After taking two weeks respite from night recording I set my gear up again last night out in the Lower Frome Valley, but somewhere slightly different to normal. I haven’t gone through all of the recording yet, but within the first ten minuets I had a new species for my night recording list as a Green Sandpiper passed quite close calling as it headed west. Also several Water Rail passed close by and were also calling from the reeds. A few Curlew were passing over and Redshank, Oystercatcher and Lapwing were all noted. Two young Tawny Owls were consistently calling from a near by woodland.

Green Sandpiper – Lower Frome Valley 

At RSPB Lytchett Fields there were 6 Greenshank, 64 Redshank, 37 Black-tailed Godwit, 17 Lapwing, 8 Teal, 22 Little Egret and up to 15 Green Sandpiper. A Peregrine flew over Poole train station mid morning and the Osprey was seen over Arne.

Not much change I’m afraid. On RSPB Lytchett Fields there were 10 Green Sandpiper, 1 juv Little Ringed Plover, 7 Greenshank and the Yellow-legged Gull. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 2 Knot, 2 Greenshank, 200+ Black-tailed Godwit and 50+ Redshank. There was a single Common Sandpiper along the shoreline at Upton CP.

An Osprey, presumably the same one that was seen sat on Hartland the other day was seen fishing over the western end of the Wareham Channel yesterday afternoon. At Middlebere 2 Hobby were circling above the heath calling to each other. The 2 Spoonbill were still at Arne, commuting between Shipstal and Middlebere. On Brownsea there was still 2 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 100+ Black-tailed Godwit and 20+ Redshank. At RSPB Lytchett Fields there was just one each of Greenshank, Med Gull, Yellow-legged Gull and Whimbrel.

Of interest , the Stour Ringing Group has a small, infrequent ringing set up at Holton lee, with ringing activities often commencing less than once a week between July and March. However, over the last few years they have ringed a total of 28 Great Spotted Woodpeckers! Which just goes to show that they aren’t always the same birds returning time after to time to feed. 

On RSPB Lytchett Fields there were two flocks of Green Sandpiper consisting of 6 and 10 birds, suggesting there were 16 birds on site, however both flocks weren’t seen at the same time so there is a chance of some duplication. Also present the juvenile Little Ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 1 Med Gull, 1 Whimbrel, 40+ Redshank and 20+ Lapwing and good numbers of House Martin. At Arne 2 Hobby were over Coombe Heath and the 2 Spoonbill were in Middlebere again. On the Brownsea Lagoon wader numbers are still growing slowly with 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 106 Black-tailed Godwit and a good number of Redshank. In various woodland scrub habitats around the harbour there seems to have been a good breeding year for both Blackcap and Chiffchaff with juveniles present in good numbers. Over the next week or two, we should start seeing the first Willow Warblers and Pied Flycatchers passing through with hopefully more Osprey following not far behind.

Our updated events schedule for the remainder of 2015 can now be FOUND HERE. Join us as we look for migrants passing through the harbour during the autumn and experience thousands of waders and wildfowl in some of Poole Harbours winter hot spots.

Having been away for a couple of days, it’s always nice to hear about the good selection of birds you’ve missed! 

More migrant activity with an Osprey seen in the Middlebere area this afternoon, which could be the bird seen over Corfe Castle a couple of days ago. Also in Middlebere today was an adult Spoonbill, 1 Whimbrel a Cuckoo, 3 Curlew, 2 Redshank and three broods of Shelduck totalling 30 young. A good total of 10 Crossbill passed over Stoborough early this morning. On the Brownsea Lagoon more waders arrived including 57 Redshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 115 Black-tailed Godwit and singles of Avocet, Knot, Dunlin and Whimbrel. So far there has been a whopping 105 fledged Sandwich Terns with the total expected to rise plus the pure bred pair of Yellow-legged Gulls raised two chicks and there has also been two successful Med Gull pairs. At RSPB Lytchett Fields a drake Garganey in the bay was a surprise, there were 2 Spotted Redshank on Sherford Pools, also the juvenile Little Ringed Plover, 4 Green Sandpiper, 54 Redshank, 43 Lapwing and 1 Greenshank.

An Osprey was seen flying over Corfe Castle around midday heading towards the harbour. At RSPB Lytchett Fields the juvenile Little Ringed Plover remained and there was a continued good count of Lapwing, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit, all in varying degrees of plumage and moult. In Middlebere 3 Spoonbill were feeding and 2 Green Sandpiper were in front of the hide. 

As July pushes on, the waders continue to arrive. At RSPB Lytchett fields 5 Little Ringed Plover were present, as was a summer plumaged Spotted Redshank. Up to 5 (likely more) Green Sandpipers have taken up residence in some of the quieter pools and there are good numbers of Redshank, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit spread across the site. There were more signs of autumn at Lytchett Fields as a decent sized flock of 100+ Swallow gathered in the evening to roost in the reedbed, closely followed by a Hobby one evening and a Sparrowhawk the next. At Holton Lee Woodlark, good numbers of Stonechat and 2 Green Sandpiper were noted. The juvenile Marsh Harriers were seen again from a Wareham Channel boat tour as they alighted above the reedbeds on Giggers Island. There are now lots of juvenile birds around and in my garden the other day I experienced my first mixed-tit flock of the autumn, but over the next few weeks we should start seeing the first lemon yellow Willow Warblers joing these flocks along with quite often species like Treecreeper, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and even Firecrest.

There was more evidence waders moving with a nice selection in Brands Bay, consisting of 2 Whimbrel, 32 Curlew, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 47 Black-tailed Godwit, 61 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 1 Dunlin and 30 Med Gulls. At South Haven, 3 Ringed Plover settled and 50+ Swift were counted. On RSPB Lytchett Fields there were 4 adult Little Ringed Plover, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel in the bay and a scattering of Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Lapwing across the site.

There has certainly been more signs of migration over the last couple of days, but by far the most incredible news from the last few days is that there is now not only one Marsh Harrier chick in what was thought to be abandoned nest site, but three! After weeks of watching with almost zero activity, it appears the female has been stretched to the absolute max by trying to provide for her self and three hungry young. With so few visits to the nest site its almost unbelievable to think that three young could have survived, but she has obviously been able to do just enough undetected to pull through. What a very happy ending, to what was looking like a total disaster.

This evening Nightjar walk was another stonker with Barn Owl, Spoonbill, Hobby, Yellow-legged Gull, Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew and a Green Sandpiper all noted from Middlebere and then a good number of Nightjar out on the heathland, followed by Glow Worms and juv Tawny’s back at the car park. At Lytchett Fields there were 5 little Ringed Plover, 4 Green Sandpiper and a Yellow-legged Gull. On Brownsea today a summer plumaged Spotted Redshank was present, with 2 Spoonbill. Sound recording from the last two nights in the Lower Frome Valley produced a couple of Little Grebe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and likely Little Ringed Plover.

NIGHTJAR WALK – THIS SATURDAY AT ARNE RSPB RESERVE – TO BOOK CLICK HERE – Last satursdays was an absolute belter with plenty of Nightjar activity, also Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Spoonbill, Dartford WArbler, Glow Worms, Foxes and several bat species were encountered so come and get involved.

Again it was Lytchett Fields that saw the only coverage today. There were 3 adult Little Ringed Plover, 53+ Redshank, 10+ Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Green Sandpiper, 5 Teal and good numbers of Shelduck out on the wet fields. A Hobby passed overhead and a Common Sandpiper was at Lytchett Way.