Spring is pressing on and we’re almost in May! There are more good birds on the way and it won’t belong until the first Swifts arrive. Until then we’ll have to make do with the busy arrival of Swallow and Sand Martin that continued to arrive during the course of today, and it even seems some House Martin are back on territory already now. Whimbrel were seen at several sights with 5 in Holes Bay, 5 in Lytchett Bay 3 off Shipstal Point, 3 in Brands Bay and 6 in Middlebere. 3 different White-tailed Eagle were in and around the Wareham Channel. The Peregrine pair on Barclays are either still incubating or may even have newly hatched young? At Swineham 3 Little Ringed Plover were on the pool north of the gravel pit and a Garganey was on the Stilt Pool this evening. A Common Whitethroat was in scrub next to Rock Lea viewpoint and a Cuckoo was at RSPB Arne, with another cuckoo at Lytchett Bay along with 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Ringed Plover and a newly arrived Common Sandpiper. 

Common Whitethroat – Slepe Heath – Mark Wright

The atmosphere for our Spring Safari Cruise was set this morning with the continuous movement of Swallow low over the harbour as we made our way up the Wareham Channel. The sounds of Mediterranean Gull were hard to miss as they cut through the thousands of Black-headed Gull now active over the Gull islands in the channel, along with 5+ Sandwich Tern using the area to feed. There were 2 Marsh Harrier were active near Swineham, and the high water on the scrapes attracted a lone Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper, along with 1 Barnacle Goose amongst the 3 Egyptian Geese present. Brownsea Lagoon provided views of 5 Spoonbill, 50 Black-tailed Godwit, 10+ Bar-tailed Godwit and 20 Avocet, with numbers of Sandwich and Common Tern continuing to rise. Today’s list of spring migrants also featured 1 Wheatear moving the sea wall of the lagoon and the first local Whinchat of the year reported from the Hyde’s Heath trail at RSPB Arne today. This afternoon, 1 White-tailed Eagle and 1 Red Kite were also seen from Morden Bog.

Spoonbills – Brownsea Lagoon – Alison Copland

Huge fall today at Portland – in fact a staggering 470 birds were ringed at the Observatory by midday! Turning to the Harbour, migrants arrived in the form of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler on Wareham Common and Willow Warbler recorded in good numbers across the recording area.  There was late news of two singing Cuckoo at Middlebere briefly on Friday, the first of the year for Poole Harbour. The gorgeous weather encouraged Woodlark into full song across heathlands and 2 Spotted Redshank was still present from Rock Lea View. There were 4 Common Sandpiper at Lytchett Fields with a Sedge Warbler and 14 Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper were at Holes Bay while Wheatear were thinly spread with individuals at Lytchett Bay, Holton Lee and Arne. Venturing beyond the recording area, a Hoopoe occupied the cricket field in Swanage. Upton Skylines enjoyed 2 Yellow Wagtail and a circling Red Kite. A White-tailed Eagle was logged over the northern fringes of Poole Town as well as the western shorelines of Arne/Hydes Heath through the day. At Swineham this evening there were over 1000 hirundines this evening with c820 Sand Martin, c205 Swallow and 25 House Martin, also 1 Cuckoo, 3 Sedge Warbler and 6 Reed Warbler. There are still a few Spoonbill kicking about with 1 on Brownsea and 2 in Middlebere.

Wheatear – Lytchett Bay – @nikodogtwite

Mid-April often delivers the next wave of migrants and that rung true today with the harbours first Common Whitethroat of the year in the PCW Drain, and there was a stunning adult Yellow Wagtail on Wareham Common with Lytchett Bay seeing its first Reed Warbler of the spring. A Hobby was over Hartland, Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin were logged passing in small numbers at numerous locations around the harbour. Off Hydes Heath, RSPB Arne, the White-tailed Eagle pair were seen out in the Wareham Channel, one chasing down a Canada Goose. Our Osprey pair were mega busy this morning nest building and bringing in material to the nest, possibly suggesting that CJ7 could be ready to lay her first egg any moment now.

Yellow Wagtail – Wareham Common – Joe Parker

Umm, the less said about today the better! Another wet and windy day, although bright horizons are just around the corner according to the mort recent forecast. The best (so far) of today was 4 Wheatear at Hartland Stud and 14 Sand Martin flew through Lytchett Bay. It didn’t seem too many people were out birding, but those that were need congratulating for perseverance.

Wheatear (yesterday) – Hartland – Peter Moore

An Osprey with a blue ring on right leg briefly landed on one of the nest perches this morning. Too far away to be able to read it sadly, but it will be an English or Welsh hatched individual! Hopefully it will stick around and touch down on one of our platforms so we can confirm the ring number. In other exicting news, the first Puffins have been sighted back at Dancing Ledge along the Purbecks. Two individuals were spotted c.200m out at sea. A White-tailed Eagle was seen soaring low over the Ham Common Viewpoint. A Red Kite was picked up over Lytchett Bay Airspace around 11AM and 4 Wheatear occupied Sunnyside. An impressive 607 Black-tailed Godwit, many having now acquired their stunning summer plumages.

Puffins – Dancing Ledge – Back of camera shot taken by @Snowfla93053790

High winds, rain and hail have no doubt hampered birding opportunities today, but a few weather windows provided some nice sightings… A scan of Brownsea Lagoon before the high winds set in reported 24 Sandwich tern and 6 Common Tern on the islands, along with several pairs of Black-headed Gull now getting settled to breed. An early morning count at Swineham showed a minor arrival with 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, c80 Sand Martin, c20 Swallow and c10 House Martin with the single Barnacle Goose was still present, as well as 18 Shelduck, 2 Shoveler, 10 Gadwall, 4 Teal, 1 Curlew, 4 Lapwing, 11 Black-tailed Godwit and 6 Redshank. At Lytchett Fields, 1 Cattle Egret was seen in flight this morning heading west, and 1 Spotted Redshank was present on French’s pool. From Rock Lea Viewpoint at Lytchett Bay, 87 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Redshank, 3 Curlew, 2 Sandwich Tern and 12 Mediterranean Gull were counted. A nice sighting of 2 Eider were reported off Middle Beach mid-morning. 150 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Avocet were also counted at Holes Bay.

Black-headed Gulls – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton