Lockdown has been a long, and for many people, difficult process. People have found comfort and hope in nature by tuning into nest cams, counting birds in their garden and listening to their local dawn choruses. But what about nature it’s self? How has that coped with no people or disturbances in the landscape? Time will tell, depending on whether any breeding bird surveys or ringing can take place later in the year but are there opportunities to help now?

As a conservation charity not only have we been struggling not meeting and speaking to people about our work via our public bird boat scheme or engaging in chat in our HQ. We’ve been desperate to get some practical conservation work up and running too.

Last year thanks to a kind donation from local business Saltwater Stone we were able to kickstart our Swift City project by erecting several new Swift boxes up and around Old Town Poole. Parallel to this we also hosted a public fundraiser to help us spread the project further across the harbour with aim of getting more boxes up this spring. Then Covid-19 hit and we were stopped in our tracks.

Swifts have declined as a breeding species in the UK by 58% since 1995 which is a startling statistic. The RSPB also recently launched an appeal for Swift sightings across the UK by creating this SWIFT MAPPER, which allows people to input nesting Swift locations across the country.

We were also keen to act and get things moving again to help Swifts, so before the breeding season had gone too far we quickly identified a series of new locations for Swift nest boxes at other sites in the harbour, using contacts of ours within ‘Swift Hotspots’ who kindly provided data and sightings to us, meaning we didn’t need to leave our houses. With the new locations identified we had a series of new Swift boxes made locally (online order times were several weeks)! And we’ve now arranged with homeowners for us to come and install them quickly and safely just in time for the breeding season.

So, huge thanks to everyone that contributed last year, we’re now (today and early next week) getting the boxes up (15 more in total) in the hope that Swifts will start using them this summer, therefore helping to bolster and increase existing populations around then harbour……..lets see what happens!

Some of our new Swift Boxes

Inside design – The minimalistic look

Well, yesterday, despite all the doom and gloom, we had a welcome and exciting piece of news that the Rutland female Osprey, CJ7, that has spent the last 3 summers in Poole Harbour returned this morning as a trial camera snapped her on one of the Arne nest platforms for a brief moment. Although she was only seen for a short moment, that fact she’s back is just the tonic we needed and hopefully the story will develop from here on in with LS7 hopefully not too far behind her.

Adult female and chick on nest, Hugh Miles

To celebrate this great news we’re proud and honoured to have been given permission to host a wonderfully classic and beautifully produced film that was made back in 1979 by local wildlife film-maker Hugh Miles. Hugh, who doesn’t live a million miles from Poole Harbour, is a highly commended and award winning wildlife film maker who has dedicated his life to conservation and creating rich, detailed and powerful films about the natural world. Hugh joined us on one of our Osprey cruises last summer and very kindly (just a few weeks ago) sent us this film which blew us away.

With thanks to the RSPB media unit who have kindly granted us permission to use the film, we’re thrilled so many people are going to be able to watch it as the story and conservation messages in this film are just as relevant today as they were back in the late 1970’s.

Hugh kindly provided us with these comments about one of his favourite birds;

“One of our children’s first words was “osprey”, for we lived alongside these charismatic birds for two years while filming them in the early years of their re-colonisation of Scotland and our love for them is deep in our souls. Katie and Peter still get excited whenever they see one, as do Sue and I, so we can’t admire the Birds of Poole Harbour team more for their brave and exciting initiative to re-establish the breeding of ospreys just ten miles from our home. These are trying times but if you want the best possible news, the osprey’s imminent return is it.”

Considering the types of recording and film equipment that were needed back then, it’s just astonishing how Hugh managed to get some of this footage….just incredible.

So, for a classic reminder of how we got to where we are today, please sit back, relax and enjoy this wonderful piece of wildlife history.

‘Osprey’ – A year in the life (part 1) 

‘Osprey’ – A year in the life (part 2) 

If you have visited our engagement HQ on Poole Quay, then you will probably have used our large, interactive touch screen map which offers a wealth of information and helps visitors visualise birding routes around the harbour.

However, this resource has more potential. Despite the temporary closure of our engagement centre, our team are still beavering away behind the scenes and are currently producing a fully interactive bird quiz, offering a fun and informative resource.

The quiz will cover all ages and abilities. Exercises include identification of photos and videos, silhouettes, calls and sonograms… so there will be something for everyone! Whether you’re an avid beginner or experienced ornithologist, the interactive quiz will help you learn about the Harbour’s incredible wildlife

We would love to include some of your photos and videos in our new interactive quiz. That includes all those blurry out-of-focus images and record shots too! Record shots are just as welcome as a frame-filling images as these can feature in our more difficult identification levels…

So, if you would like any of of your photos or videos credited, please email hqmanager@birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk

We’re continuing to try and provide interactive education material for parents and teachers to use over this lockdown period so have teamed up with our friends at Livability Holton Lee, Dorset Wildlife trust and National Trust to get you to carry out some online birding this spring

Firstly, back when we fist formed charity, one of the projects we invested in was a set of webcams on the Brownsea Lagoon which over the years has provided a really exciting opportunity to watch this exceptionally important habitat. During the winter it plays host to nationally and internationally important numbers of waders and wildfowl. But as winter gives way to spring, the lagoon acts as a breeding haven for Poole Harbours important Sandwich and Common Tern colony. Through April these birds will be returning to breed whilst many other species use the lagoon as a feeding service station as they make their way to other places around the world! So, to get you looking in detail, we’ve created some ID sheets for you to use online, or to print out to see how many species you can find over the course of the spring and summer.

Several years ago we also installed a simple bird feeder cam at Livability Holton Lee which allows you to watch all the comings and goings of a busy feeding station within Poole Harbour. There’s no doubt that watching bird feeders was a big inspiration for many people getting into natural history, so, just like our Brownsea ID sheets, we’ve created a set of Bird Feeder ID sheets for you to use with children (or for your self) to get you looking in detail at some of the bird you might expect to see your selves either in your gardens out in local parks.

Here are the links to the three webcams you’ll need…….

Livability Holton Lee Feeder Cam 

Brownsea Lagoon – Elevated Hide 

Brownsea Lagoon Macdonald Hide 

Here are the links to the ID sheets for each camera 

Holton Lee Feeding Station

Printer Friendly Holton Lee Feeding Station

Brownsea Lagoon Cam Tick Sheet

Printer-friendly Brownsea Lagoon

Goldfinch on Holton Lee Feeder Cam

We have covered 5 topics, including the final pack today on Poole Harbour and the translocation project. We hope you have enjoyed learning about Ospreys from home and have managed to get involved in all the activities.

The final PDF can be found here: World Osprey Week Translocation

Join us in learning about the history of Ospreys in the UK in the new topic. You can download the full PDF here: World Osprey Week History

Check back in tomorrow for the final instalment. We hope you enjoy today’s topic!

We hope you enjoy this next topic and have been enjoying learning about Ospreys so far. As usual, you can find the full PDF download here: World Osprey Week Migration

Tomorrow we will have another new topic, so remember to check back in!

It’s World Osprey Week (23rd-28th March) and, while schools are closed, we want to use the opportunity to increase education about Ospreys and the Translocation Project, through providing material for families to use at home. Each day this week we will post a new topic, along with activities to make the learning more fun.

Let us know if you use the materials, what you learn and whether you see any Ospreys on our webcam. Follow the link to download the PDF for Osprey Learning Day 1: World Osprey Week Introduction

We hope you enjoy!