This morning we received the news we had kind of been expecting (but hoping wouldn’t materialise) which was that sadly Osprey chick 5H2 died due to her injuries. We’ve written a short separate blog about her situation which you can read HERE. 

Sightings wise it was quite productive today with White-tailed Eagle G801 seen over the Wareham Channel and then over Brownsea. Osprey parents CJ7 and 022 were both active hunting in the mouth of the Frome during the evening and there were 3 Marsh Harrier present around Swineham/Keysworth. At dawn 3 Great White Egret flew down the Frome Valley on straight through the harbour, leaving east which suggested they were just migrants passing through. There were at least still 5 Swift high over the Wareham Channel and on the Brownsea Lagoon there were c100 Dunlin, 25 Ringed Plover, 78 Redshank, 11 Spoonbill and 4 Greenshank. On the dried out Swineham Scrape there was a minimum of 5 Yellow-legged Gulls. A Hobby was hunting high over Hydes Heath and there were c200 Black-tailed Godwit roosting in the mouth of the Frome. There was also a minimum of 20 Common Sandpiper along various shorelines of the harbour during the evening and Turnstones were back along the Hamworthy shoreline and Brownsea Quay. There are still plenty of Common and Sandwich Tern family parties feeding off the Brownsea shorelines and there was a decent scattering of newly Willow Warbler across the harbour with a single Wheatear on the edge of Swineham/Arne Moors.