There was a definite cold, crispness to the air this morning, with more than just a hint of autumn creeping in. More arrivals included 30+ Wigeon in Holes Bay, 21 Turnstone on Baiter and c75 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon heralding the start of colder days yet to come.

Yesterday’s sunny sky and gentle breeze was also all it took for some of our juvenile Osprey from this year’s project to up and leave with the sighting of 022 from our Osprey cruise being the last sighting of him before he headed south for the very first time. Other departures have included chicks 015, 016 and 018 meaning it won’t be long now before all of this years birds move on. A very sad but also very rewarding time. We’ve also seen our happy couple CJ7 and LS7 leave, with no sightings since late on Aug 28^th meaning they probably left early on the morning of Aug 29^th . We really do wish them both well and look forward to their safe return next spring!

There was plenty more on offer today including a rich looking Lytchett Fields which saw 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 12 Knot, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Ruff, 12 Greenshank, 264 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Green Sandpiper, 4 Ringed Plover, 100+ Redshank, 40+ Lapwing and 3 Spoonbill, along with 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Kingfisher. At the PC World Drain there were c15 each of Blackcap and Chiffchaff with 1 Common Whitethroat. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Spoonbill count had reached 25 and there was an adult Peregrine there. Marsh Harrier numbers keep increasing/decreasing regularly with a new bird in today that joined the (current) resident male and female, but some recent newbies have moved on already. In Middlebere an Osprey was very active hunting, catching a fish close to the Middlebere hide before taking it to the nest platform and a flock of c300 Black-tailed Godwit were spooked by a Peregrine.