It was definitely a big migration day today, certainly for 4 typical late September species. Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were all on the move in good numbers. Swallow were passing through and over from dawn until dusk, so goodness knows how many in total headed West during the course of the day, but we’re talking thousands and thousands. In the Piddle Valley alone c5000 went through during the afternoon, with big numbers reported across many skylines all day long. For the first 4-5 hours of the day Meadow Pipit were on the move and certainly many hundreds were seen passing over the Wareham Channel this morning and flocks of 50+ were feeding in the wet meadows around the harbour fringes. For a second day in a row bushes and scrub were ‘dripping’ with Chiffchaff, with their hoooweet calls coming from every bush for the first few hours after daylight. Finally, Blackcap, which always move in good numbers in late September were seen gorging on blackberry and elderberry bushes with 40 ringed at Lytchett Heath alone this AM in just a couple of hours. All in all it felt like a proper September day with 5 Ruff on Arne Moors/Swineham with 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank and c100 Black-tailed Godwit. A Golden Plover flew over Swineham, calling as it headed off high west. The Brownsea Lagoon held 56 Spoonbill, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, c50 Ringed Plover, c80 Dunlin, 2 Knot, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Wheatear and 2 Kingfisher. The Forster’s Tern was off Shipstal Beach. This morning 7 Marsh Harrier came out of the west harbour roost and there were a minimum 4 Osprey around with 2-3 around the Wareham Channel/Middlebere area, another in Brands Bay and 1 in Holes Bay. In Middlebere a Cattle Egret and Great White Egret went over, there were 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 7 Pintail and 2 Spotted Redshank. Singles of Hobby (which have been in low numbers this summer) were over Hartland and Middlebere, a Red Kite was over Hartland and a Goshawk was having a fight with a Sparrowhawk over the Wareham causeway.

Red Kite – Hartland

Nationally, today will go down as one of the most fascinating days in recent birding history. After yesterdays storm and low pressure system that swept across from North America, the last two days has seen more rare North American land birds arrive into the UK than ever before. Ok, we agree, it’s not all about rarities, but when such an unprecedented fall of vagrants arrive from the other side of the Atlantic, it highlights the true scale and challenge many birds face when moving north to south. To provide some context, a good year would see one, maybe two Red-eyed Vireos in UK. Today there were 6. Before today there had only ever been 14 historic UK records of American Cliff Swallow. Today 7 turned up!! Now the warblers….oh the warblers. Any North American warbler turning up in the UK is a big deal. Today FIVE different species turned up including 1 Bay-breasted Warbler, 2 Black and White Warblers, 1 Magnolia Warbler, 1 Tennessee Warbler and 1 Blackburnian. Just crazy!! Then, to add to the mix, the UK’s 3rd Alder Flycatcher, a Bobolink and a Baltimore Oriole. Who knows what else will turn up over the next few days but it’s well worth being on high alert!

Here in the harbour we did manage our own North American speciality, but it was one that turned up a few months ago in the shape of the Forster’s Tern which was off Shipstal and hunting in Middlebere. Best bird of the day was a Bittern which was seen flying across the main pit at Swineham before settling in the reedbeds on the far side and a Red-rumped Swallow which was seen flying over Godlingston Heath. There was also 1 Cattle Egret and 9 Ruff at Swineham. At Middlebere 4 Spoonbill were feeding and there were 4 Spotted Redshank, 5 Knot, 9 Pintail, 12 Wigeon, 1 Hobby, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Goshawk and an Osprey. There were 2 Osprey over Lytchett Bay, 27 Spoonbill off Shipstal and a big Chiffchaff group of 50+ birds was along the Studland Peninsular near East Lake. At Upton CP/Holes Bay there were 163 Wigeon, 9 Pintail, 14 Shoveler, 1 Whinchat near the Boardwalk, 2 Common Sandpiper and 3 Kingfisher. 

Spoonbill – Middlebere – John Thorpe

Erg! At least today has made the floodplains nice and full and wet again for any newly arrived passage waders (preferably those from North America)! With the big low pressure system thats passed over from the far west in the last 24 hours, the country has enjoyed a mixed bag of North American goodies ranging from Baird’s Sandpipers, Red-eyed Vireos and American Cliff Swallows, so it will be well worth giving any passing hirundines a second glance over the next few days! The best the harbour area could muster today was 2 Balearic Shearwater past Branksome Chine, which although are annual out in Poole Bay, especially during August and Sept, they’re very seldom logged. Also out in Poole Bay were c80 Gannet, c10 Sandwich Tern, 3 Fulmar and yesterday the first Merlin of the autumn passed close by. In Middlebere this AM a three-way fight between a Peregrine, a Sparrowhawk and a Hobby ended uneventfully with all three whimpering off in opposite directions. At Swineham 6 Ruff were in the ‘Sluice Field’ next to the gravel pit and there was 1 Spotted Redshank on Lytchett Fields.

Branksome Chine at dawn

Still pretty rough and ready today, but a few birders made it out with 5 Ruff logged on the Stilt Pools at Swineham, with another at Lytchett Fields which was joined by 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 5 Curlew, 24 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 11 Greenshank, 43 Dunlin, 161 Redshank and 296 Black-tailed Godwit. A sea watch at Branksome produced not too much with 47 Gannet the best. An Osprey was in Lytchett Bay briefly, the White-tailed Eagles were seen briefly in the Wareham Channel and a sub-adult  male Marsh Harrier was seen in Middlebere, perhaps the one that was released yesterday? On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 64 Spoonbill and 5 Curlew Sandpiper. 

Peregrine Falcon – Wareham Forest

It was good to hear that a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier that was found washed up on Swanage Beach yesterday made a full recovery over night and was released this morning in the south of the harbour. It must have been ‘downed’ by yesterdays torrential rain, but was lucky enough to be found by some caring members of the public who boxed it up and let it dry out over night, enabling it to make a strong healthy flight, out away across the southern shores this morning. Top work! Elsewhere another Ruff was in Brands Bay this morning (the 4th this autumn),and there were 7 on the Swineham scrapes this evening, 71 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Whinchat was on Wareham Common and there was a possible Siberian Chiffchaff at Hatch Pond.

Cattle Egret – Swineham (yesterday afternoon) – Peter Moore

Ruff, 4 of 5 present – Swineham (yesterday afternoon) – Peter Moore

With the heavy rain forecast this morning, we certainly didn’t expect to have as much raptor activity as we did on our Autumn Safari Cruise this morning. The highlight was close views of White-tailed Eagle G466 perched in a tree on the RSPB Arne shoreline, as well as as estimated 3 Osprey hunting in the Wareham Channel over the course of the morning. 2 Marsh Harrier were active over the reedbeds near the mouth of the River Frome. The Brownsea Lagoon was also visited by a White-tailed Eagle earlier in the morning and there were at least 70 Spoonbill present, along with highlights including c.20 Avocet, 7 Grey Plover and 1 Greenshank, as well as 1 Peregrine hunkered down on the wall towards midday. We were also treated to views of a Sparrowhawk flying ahead the boat low over the water as we made our way back to the Quay. Elsewhere, there were 3 Spotted Redshank in Lytchett Bay this morning and 8 in Middlebere. A count at Lytchett Fields on the rising tide produced 484 Teal, 1 Wigeon, 20 Lapwing, 3 Curlew, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 193 Black-tailed Godwit, 39 Dunlin, 11 Snipe, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpiper, 3 Spotted Redshank, 10 Greenshank and 100 Redshank. At Swineham this evening a Cattle Egret was with the cows and 5 Ruff were on the ‘Stilt Pools’. Brownsea Lagoon had 5 Curlew Sandpiper and 16 Greenshank and there were 17 Knot in Middlebere.

White-tailed Eagle – RSPB Arne Shoreline from the Wareham Channel – Clare Slade

Environmental protection and justice comes in many forms. Ensuring that the natural environment has the support it deserves boils down to the many great individuals and organisations across the country who make it their life’s work to ensure the law is upheld and that nature has the best chance. Over the last two days we’ve been honoured to host Wild Justice on two different boat trips which were organised to highlight the important work they do and to (hopefully) show them great birds. Thankfully this morning the birds did perform and the harbour showcased its self to be the exciting and dynamic landscape we’ve been able to highlight over the last few years. Male White-tailed Eagle G463 sat proudly on Gold Point at RSPB Arne as a handful of (late) Common Tern continued to hunt/feed along the Hamworthy shoreline. Amazingly, in the Wareham Channel 4-5 Osprey were still around with 1 catching a fish close to the boat along with 1 Marsh Harrier. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 70 Spoonbill (only 16 away from a county record, will we see the record broken in the coming weeks?), 6+ Curlew Sandpiper, 23 Avocet, c50 Dunlin, 23 Ringed Plover, 16 Greenshank, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit and 20 Common Redshank. On the Swineham Scrapes a nice variety of ‘eclipse’ plumaged duck were present including multiple Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal and Gadwall. There were 3 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields today and 16(!) Curlew Sandpiper reported in Middlebere.

Wild Justice crowd enjoying White-tailed Eagle 

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 – RSPB Arne

Still plenty of great birds around today including the Forster’s Tern on Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne, 2 Ruff on the Stilt Pools at Swineham, 1 Curlew Sandpiper on Lytchett Fields and 5 on Brownsea Lagoon where there was also now 62 Spoonbill. There were 2 Spotted Redshank on Lytchett Fields, a Hobby over the Wareham, Channel and there were 2 Osprey in the Wareham Channel, 2 in Lytchett Bay and 1 in Middlebere.

Forster’s Tern (yesterday) – Wareham Channel – Rob Morrison

There suddenly seems to be even more Ospreys around again with 3 in Lytchett Bay today, 2 in trees at Middlebere this AM, 2 in the Wareham Channel, up to 2 in Brands Bay this afternoon and 1 was even seen to fly from male 022’s roost tree next to the nest site this AM suggesting he could even still be about?! Some of these will refer to the same bird but this suggests there could be 5+ around again at the moment. The White-tailed Eagles are wandering a bit with female G466 seen heading off high over Wareham Forest, and another was high over Greenlands Farm, Studland. We noted today that Firecrest are still in full song, which is what we also noticed last year. There are 3 Firecrest territories at the same site as the Osprey nest with the males arriving on territory in mid-April and they continue to sing all the way until late September. They’re so numerous these days, with breeding pairs now right around the harbour. There must be a min of c20 pairs, probably more. This morning 5 Tree Pipit, c50 Siskin, and 1 Hobby passed over Wareham Common and 4 Spotted Flycatcher were in scrub near Wareham Hospital. Curlew Sandpiper were on the Brownsea Lagoon (6) and in Middlebere (2). The Forster’s Tern was off Shipstal Beach again, this evening a Great White Egret passed over Wareham Walls heading towards the harbour roost and there were 56 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon.

Firecrest singing outside our office window this afternoon

Spotted Flycatcher – Wareham Common