It was good to receive some rain today, even if it was only a light drizzle for the first part of the morning. It was a much needed dampening down for the area. It didn’t seem to down any rare or common migrants en route north (or south), but did deliver some more juvenile Lapwing to Lytchett Fields with 5 there today. This evening our Puffin Cruise was finally able to depart after weeks of steady SE winds, with 4 Puffin seen, mostly on the cliffs of Dancing Ledge and the 2 Eider were still in Shell Bay on the way back. A White-tailed Eagle was seen from the Ham Common viewpoint this morning and 3 were still in the general vicinity of the Wareham Channel late afternoon. Also, we fully understand everyone is gripped to the Osprey nest cam, however, don’t forget we have two equally exciting webcams set up on the Brownsea Lagoon which we put up earlier this year in partnership with Dorset Wildlife Trust which are focused on the Common Tern and Sandwich Tern colony. Both colonies have hatched juveniles with the Sandwich Terns a few weeks more advanced. You can view both ‘Tern Cams’ HERE.

Screen grabs from the Brownsea Tern Cams

Although it may have gone a bit ‘eagle quiet’ in recent days, there were actually 4 different White-tailed Eagles in the harbour area today, with the semi-resident pair G466 and G463 in the Wareham Channel, plus female G801 and male G816 both arrived back within the last 24 hours. They’re all keeping their heads low it seems, and don’t seem to be as ‘flighty’ as in recent months, but they’re definitely still loving the Wareham Channel area, so don’t stop looking. It’s just you may have to look a bit harder. There were a few more ‘juv’ firsts for the summer with the first juvenile Black-headed Gull of the season appearing on Lychett Fields along with the first juvenile Lapwing, having almost certainly fledged from somewhere reasonably close by. A Hobby was seen over Upton, 2 Red Kite were over Sandford. Male Osprey 022 was seen fishing in the Wareham Channel near Giggers Island and there was a season high count of 7 Puffin at Dancing Ledge this evening. There were Cuckoo on Slepe Heath and at Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne. And finally, some good news, having been missing for several days, the 3rd juv Peregrine from the Barclays building re-appeared today with the whole famil of 5 (3 juvs and 2 adults) on show this evening.

Reed Warbler – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

It was a real scorcher today, but our Osprey viewing sessions were well rewarded with 2 Hobby, 1 Red Kite, 1 Goshawk, 1 Peregrine (2 Osprey), 3 Woodlark and a small party of Crossbill over the Piddle Valley during the course of the day. There was another Red Kite over Lytchett Bay and today (we think) only 1 juvenile Peregrine at Barclays was seen all day? There was no sign of our newly arrived male Osprey 374, but to be honest he could easily have left as quickly as he arrived with two year olds never often staying in one place for too long! He’ll be back soon no doubt.

Another cracking shot of male Osprey 374 yesterday – Morden Bog – Aidan Brown

Brilliant news today – our 2021 translocated male Osprey 374 was photographed this morning over Morden Bog, just a stone’s throw away from the nesting pair. He was first reported in Wiltshire back in mid-May, having returned from his migration for the first time and we were keeping our hopes high that he would make his way to the Poole Harbour area. He was likely the Osprey reported from over Arne today, with another Osprey also seen in Lytchett Bay this morning. At Lytchett Heath, 1 Hobby was reported hunting, as well as several recently fledged Dartford Warbler. 1 White-tailed Eagle was seen being mobbed by an Osprey over Carey near Wareham in the early afternoon, which later drifted near the Osprey nest site, where another Hobby was also reported. Our Slepe Heath Nightjar walk this evening returned the goods with great views of 7+ Nightjar (none of which ate each other) along with a singing Cuckoo and 2 Dartford Warbler.

Osprey 374 – Morden Bog – Aidan Brown

Great to see the Nightjar hatching on Springwatch tonight which gives an indication to how far along into the season these special birds are. With the nights warming up this coming weekend and with (hopefully) more insects and moths on the wing, it should provide plenty of Nightjar activity out on the heaths as parents start to feed young. This evening 2 Eider were on Stoney Island off the SE corner of Brownsea and on the lagoon today there were 6 Avocet, 3 Redshank and 1 dark-bellied Brent Goose. The Barclays Peregrines were very active again, with 1 juvenile still sadly missing, however another ventured off the Barclays building to a near by factory roof whilst the other stay close to home on the Barclays ledges. Both the adults watched on for periods of the day in between breaks over to the Asda building. At Lytchett Bay Bearded Tit were calling from the reed bed to the left of Rock Lea viewpoint, and a female Marsh Harrier passed over the bay.

Juvenile Peregrine – Barclays Building – Martin Adams

There’s apparently a bit of heat relief by the end of the week, well, at least some cloud cover. It feels like it’s been crystal clear blue sky’s for months now! There are plenty of juvenile birds out on the wing now with juvenile Dartford Warblers, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Woodlarks, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Stonechats, Dunnock and many more all now fending for themselves. Some species are only just getting into the groove with Spotted Flycatcher seen nest building today and Reed Warbler and  Sedge Warbler still incubating. There were a couple of White-tailed Eagle sightings in the Wareham Channel area today and male Osprey 022 caught a Bass in the mouth of the Frome, off Swineham this evening. At Lytchett Bay a singing Willow Warbler was a notable June record and there were 3 Ringed Plover out on the fields. It was good to hear that a few family parties of Crossbill were seen and heard around Morden Bog today having been a bit thin on the ground earlier in the year.

Blackbird feeding young – Canford Heath – John Newman

A slight drop in the wind today made for very warm conditions and plenty of activity! Visitors to Hyde’s Heath at Arne enjoyed views of Sparrowhawk, Hobby, Marsh Harrier, alongside Dartford Warbler, Woodlarks, Stonechats, plus distant Curlew and Lapwing. A Red Kite was seen over the Wareham area again, and nearby at Morden Bog there were 3 Cuckoo, 1 Hobby, a pair of Redstart with young. Gadwall appear to have bred successfully in Lytchett Bay once again with 9 young following a female around the Fields early this morning, where 3 Ringed Plover and 1 Greenshank were also present. Over on Brownsea Lagoon, 3 summer plumage Grey Plover were a treat for observers, along with lots of Sandwich Tern chick activity. And in central Poole, 3 Peregrine chicks were all visible on the balcony of the Barclays Building.

Marsh Harrier – Hyde’s Heath, Arne – Kate Plater

Juvenile Stonechat – Hyde’s Heath, Arne – Kate Plater

There were 2 Red Kite seen from Rock Lea Viewpoint over Lytchett Bay this morning, as well as what appeared to be an unringed Osprey hunting in the Bay. Hopefully we will get more reports of this bird soon and confirm whether it is ringed, as we are keeping our eyes out for any translocated returnees! At Lytchett Fields, the Little Gull was present again today. 6 Lapwing were reported from Coombe Heath this morning. From our Carey Osprey Tours today, aside from the Osprey pair regularly feeding the three chicks, there was plenty of Buzzard activity, as well as 1 Red Kite and 1 Hobby high over the site.

Red Kite – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland