB Lytchett Fields, 2 Spoonbill were in Middlebere and the Peregrine family were active on the Asda building, Poole, Holes Bay.

Spoonbill – Middlebere – Alison Copland

Sadly, there was no sign of yesterdays Red-backed Shrike today which isn’t unusual…..nearly all Poole Harbour Red-backed Shrike records have been just 1 day birds. Still, not all was lost, as a third Spoonbill arrived onto Brownsea today! Plus, the Red-breasted Merganser was also still on the lagoon, there were up to 2 Osprey in Middlebere and the Wareham Channel at different times during the day, and adult male White-tailed Eagle G463 was over Middlebere. A Great White Egret was on Swineham Point this evening and Nightjar was singing in Upton CP again.

Osprey – Middlebere this evening – Garry Hayman

Firecrest – RSPB Arne – David Turner

With a steady (and often quite strong) set of south-westerly winds over the last week, it was a surprise when a visitor more associated with an easterly airflow was found at RSPB Arne, with an all too brief male Red-backed Shrike was at Arne Farm. Initially feeding on a log pile next to the farm, it then quickly disappeared, and was later re-found, on Grip Heath at Arne, but once again, soon disappeared and couldn’t be relocated. The south Poole Harbour-Purbeck landscape is evolving beautifully, and although todays bird is almost certainly a passage migrant on its way elsewhere, it’s hoped this will become less ‘all to brief’ and a ‘much more frequently’ circumstance.

Elsewhere an adult male White-tailed Eagle was in the Wareham Channel this afternoon, and the local Marsh Harrier pair were busy in west harbour. The Brownsea Lagoon still held 2 Spoonbill plus 9 Avocet, 1 lone Bar-tailed Godwit. At Middlebere this morning 2 Osprey were active in the area, a Spoonbill flew over and a Hobby was over RSPB Arne Moors.

Red-backed Shrike – RSPB Arne Farm – Peter Moore

Another day of two halves, with this morning not really worth getting out of bed for, where as this afternoon a hint of the early summer we had a few weeks ago, and with the summer due to arrive back later this weekend, it seems we just have to endure a few more days of grot. This afternoon when the sun came out, 2 Osprey were seen in Middlebere and 1 was also later seen in the Wareham Channel (likely 022). The Brownsea Lagoon held 2 Spoonbill, 7 Avocet, the lone male Red-breasted Merganser and a sure fire sign that autumn is just around the corner 😉 with the first returning Common Redshank of the season, likely a failed breeder from somewhere relatively close by? Also this afternoon an adult White-tailed Eagle circled over Middlebere, a Great White Egret was seen on RSPB Arne Moors and a Marsh Harrier was hunting over Ridge Wharf boat yard and an Osprey was in Lytchett Bay this morning.

Hobby briefly on one of our Osprey nest platforms this afternoon

Another blustery day in the harbour, but this didn’t put off any action. 1 Osprey was in Lytchett Bay this morning and at least 2 were hunting there for periods throughout the day. At Middlebere 2 Osprey were active with one being female 6J8. From our Summer Safari Cruises today we saw 1 Goshawk flying over the Wareham Channel that made the gulls on the islands all erupt at once before the Goshawk headed off towards Holton. 2 White-tailed Eagle were active around the Wareham Channel and Middlebere, with one being the adult male G463 and the other a 2-year old immature bird G704. They had some aerial battles and in amongst the fray were 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Osprey. At least 3 Osprey were active in the Wareham Channel too, including an impressive fish catch from local male 022, before then having to fight off (succesfully) 2 Great Black-backed Gull in hot pursuit. 1 Greenshank was in the Wareham Channel along with c100 Black-tailed Godwit. The 1 Red-breasted Merganser was still on the Brownsea Lagoon, along with 7 Avocet, 1 Ringed Plover and 2 Spoonbill.

Yesterday we were out surveying some of the local Barn Owl and Kestrel Boxes around the harbour that we and the National Trust installed a few years ago. Great to see that quite a few of these were active with well grown chicks. In total we found 3 broods of Barn Owls with 2, 4 and 5 chicks each and 1 brood of Kestrels with 4 chicks. We were able to ring these chicks (and 1 adult Barn Owl as photographed) under Schedule 1 licence. This will allow us to continue monitoring these individuals and learn about movements of our local populations. With huge population crashes of both these species in the past it’s fantastic to see quite a few of the boxes being used and this monitoring will help to understand how the population changes. Big thank you to the National Trust and the ringers at Carey’s Secret Garden for their support.

022 being chased (unsucessfully) by a Great Black-backed Gull – Wareham Channel from our Summer Safari – Alison Copland

Barn Owl chick – Kate Fox

Adult female Barn Owl – Ed Betteridge