Well, it finally happened. Osprey season has once again begun. This morning, not one but two individuals were seen hunting out in the Wareham Channel with one catching a fish then settling on the southern channel shoreline in a Silver Birch Tree and then the second heading off over towards Middlebere. Then, around 12:30pm another Osprey was seen in Holes Bay, which could have actually potentially been a third individual which is excellent. Migrant Osprey this early in the season all tend to be established breeders further north so rarely stick around. And it was no surprise that there we didn’t capture any todays birds on any of our 6 nest cams around the harbour. Give it another week and not only will we hopefully see the return of CJ7 but also numerous other non-breeding individuals that may be interested in sticking around. At least the floodgates have now opened. Yesterday, one of the IOW White-tailed Eagles also passed over the harbour heading north, having passed over the Wareham Channel and then over Holes Bay. Now that would have been a sight and a half! Plus, with two being photographed together over Christchurch Harbour this morning it seems this could soon become a regular and very exciting sight from now on. There were 31 Sand Martin at Swineham GP with 1 drake Pochard there too, and 4 Sandwich Tern were off Baiter.

Record shot of Osprey over Wareham Channel taken from Ham viewpoint – Joe Parker