The high pressure, easterly wind and warm temperatures obviously got a few birds moving about today with several good birds to report. Firstly 3 Spoonbill dropped down and appeared on the Brownsea Lagoon mid-morning. Although Poole Harbour is famous for its over-wintering population, birds during the summer months are much scarcer. Sometimes over-wintering birds will hang around into the summer but our last over-wintering Spoonbill departed in early April. Todays 3 are likely to be 1st summer birds (juveniles from last year) just touring around and enjoying their ‘gap year’, and who knows, perhaps scoping out suitable breeding areas for when they themselves are ready to breed? An Osprey was seen in the Wareham Channel, which again, for the time of year is interesting. Its possible that this is a 2nd summer Osprey (a juvenile 2 years ago) which has returned to the UK for the first time since fledging the nest. When juvenile Osprey migrate south down into West Africa for the first time, they remain their for the following summer and don’t migrate north again until the following summer after that. When they do return in that 2nd summer they don’t breed and can be extremely mobile, sometimes covering vast distances looking at areas other osprey are nesting in, as well as visiting good fishing sites. In the Lower Frome Valley there was a Cattle Egret, which was seen briefly between Arne Moors and Bestwall. After yesterday’s Red Kite movement it was inevitable one would appear in the harbour and a couple did, with one high above Holes Bay mid-morning with another over Sandford.
What started off as a promising day, with overcast sky’s and an easterly air flow, soon descended into…
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