Not so chilly today, with the added bonus of a/the Little Tern being seen on Brownsea again. These are a scarce June bird in general with most records coming in April, May, July or August. It was hanging out with the long staying Little Gull in amongst the Common and Sandwich Terns on the Brownsea Lagoon. This evening 3 Puffin were seen off Dancing Ledge during our Jurassic Coast Puffin Cruise.
Puffin – Dancing Ledge – Rene Goad
Things started of summery today, but ended like mid-autumn! A cold SW was whipping across the harbour by this afternoon/evening making it feel like a mid-October day. If it wasn’t for the big gathering of Swifts and hirundines over Swineham this evening then you wouldn’t have been able to tell it was June. The White-tailed Eagle pair were loafing about the edges of the Wareham Channel tonight, male Osprey 022 did two very quick catches with 20 minutes in Arne Bay and Oystercatcher hatched young on the north Brownsea shoreline. Woodlark were feeding young again viewed from the Osprey viewing platform at Carey Secret Garden and there were also 2 Spotted Flycatcher in the car park. Both Peregrines were on the Asda building for most of the day, often interacting and fighting over food.
Adult and juvenile Sandwich Terns – Brownsea Lagoon – Martin Adams
Common Tern – Brownsea Quay – Martin Adams
There are plenty of young birds now beginning to appear around the harbour. Noisy newly fledged Blue Tit and Great Tits are taking over feeders, young Stonechats are following their parents around and the first broods of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs are now emerging, with second broods now likely being incubated. Highlights during June tend to relate to local breeding birds, and that was the case today with male Osprey 022 seen fishing in the Wareham Channel a few times plus the White-tailed Eagle pair were also in the same area. A Hobby was over Middlebere, a Greenshank (not breeding!) was at Swineham with 38 Black-tailed Godwit, Holes Bay had both Peregrines on the Asda building and 15 Swift were over the PC World Drain. Despite the chilly nights, Nightjar are very active at the moment with all the local heaths seeing plenty of action including a few day roosting birds being found.
Nightjar – Lytchett Heath – Ian Ballam
A typical early June day with migration now at an almost complete stop and breeding birds now tending to young in their nests or possibly thinking about second (or third) broods already. Male Osprey 022 was seen hunting in the Wareham Channel this afternoon, there were c30 Black-tailed Godwit on the scrapes at Swineham and c10 Bar-tailed Godwit on the Brownsea Lagoon where 2 Avocet were still present. The Peregrine pair were up on the Barclays building, c50 Swift were over Swinheam and a White-tailed Eagle was over Middlebere.
It was a cold June day today with a SW wind building which made fishing a tad tricky for male Osprey 022 who yesterday brought in multiple Grey Mullet and Bass to the nest, whereas today he only managed a poultry 2 fish between breakfast and dinner. It was great to witness him fishing in the Wareham Channel from our Summer Safari Cruise this AM, where we were also lucky enough to see both White-tailed Eagles, male G463 high over Wareham, and female G466 getting chased by gulls on the Wareham Channel shoreline. There was also a Great White Egret over Keysworth, a 1st summer Little Gull on the Brownsea Lagoon, c70 Black-tailed Godwit in the mouth of the Frome and decent numbers of Reed Bunting and Reed Warbler along the Frome. Bird of the day though, goes to a Hawfinch that was seen flying over Ballard down this morning which settled briefly before moving on.
White-tailed Eagle – Wareham Channel from Summer Safari this AM – Dave ward
Little Gull – Brownsea Lagoon – David Ward
More sunny weather in the harbour today with lots of the floodplains beginning to dry out now. 1 female Marsh Harrier was quartering over Wareham Common this afternoon. 1 Osprey was seen off Swineham Point, presumably 022, but there was some alarm calling this afternoon at the Osprey Nest, suggesting that another bird is still in the area and briefly intruding at the nest. At Lytchett Bay, there was 1 very late Wheatear, 11 Ringed Plover and 4 Avocet on French’s Field as well as at least 1 male Nightjar on Lytchett Heath. Plenty of Sandwich Tern and Common Tern nests starting to hatch chicks on the Brownsea Lagoon as seen in the picture below. 1 Cuckoo was singing and several Nightjar were at Slepe Heath this evening.
Sandwich Tern with chicks – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki T on X
A cracking start to our Summer Safari Cruises this morning with 1 White-tailed Eagle, 2 hunting Osprey, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Hobby all in the Wareham Channel! Other highlights were 40+ Swift overhead up the River Frome, Sandwich Terns diving alongside right alongside the boat and 4 summer plumage Knot on Brownsea Lagoon! The remaining 1st summer Little Gull was on the other side of Brownsea between the island and Bramblebush Bay. A third immature White-tailed Eagle was also present mid-afternoon, seen flying East along the Piddle Valley from Careys Secret Garden. And it’s wonderful to see all four Osprey Chicks doing so well despite the enormous size difference between the eldest and youngest!
Hunting Osprey – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland
Highlights from Lytchett Bay today were Common Tern, Green Woodpecker and Red Kite, whilst at Arne Cuckoo and Nightjar were heard. Elsewhere one of the White-tailed Eagles was seen in the Wareham Channel, a Reed Warbler was heard singing at Fleetsbridge, and a single 1st summer Little Gull was still on Brownsea Lagoon, along with 33 Bar-tailed Godwit, 15 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling and a pair of Avocet. A Hoopoe was also sadly found dead in a garden in Wareham this morning, possibly having been killed by a cat or died of exhaustion.
Red Kite – Rock Lea View, Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland
Really nice records again on Brownsea Lagoon today with Little Gull, Little Tern and Roseate Tern all reported. It’s good to hear the there are up to 8 Sandwich Tern chicks now hatched on the tern islands on the lagoon, as well as 2 Knot, 23 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling, 26 Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Avocet also counted. One of the White-tailed Eagles was present on Shag Looe spit in the Wareham Channel this morning. Interestingly, there was a Green Sandpiper on at Lytchett Fields this morning, as well as a female Marsh Harrier over the bay. We’re also very pleased to see the fourth and final egg hatch on the Osprey nest late last night, meaning that we now have the full cohort. You can watch the webcam here.
Four Osprey chicks on the nest
More rain meaning few sightings from today. 1 White-tailed Eagle was seen flying over Holes Bay heading north-east in the early afternoon and that’s all that was reported today!
In better news it looks like the final Osprey chick is about to hatch! The beak is poking through so it will likely be either this evening or overnight that it hatches, meaning we’ll have 4 chicks in the nest! The 3 chicks have been feeding well over the last few days and starting to battle it out for a position in the hierachy. You can watch the action unfold LIVE here:
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