As we mentioned the other day this spring has been one of the best in recent years for migrating Osprey through Poole Harbour, with birds beginning to pass through from early April and here we are in late May and there are still birds using the harbour on migration. We mentioned that this ‘bodes well’ for when our translocated Osprey chicks that were released in 2017 begin to arrive back in the spring of 2019 as they will hopefully encourage some of these passage birds to hang around a bit longer and eventually stay to breed. There are several possibilities when it comes to Osprey beginning to nest in and around Poole Harbour as a result of our translocation project. The first is obviously that some of our translocated birds arrive back and begin nesting at some point over the coming years. This will with out doubt happen at some point down the line. However, by releasing Osprey chicks into the harbour each year over the coming four years it can totally change the dynamics of how passage/migrating Osprey see the area. When migrating Osprey pass through the harbour in autumn and begin seeing lots of newly fledged (released) youngsters in the harbour, some of these migrating birds will very quickly get drawn to this area as an obvious successful place to raise young. Last year when our first eight chicks were released an unpaired two-year old ringed migrant Osprey called CJ7 who was originally born and hatched at Rutland turned up in the harbour and for just under a week began associating her self very closely with our translocated chicks, often feeding and once even roosting with them. She was clearly happy to see them and liked what she saw in terms of habitat and friendly faces. This last week two Osprey have been present in the harbour but frustratingly they’ve not been close enough to see if any had rings on their legs. Then, finally today we managed to track one of the two down, only to find it was CJ7 back again! She’s obviously been drawn to Poole Harbour again, perhaps looking to see if there are any other chicks or nesting birds around this year, as Osprey are semi-colonial and like nesting in areas where other Osprey are nesting. Now, its way too early to get excited but its very significant that CJ7 has returned to Poole Harbour as it could be the beginnings of her taking a liking to the area and hoping/waiting for a male, perhaps one of our returning chicks next year to settle down with? Or, she could just as simply head off back to Rutland and we never see her again. Either way we’ll be watching things very carefully from here on in.

Elsewhere around the harbour today there were 2 newly arrived Ruff on Lytchett Fields and another on Brownsea. Also on Lytchett Fields were 181 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Ringed Plover, 4 Dunlin and 1 Greenshank. At Arne 3 Cuckoo were calling, one at Shipstal, one at Middlebere and one on Arne Hill and a Red Kite drifted over Coombe Heath. With the heat attracting insects up into the stratosphere Hobby were again active over Slepe Heath and the western end of Middlebere.

 Osprey CJ7 having a good preen at Arne