It’s an extremely exciting time to be watching the Poole Harbour Osprey webcam, as today we have two(!) eggs starting the hatching process! One chick is further along, regularly showing its beak out of a large hole in the egg which first appeared mid-morning, whereas the second is currently showing a small crack from the early afternoon. The typical incubation window for Osprey is 36-40 days (though there can be exceptions), and today marks day 38 for egg number one, and 35 days for egg number 2. Hatching can be a lengthy process, sometimes taking more than a day, but hopefully it won’t be too long until we see the first chick out of the egg, with the second not far behind. Our two webcams show different views of the nest, and the aerial cam is now coming into its own, giving us clear views of the progress when there is a break in incubation. You can WATCH BOTH OSPREY WEBCAM VIEWS HERE.

Our windy Spring Safari Cruise this morning delivered some great sightings, the highlight being a Black Tern in the Wareham Channel over the gull islands – unfortunately only seen by a few lucky people on the boat! Other highlights included Osprey 022 catching a fish in the Wareham Channel before quickly returning to the nest and at least 3 Hobby seen during the trip, firstly over Swineham Gravel Pit, a second high over RSPB Arne and the third putting on a good display over the north Brownsea shoreline while it hunted on the wing. There were 2 Little Ringed Plover on the scrapes at Swineham. Around 200 Black-tailed Godwit were feeding on the exposed mud near Gigger’s Island, where 1 Marsh Harrier was also active. Interestingly, 14 Avocet were logged on the Brownsea Lagoon, having only been 1 present over the last month or so, which could well be failed breeders from elsewhere who are now using the lagoon as an optimal feeding spot. Alongside the breeding Common and Sandwich Tern were 26 Bar-tailed Godwit, the 2 Dark-bellied Brent Geese that are seemingly over-summering. 1 White-tailed Eagle was also reported over Wareham this afternoon, heading in the direction of Sandford.

Osprey nest with 022 feeding on a fish. Egg number 1 is at the rear, with number 2 on the front right.