The run of dire weather continued, although apparently there’s light at the end of the rainy tunnel by mid-week. There’s even some light easterly winds forecast for Thursday and Friday which suggests more common migrants could be on the way…..and perhaps some not so common? Aquatic Warbler springs to mind. Despite the rain today Osprey sightings were still pretty frequent at some sites, certainly Lytchett Bay where there were 2-3 individuals see. There were also 2 over Middlebere again with one on the Middlebere nest platform, plus another over Wareham Common and a few sightings in the Wareham Channel. There’s no doubt some of these sightings relate to the same individuals, but it’s certainly a good start to the month, with plenty more due on the way over the coming weeks. The Forster’s Tern was again off Shipstal Beach a few times today and an adult Arctic Tern was also in the roost where there were also 4 summer plumaged Knot. There were 12 Spoonbill on Brownsea, a White-tailed Eagle flew over Lytchett Fields, a Gannet flew past Branksome Chine and last night c70 Little Egret went into the Holes Bay roost.

Osprey on Middlebere Channel platform getting harassed by crow

CJ7 roosting on nest perch tonight. Not something she often does

Lots of Osprey activity today, with an unringed individual feeding on the Middlebere nest platform for most of the morning, with a further two active in the channel later in the morning. 2 Osprey were also seen over Lytchett Bay during the morning. Perhaps one of these birds was the other individual seen from Brand’s Bay mid-morning, along with a count of 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 8 Grey Plover, 2 Whimbrel, 83+ Curlew, 47 Black-tailed Godwit, 18 Redshank, 1 Dunlin, 17 Little Egret, 20 Common Gull and 39 Mediterranean Gull. Good to see more autumn arrivals, with 2 Willow Warbler at Sunnyside Farm, and 1 Pied Flycatcher reported on Brownsea Island, as well as one in the Piddle Valley. Two White-tailed Eagle were active over Shipstal Point at RSPB Arne later in the morning, and the Forster’s Tern present again. At Holes Bay, a nice high count of 70 Little Egret were reported, with 2 Common Sandpiper also seen.

Osprey – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

With yesterday’s grimness having gone through, there seemed to be a bit of passage this morning with a moulting adult Whinchat out on Wareham Common, along with 2 Whitethroat, 4 Reed Warbler and 1 Sedge Warbler. The Forster’s Tern was reported at RSPB Arne again from Shipstal Point. 5 Whimbrel were present in Holes Bay SW, along with 275 Black-tailed Godwit, 123 Redshank, 14 Curlew and 10 Oystercatcher. Over at Lytchett Bay, one of the non-breeding Ospreys was sat in the Holton Lee treeline for most of the morning, and 2 Whimbrel, 10 Curlew, 70 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Dunlin, 9 Greenshank and 70 Redshank were reported. On Lytchett Fields there was decent count of 12 Greenshank, 7 Lapwing, 2 Green Sandpiper and 73 Black-tailed Godwit, including the first recorded juv. Godwit of the year. The White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel on the Shag Looe Spit mid-morning. On Brownsea there were 2 Spoonbill, with 4 more in the Middlebere Channel. Willow Warbler were trickling through in small numbers.

Whinchat – Wareham Channel – Paul Morton

Winter landed with a bang today! Gales force winds and driving rain. Despite the dire weather, it actually forced 4 Arctic Skua in to Poole Bay which were seen during a morning sea watch, then later in the day there were 3 harassing gulls off Shell Beach, Studland. The gap in the weather this morning allowed for Lytchett Fields/Bay to be watched adequately with 2 Knot being seen (the first for Lytchett Bay this year), also an Osprey over the bay, 1 Spotted Redshank and the 1st Wheatear of the autumn. In fact an Osprey was seen hunting in and around Lytchett Bay for most of the day. In the Wareham Channel a White-tailed Eagle and an Osprey had a minor spat above the gull islands and an Eider was off Pilots Point where there were 40 Sanderling on Shell Beach. The Forster’s Tern was again off Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne, there were 4 Spoonbill in Middlebere and a Hobby was over Hydes Heath.

Arctic Skua chasing Common Tern – Shell Bay – James Leaver (OTBT Birder Twitter – @BirderOtbt)

July didn’t really deliver the weather, but it certainly provided some decent early autumn birding and migration, and with August landing tomorrow, there’s a whole lot more on the way! Today, despite the rain, the Forster’s Tern was showing again briefly off Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne and in Middlebere a Wood Sandpiper was seen then headed off over Arne and there were 10 Spoonbill in Middlebere this morning too. Having gone missing for 2-3 weeks, male Osprey 374 made a brief appearance on a harbour nest platform this evening. Hopefully he’ll stick around now and try to ‘whoo’ a female over the coming weeks and maybe ‘adopt’ a nest platform somewhere? Waders at Lytchett Fields this morning saw 97 Redshank, 33 Dunlin, 33 Black-tailed Godwit,12 Green Sandpiper, 5 Greenshank, 2 Curlew, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Whimbrel and a juv Little Ringed Plover and this afternoon an Osprey flew in low over the bay before being seen off by gulls. Both White-tailed Eagles were in the harbour this morning before male G463 went off for a wander around the Purbeck’s before coming back to the Wareham Channel this evening.

Male Osprey 374 on harbour nest platform briefly this evening

Despite the foul weather today, the weather held off for our Sunset Safari Cruise this evening and the rewards for heading out were well worth it with good views of the Forster’s Tern fishing off the side of the boat in the Wareham Channel, soon followed by a decent flying show of the White-tailed Eagle pair before they drifted off over RSPB Arne. An adult female Marsh Harrier flew close by near Giggers Island and c20 Swift were still around as the bombed off west over Swineham. The Brownsea north shore held c10 Common Sandpiper and 2 Turnstone and there were 4 Turnstone near the Hamworthy shore. On Brownsea the Avocet family were looking good and c40 Dunlin were feeding, plus the dark-bellied Brent Goose was still present and big numbers of gulls and terns were roosting on the lagoon. Elsewhere today the Pied Flycatcher was still at Shell Beach, next to the boardwalk, the Wood Sandpiper was at Sunnyside again, there were 2 more Turnstone on Lytchett Fields (the first for the Lytchett Bay area this year) and the Forster’s Tern spent most of the day off Shipstal Beach at RSPB Arne where there was also 1 Knot and a juv Yellow-legged Gull with 2 more on the Swineham Scrapes. At Holme Lane the Barnacle Goose was still there.

Wood Sandpiper – Sunnyside Scrape (yesterday) – Peter Moore

A really nice range of birds were logged from around the harbour today. New in were a Wood Sandpiper on the Sunnyside scrape and at Lytchett Bay an adult un-ringed Osprey caught a fish and headed off SW. The Forster’s Tern was giving decent pre-longed views off Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne today much to the delight of numerous birders who’d missed it on previous occasions. In Middlebere there were 8 Spoonbill this morning along with 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Whimbrel. At Lytchett Fields this evening there were 6 Greenshank, 2 Green Sandpiper and 1 Whimbrel. The White-tailed Eagle pair are becoming a bit more active again having spent the last 2 months not really leaving the Wareham Channel, but today they were over RSPB and Lytchett Bay. At Holme Lane GP the Barnacle Goose was still hanging out with some Egyptian Geese and a Common Sandpiper was on the pit edge.

Forster’s Tern – Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne – Peter Moore

Good news for anyone looking to connect with the Forster’s Tern, it seems to be spending time on the salt marsh around Shipstal Beach RSPB Arne in between feeds. It also seems to be feeding in the channel off Shipstal Beach, so some time spent in that area could pay off. Please don’t go beyond the rope barrier at the end of Shipstal Beach that leads onto the salt marsh. There was also another Pied Flycatcher, this time at South Haven, Studland along with a passage Garden Warbler. At Lytchett Fields there was 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 39 Black-tailed Godwit, 71 Redshank, 24 Dunlin, 4 Greenshank, 4 Whimbrel, 4 Green Sandpiper and 2 Curlew. In Middlebere there were 7 Spoonbill with 1 Knot, 11 Bar-tailed Godwit and c50 Black-tailed Godwit. The 2 over-summering Eider were off Pilots Point, Studland and the Barnacle Goose and a Common Sandpiper were still at Holme Lane GP.

Forster’s Tern – Shipstal Beach, RSPB Arne – Garry Hayman