There were more signs of ‘autumn arrivals’ today with the first returning Spoonbill of the autumn seen flying over Hydes Heath, towards Middlebere. Although there have been between 1-3 for most of the spring and early summer there haven’t been any sightings for a few weeks suggesting this is a returning bird. Also on Hydes Heath there were 2 Cuckoo and an un-ringed Osprey flew over. It was good to see the released juvenile Peregrine from Barclays doing well, as it sparred with it’s sibling this afternoon.

Un-ringed Osprey – Hydes Heath – Alison Copland

Nightjar – Holme lane – Garry Hayman

Barclays Peregrines – Poole – Ren Goad

Mid-June….a very quiet time indeed. Sweltering heat made things tricky but along the Piddle Valley a Marsh Harrier Headed high west over the Osprey nest area and a Hobby was active there too. The mid-summer gathering of Great Crested Grebe began in Brands Bay with 15 present and another 8 in the Wareham Channel and the female Eider was in Studland Bay north. There were 3 different White-tailed Eagle around the Wareham Channel, although strangely, the female of the pair, G466 has gone for a very long wander way into West Dorset. At Lytchett Fields a single Ringed Plover was present, a Cuckoo was at Coombe Heath RSPB Arne and a Hobby was at Hydes Heath.

IMPORTANT: It was announced by the Dorset Wildlife Trust today that unfortunately several dead birds were found on the Brownsea Lagoon with suspected Bird Flu. All have been sent for testing and the nature reserve is now currently closed until further notice.

Male Osprey 022 near nest site – Alison Copland

Come on, we need some rain now. These warm days are lovely, but several days almost topping 30 degrees is a bit much! This evening it stayed very mild for the duration of our Puffin Cruise which only returned 1 Puffin tonight, compared to 6 that were present yesterday evening. There were also 8 Fulmar on the water off Durlston and the two Peregrine families were still present at Durlston and Old Harry.

This morning we were thrilled to be able to help support on the release of the juvenile Peregrine Falcon that was found on Sunday evening in Poole Town. The bird was one of the Barclays Peregrines and was taken into care by ‘Wildlife Rescue’ from Ringwood having flown head first into a glass balcony. Thankfully it made a full recovery which allowed us to get the bird back on the Barclays building this morning where it was soon joined by both it’s parents and one of it’s siblings. A White-tailed Eagle was over Swineham this AM, being mobbed by one of the local Marsh Harriers. A Red Kite was over Lytchett Bay.

Marsh Harrier (above) and White-tailed Eagle (below) – Swineham – David Camp

Well, we always bang on about it, every year without fail. But today is the day Autumn migration begins! This is always marked when the first Green Sandpiper of the season arrives at Lytchett Fields, and today was that day. This is usually a mid-June occurrence with numbers of passing ‘Green Sands’ often building through June and July, before peaking in early August. Later in June the first passage Little Ringed Plovers will also arrive and before we know it, the floodgates will open, and we’ll be treated to five glorious months of autumn migration. There have also been some great experiences with Nightjar over the last few nights/days with a few local birders capturing stunning images of these usually shy birds. This evening our Puffin Cruise out to Dancing Ledge was busy with 4 (possibly 5) Puffin, 1000+ Guillemot, 6 Razorbill, 2 Peregrine families, 14 Fulmar, 6 Kittiwake, 3 Gannet, 7 Common Scoter and the usual constant passing of Sandwich and Common Tern. In the Wareham Channel 2 White-tailed Eagle were seen briefly and male Osprey 022 was seen in the mouth of the Frome. An Osprey was also seen off Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne.

Nightjar – Poole Harbour – Tony Furnell

Nightjar – Dunyeats Heath – David Forster

Nightjar – Lytchett Heath – Ian Ballam

It was good to receive some rain today, even if it was only a light drizzle for the first part of the morning. It was a much needed dampening down for the area. It didn’t seem to down any rare or common migrants en route north (or south), but did deliver some more juvenile Lapwing to Lytchett Fields with 5 there today. This evening our Puffin Cruise was finally able to depart after weeks of steady SE winds, with 4 Puffin seen, mostly on the cliffs of Dancing Ledge and the 2 Eider were still in Shell Bay on the way back. A White-tailed Eagle was seen from the Ham Common viewpoint this morning and 3 were still in the general vicinity of the Wareham Channel late afternoon. Also, we fully understand everyone is gripped to the Osprey nest cam, however, don’t forget we have two equally exciting webcams set up on the Brownsea Lagoon which we put up earlier this year in partnership with Dorset Wildlife Trust which are focused on the Common Tern and Sandwich Tern colony. Both colonies have hatched juveniles with the Sandwich Terns a few weeks more advanced. You can view both ‘Tern Cams’ HERE.

Screen grabs from the Brownsea Tern Cams

Although it may have gone a bit ‘eagle quiet’ in recent days, there were actually 4 different White-tailed Eagles in the harbour area today, with the semi-resident pair G466 and G463 in the Wareham Channel, plus female G801 and male G816 both arrived back within the last 24 hours. They’re all keeping their heads low it seems, and don’t seem to be as ‘flighty’ as in recent months, but they’re definitely still loving the Wareham Channel area, so don’t stop looking. It’s just you may have to look a bit harder. There were a few more ‘juv’ firsts for the summer with the first juvenile Black-headed Gull of the season appearing on Lychett Fields along with the first juvenile Lapwing, having almost certainly fledged from somewhere reasonably close by. A Hobby was seen over Upton, 2 Red Kite were over Sandford. Male Osprey 022 was seen fishing in the Wareham Channel near Giggers Island and there was a season high count of 7 Puffin at Dancing Ledge this evening. There were Cuckoo on Slepe Heath and at Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne. And finally, some good news, having been missing for several days, the 3rd juv Peregrine from the Barclays building re-appeared today with the whole famil of 5 (3 juvs and 2 adults) on show this evening.

Reed Warbler – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

It was a real scorcher today, but our Osprey viewing sessions were well rewarded with 2 Hobby, 1 Red Kite, 1 Goshawk, 1 Peregrine (2 Osprey), 3 Woodlark and a small party of Crossbill over the Piddle Valley during the course of the day. There was another Red Kite over Lytchett Bay and today (we think) only 1 juvenile Peregrine at Barclays was seen all day? There was no sign of our newly arrived male Osprey 374, but to be honest he could easily have left as quickly as he arrived with two year olds never often staying in one place for too long! He’ll be back soon no doubt.

Another cracking shot of male Osprey 374 yesterday – Morden Bog – Aidan Brown