Still feeling cold in the harbour as we reach the end of April but still plenty of birds arriving. Lots of Spring migrants singing at Morden Bog for our ID course this morning with 6 Woodlark, 4 Tree Pipit, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Hobby as well as 1 Peregrine and 3 Crossbill. At Swineham there were impressively now 3 Wood Sandpiper as well as the 1 Bonaparte’s Gull and 1 Little Gull  in the lower Piddle Valley. There were also 2 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, c50 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Marsh Harrier. Good numbers of Whimbrel are still passing through the harbour with sightings in Holes Bay and the field across the road from the Sunnyside car park today. 1 Red Kite flew over Lytchett Fields and 1 was over Upton Country Park.

Whimbel – Holes Bay – @BayHoles on Twitter

With the weekend over, there weren’t as many eye’s out searching the area, but still enough to return some decent sightings. The Lower Piddle Valley floods continued to deliver with the Bonaparte’s Gull still active there with the 1st winter Little Gull, along with a newly arrived Wood Sandpiper, 4 Spotted Redshank, 4 Greenshank, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper. This morning a migrant Osprey passed over Holes Bay, before carrying on north where there were also 9 Whimbrel. On Studland Beach there was a mixed flock of Sanderling and Dunlin, at Hartland Moor there were 2 Wheatear and a Lesser Whitethroat with 1 Hobby and 1 Wheatear on Slepe Heath. At Sunnyside there were still 5 Wheatear with 3 on Wareham Common along with 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Great White Egret and a Red Kite over. A White-tailed Eagle flew over Swineham Point and an Osprey (presumably male 022) flew up the Piddle Valley this evening with a fish.

Red Kite – Wareham Common

Despite a really cold start to the day, the bird numbers were once again top draw with what seemed like a few ‘top ups’ in certain areas after yesterdays fall. The south end of the PCW Drain was hopping with birds this morning and included 1 Lesser Whitethroat, c20 Common Whitethroat, 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 3 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap and 5 Swallow. The Lower Frome and Piddle Valley (either side of Swineham GP) was really productive all day and included 2 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Spotted Redshank, 6 Greenshank, 3 Common Sandpiper, the 1st winter Little Gull, plenty of Sedge and Reed Warbler singing, 2 Marsh Harrier, c200 Sand Martin and c30 Swallow. At Sunnyside c20 Whimbrel were in the field next to the farm and there were 7 Wheatear, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Whinchat and 1 Hobby in the fields south of the Sunnyside Scrape. The Brownsea Lagoon had a good number of passage waders including c20 Sanderling, c150 Dunlin, c10 Bar-tailed Godwit, c10 Turnstone, 5 Knot and 12 Avocet. In the Arable Field at Lytchett Fields there were still 6 Wheatear and 3 Whinchat with 17 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover and 1 Spotted Redshank out on the fields. A Spotted Flycatcher was seen at RSPB Arne and a White-tailed Eagle was soaring over Parkstone late morning before heading off north.

Sanderling flock – Brownsea Lagoon Beach – Alison Copland (taken from Spring Safari Cruise)

Bar-tailed Godwits – Brownsea Lagoon Beach – Alison Copland (taken from Spring Safari Cruise)

Common Whitethroat – Nine Barrow Down

Fresh juvenile Pied Wagtail – PCW Drain, Poole

There was a really good ‘fall’ of common migrants across the harbour today which seemed to see more and more birds arrive as the day progressed. The main arrivals seemed to be in the shape of Wheatear, Common Whitethroat and Whinchat. Totals from various sites included 5 Wheatear, 8 Whinchat, 1 Redstart, 1 Garden Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat and 1 Cuckoo at Lytchett Fields. At the PCW Drain there were 20(!) Common Whitethroat, 4 Reed Warbler and 3 Sedge Warbler. At Sunnyside Farm, Stoborough, 9 Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, 1 Cuckoo and 16 Whimbrel were logged. At Wareham Common there were between 300-400 Sand Martin, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Sedge Warbler. On the Brownsea Lagoon a 1st winter Little Gull was new in, also 1 Common Sandpiper and 32 Knot.

Male Northern Wheatear – Frome Valley

Female Northern Wheatear – Frome Valley

Male Whinchat – West Morden

As we enter the latter phase of April, migration should be well underway, and the dawn held some promise at least. However, by lunch time it reverted back to being like a cold December Day with a strong WNW wind and heavy rain! The day started off well with a nice log of common migrants up on Ballard including 4 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Tree Pipit, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 12 Willow Warbler. Later in the morning a Wood Warbler was found singing in a small patch of wood on the edge of Hartland Moor, close to Scotland Farm. In the Lower Piddle Valley this evening , just north of Swineham GP there were 2 Ruff, 3 Spotted Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 4 Dunlin, 10+ Redshank and 4 Lapwing and there was a single Bar-tailed Godwit on mud near the Stilt Pools. On Swineham GP it’s self 2 full summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe was a surprise find. An Osprey carrying a fish was seen over Wareham, which was likely to be male 022 and the White-tailed Eagle pair were circling over the Wareham Channel this morning. The Forster’s Tern was seen off Upton CP in Holes Bay NW this afternoon and a Common Sandpiper and 5 Reed Warbler were also in Holes Bay north.

Finally, we didn’t get a chance to include this news in yesterdays sightings as we’d already written the entry by the time it had happened, however, at 19:15 yesterday evening, our Osprey pair gave us all a massive surprise by laying a 4th egg. This is fantastic news and a scarce occurrence for Ospreys. Whether all 4 hatch is a different matter and we’ll just have to wait and see. If they do then 022 will have his work cut out for him and the nest could become rather crowded by mid-June!!!

Female Osprey CJ7 revealing her surprise 4th egg yesterday evening

Astonishing views of the White-tailed Eagle pair on our Spring Safari Cruise this morning. We had multiple flybys in the Wareham Channel as well as the female of the pair G466 diving into the water at one point and bringing out the skeleton of some sort of water bird!? It’s fantastic that this is becoming such a common sight in the local area and great to see how well they are fitting into this landscape. We also had stunning views of the Forster’s Tern on a yellow buoy off the Hamworthy shoreline. It then took off with 2 Sandwich Tern and headed towards Brownsea. 3 Whimbrel flew west into the Wareham Channel. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were c30 Sandwich Tern and c10 Common Tern as well as c30 Bar-tailed Godwit and 1 Avocet.

Elsewhere the 1 Bar-headed Goose turned up in Lytchett Bay this morning. 1 Whimbrel was in Holes Bay NE.

White-tailed Eagle G466 – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride

Forster’s Tern – off the Hamworthy Shoreline – Harry McBride

It felt like there could have been some decent migration today, with overcast skiess and a bit of rain by the afternoon. The dawn saw a small fall of birds arrive, with 3 Willow Warbler, 4 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap and 2 Whimbrel up on Ballard Down with a small passage of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin arriving in off the sea. A Cuckoo was at Holmebridge with c200 Sand Martin and Swallow feeding over the drying out floodplain. A redhead Goosander flew over Wareham Common, a Hobby and a single Whimbrel was at Lytchett Fields with 4 Bar-tailed Godwit arriving there later in the afternoon and c10 Wheatear were at Greenlands Farm and 7 up on Ballard. In Wareham 3 Swift were hawking over the town and in Brands Bay 3 Whimbrel, 3 Avocet and a late Red-breasted Merganser were logged. On the floods just north of Swineham GP a single Spotted Redshank and 2 Greenshank were on the floods.

Swift – Wareham/Swineham (yesterday) – Peter Moore

The undoubted highlight and most unusual bird seen on this morning’s jam packed Spring Safari Cruise was an Arctic Skua… the first we’ve ever seen inside the harbour on a public cruise! We amazed to meet it racing up the Wareham Channel being mobbed by Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls, before it quickly peeled off towards the open heathlands at the top of the channel and circling high before it was lost to view. Arctic Skua are a frequent passage species on the Dorset coast at this time of year but very rarely come into the harbour, instead passing along the coast often at considerable distance from the shore. However unusual detours into the harbour like this one have been recorded before, and we think it’s due to confused individuals entering the harbour thinking its an archipelago which they can take a shortcut through and exit back onto the coast on the other side, only to find themselves in dead-end inlets, and having no choice than to cross the land to rejoin the coast once again. Fascinating behaviour and a real privilege to witness first hand!

Also on the boat trip, a Little Gull was once again present at the top of the Wareham Channel, sat on the water with a group of Black-headed Gull at the mouth of the River Piddle. Here we also had several high soaring raptors over the boat, including an Osprey with a fish, a Red Kite and a White-tailed Eagle which all headed north-west towards Wareham Forest. Marsh Harrier and Peregrine were both also hunting nearby, and up the River Frome we were treated to the songs of Reed Warbler and Cetti’s Warber. Overhead throughout was a strong passage of around 40 Swallows, plus 2 House Martin and 1 Sand Martin, and for many of us onboard our first 5 Swift of the year off Hamworthy. With the northerly wind Brownsea Lagoon was fairly quiet for waders but there was a single Whimbrel, along with around 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 50 Sandwich Tern and 3 Common Tern. A Wheatear was also seen briefly over Poole Quay at the start of the boat.

Elsewhere an Osprey caught a fish in the Middlebere Channel and another two were seen over Lytchett Bay, and at 2:22pm breeding female also laid her 3rd (an most likely final) egg of the season! Nearby on Wareham Common the Bonaparte’s Gull was also reported once again around midday, on it’s own to the right hand side of the railway bridge.

1st Winter Little Gull – Wareham Channel, Spring Safari Cruise – Alison Copland