This morning we had a team out surveying ‘Gull Islands’ in the Wareham Channel to see what impact last years egg thefts had had on the colony. Early indications show there has been zero evidence off egg collecting this spring so far which is great, however productivity still seems very low, most likely due to the cold, dry spring, meaning birds haven’t been able to feed properly. The largest island had very good numbers of Med Gulls on it, but only returned 11 Med Gull nests with eggs. We’ll be completing the survey tomorrow and will report our findings then. Other sightings from around the harbour included yesterdays Hen Harrier again out over Hartland and towards Swineham. There was again a huge push of Swallows going through with a likely final total of many thousands over the course of the day. Interestingly the flocks contained several Sand Martin and Swift but no House Martin. With the high number of hirundines going through it was sure to draw the attention of Hobby and sure enough over Arne, Slepe Heath, Swineham and Middlebere there was a minimum of 8 hawking after flying insects and the odd hirundine. At Lytchett Fields there was 1 Ruff, 7 Ringed Plover, 5 Greenshank, 45 Black-tailed Godwit and the Grasshopper Warbler was having a burst of song again. 

Approaching ‘Gull Islands’ for our annual survey