Loads of fledged birds can be seen/found around the harbour now. Young Black-headed Gulls are visible at numerous sites certainly on low tides, many of the Sandwich Terns are now up, up and away. On the roofs (and some pavements) around Old Town Poole many young Herring Gull Chicks can be seen wandering around. If you do find a young bird then the chances are the parents are close by, and even though its on the ground they’ll continue to feed it, so don’t worry.

Juvenile Herring Gull – Asda, Holes Bay – John Pick

As autumn progresses the Brownsea Lagoon is definitely a site birders should be watching, noting and getting excited about. The opportunity it provides is huge but it needs almost constant monitoring to get a full appreciation of quite simply how many birds pass through the site over the course of a day, a week or even a month. Today there were 10 freshly arrived Common Sandpiper and 1 juvenile 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Greenshank and a Spoonbill. Hangers on from the summer included 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 21 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Avocet and 6 Dunlin. There were also 18 fledged Sandwich Tern chicks out of a total of c80 on the lagoon.

There were Osprey in the Wareham Channel and at Morden Bog early morning. At Lytchett Fields a crazy count of 22 Green Sandpiper was almost a record count with 7 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and 1 Grey Plover also present.

There are still a few Cuckoo hanging around and the first few juveniles have been seen too with an adult at Middlebere and a juv at Hartland. Although wader passage is picking up it was slim pickings at Brands Bay with 21 Black-tailed Godwit, 28 Curlew, 2 Dunlin and the first 2 Common Gull of the autumn. At Arne an Osprey was resting up on the northern side, which was viewable from Slepe Heath and at dusk our guided walk (hosted in partnership with the National Trust) on Slepe heath saw us witness what could almost be described as a Nightjar epidemic! In all our time watching the harbour I don’t think we’ve ever seen activity quite like this with Nightjar (at times) hovering just a few feet away from us. Incredible scenes!

Sunset on Slepe Heath

It’s getting to that time of year where juvenile gulls begin to appear around the harbour, allowing you to really try and get to grips with this plumage type. This time of year is classic for fresh juvenile Mediterranean and Yellow-legged Gulls to appear around the harbour, the former being an exceptionally smart bird to try and find, with the latter being an ID conundrum to get you’re head around. Juvenile Black-headed Gulls have been fledging for over 2 weeks now but at Lytchett Fields today the first juv Med Gull of the summer appeared which is likely to be one of the youngsters from our now thriving Med Gull population in the Wareham Channel. Holes Bay NE is the best place to try and see/find Yellow-legged Gull any time between mid July and late August. Today, the 2 Spoonbill that were on Brownsea were feeding in the mouth of Lytchett Bay on the low tide. At Sunnyside Farm a Cuckoo was on the fence-line near the viewing screen and 9 Lapwing were on the wet flooded part of the site. On the Brownsea Lagoon the first juvenile Sandwich Tern took flight and it won’t be too much longer before the rest follow suit. Although the Common Tern chicks still have some way to go.

There have been 2 Spoonbill in the harbour for a few weeks now but they’ve been quite hard to try and pin down. Today they spent most the day on the Brownsea Lagoon which is typical behaviour for this time of year with migrant birds normally beginning to arrive from breeding grounds in Holland, Belgium, France, Germany and Denmark by the end of July, with numbers building all the way through August, September and into October. An un-ringed Osprey was out hunting over the Wareham Channel at midday but wasn’t seen to feed anywhere. At Lytchett Fields the wader numbers just keep on growing with now 17 Green Sandpiper, 12 Little Ringed Plover still, 2 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Grey Plover and the first Whimbrel of the autumn.

Fairly slow today with Spoonbill reported on the Brownsea Lagoon, 12 Ringed Plover, 14 Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank 2 Common Sandpiper and a Grey Plover on Lytchett Fields. An Osprey was seen over the Wareham Channel and a Hobby was on Slepe Heath.

Today we hosted our first ever summer ‘Harbour Cruise’ where we ventured up the Wareham Channel at dawn where another fine morning welcomed us, however a touch of cloud clover took a welcome edge off the recent searing heat. It was a great trip and as we travelled up the Frome Valley with the rising tide we were lucky enough to see several early autumn migrants including 3 Common Sandpiper, 4 Greenshank, several Redshank and plenty of Curlew. Around c200 over-over summering Black-tailed Godwit were seen as well as 4 Bar-tailed Godwit off Shipstal. Over Arne Moors a Marsh Harrier was hunting and unbeknown to our guests (and us) a Cattle Egret was also feeding out on the Moors, but the long grass would have prevented us from being able to see it. Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler and Cetti’s Warbler were all still vocal and Swift, Swallow and House Martin darted over the boat. We also saw 3 Common Seals with one in the mouth of the River Piddle and 2 off Shipstal. Common and Sandwich Tern were very active and there were still a lot of gulls on the breeding islands suggesting we’ve still got a lot of young to fledge yet. On Lytchett Fields 12 Little Ringed Plover were feeding (including 4 juv’s), and there were also 3 Common Sandpiper, 8 Green Sandpiper, c30 Lapwing, c20 Redshank, c30 Black-tailed Godwit, c30 Teal, 1 Shoveler and the Barn Owl was hunting over the approach fields at dusk. Interestingly, at dusk when we were setting up our night recording gear at Lytchett Heath, a couple of hundred Swallow (mostly juveniles) come in from high and dropped down as if they were going into roost giving it a very autumn feel to the evening.

Little Ringed Plover (juv) – Lytchett Fields – Paul Morton

Little Ringed Plover (Adult) – Lytchett Fields – Paul Morton

Shoveler – Lytchett Fields – Paul Morton

With summer powering on, it seems the young birds that are currently being tending to by their parents are doing well. Nowhere highlights this better than the Brownsea Lagoon currently which is bursting with life There are young birds all over the place including the standard good numbers of Sandwich Tern and Common Tern chicks, lots of Black-headed Gulls still with young, Oystercatcher chicks, Shelduck and Gadwall ducklings…the list goes on. If you get a chance to visit over the coming weeks its well worth it and a jot to watch.

Sandwich Tern chick – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Black-headed Gull & chicks – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Oystercatcher & chick – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Gadwall duckling – Brownsea Lagoon – Rene Goad

Today was another hot one with a few notable sightings. It looks as if the Spotted Flycatcher are back in the Arne over-flow car park which is goo news considering there are next to none around the harbour currently. In the Wareham Channel 2 Black Swan appeared out of nowhere and the female Marsh Harrier was busy in the Wareham Channel. At Holton Lee a Cuckoo was testing its taste buds by eating Cinnabar Moth caterpillars.

Cuckoo – Holton Lee – Ricahrd Stephenson