A beautiful day signalled with singing Skylark on Hartland, displaying Meadow Pipit on Slepe Heath, singing Blackcap in Poole, Peregrines carrying out food passes on the Barclays building, Brimstone Butterfly’s dancing on woodland edges at Arne, Buzzards soaring over most of the harbour skyline and a sun set that was hard to beat. A Bittern watch was carried out at Swineham at dusk which produced sadly no Bittern but there were other obvious departures with a flurry of Redwing ‘zeeting’ into the darkness just after sunset, three separate flocks of Common Snipe and what looked to be 2 Jack Snipe lifting off and heading stratospherically high north on their voyage back to their breeding grounds plus several flocks of Teal heading off in the inky, gloomy darkness calling and saying good bye until winter. There were also 27 Sand Martin over the main pit, 1 Barn Owl flew by and 4 Chiffchaff were singing. Two Red Kite drifted south of Lytchett which signals the start of the big spring migration and there was still a single Purple Sandpiper with 16 Sanderling on the Sandbanks groynes. Poole Park had a number of Med Gulls still, 11 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Kingfisher. There was also a stunning Common Buzzard logged on our Osprey nest cam along with a Kestrel. Hopefully not long until the first Ospreys are logged in the harbour!

Pale Common Buzzard on Osprey nest cam