What a sweltering day! It seems everyone was hiding away by lunch time, but this morning was really productive, especially at the ringing station at Carey Secret Garden, where the post dawn ‘push’ of Sedge Warbler was much in evidence with 65 ringed between 5am and 8am, plus another 18 Grasshopper Warbler. The flow of birds pretty much stopped after 9am, however last night saw an amazing 7 Nightjar ringed there too, a record catch for this species in a single net here in Poole. The White-tailed Eagle pair were active in the Wareham Channel for much of the day, 2 Spoonbill were on Brownsea with 3 Avocet, a Spotted Redshank was in Middlebere with a Great White Egret seen flying up the channel. Right on cue, the first Cattle Egret of the autumn appeared at Swineham on the Stilt Pools, the first to be seen in the harbour since May.

European Nightjar – Carey Secret Garden