It was all go today, with plenty of new arrivals and some interesting activity logged of a certain species. Firstly, it was definitely a Wheatear day with 7 at Greenlands Farm, 5 at Sunnyside, 1 at Lytchett Fields and 1 at Stoborough Heath. Today also saw the first Little Ringed Plover with 1 at Lytchett Fields. A Common Crane flew over Middlebere mid-morning and headed towards Arne Moors before heading off south east again. A Goshawk dashed through Middlebere this afternoon, hunting godwits and at Swineham 6 Sand Martin were feeding. On the Brownsea Lagoon, 13 Sandwich Tern were now back and a single Spoonbill was feeding. This evening 3 Cattle Egret settled on Sherford Pools at Lytchett Fields and 1 Black-necked Grebe was off Middle Beach . This morning, an interesting photo was taken of the White-tailed Eagle pair, G466 and G463 sat on an old dilapidated Osprey nest platform. This doesn’t really mean too much, other than it was a good place to sit, but it seems their bond is strengthening. It will be fascinating to see what happens as the spring develops with these 2 birds as to whether they choose a preferred location within the harbour to settle. Finally, it seems we’re probably only days away from seeing our first migrant Osprey in the harbour as more arrived on breeding grounds further north today. Regarding our Osprey nest cam, we’re currently getting asked quite a bit about when our’s will be up and running and we’re glad to say it won’t be long at all now. After doing some final last minute tweaks today, all being well it should be up and running in the next couple of days.

White-tailed Eagles – Clive Hargrave

With the influx of Alpine Swift in the last couple of days, you never know what might turn up – the southerly winds are definitely kicking the Osprey season off to a good start across the country. The highlight of the sightings today was a Ruff present at Lytchett Fields, regularly moving between Sherford and French’s Pools. Also present at Lytchett Fields was a decent flock of c.100 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Spotted Redshank, Dunlin and Redshank. At Swineham, a count produced 12 Shoveler, 27 Gadwall, 137 Teal, 87 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Marsh Harrier.

Ruff amongst Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Spring migration is really coming into its own and it really won’t be long now until the first Poole Harbour Wheatear of the season is reported, with an exciting count of 50 individuals at Portland and the first Swallow seen in Dorchester today. Sand Martin numbers continue to rise, with 3 reported over Wareham Common this morning, along with 6 Black-tailed Godwits. 2 Cattle Egret were also logged flying up the River Piddle this morning. 1 Spotted Redshank was present in Lytchett Bay again today, with a distant Goshawk seen over Lytchett Fields. A count Holes Bay produced 13 Avocet, 51 Pintail, 7 Shoveler and 30 Dunlin, as well as high numbers of Black-tailed Godwit and Wigeon still present. 1 White-tailed Eagle was seen over Arne and the Wareham Channel this morning, also being reported at Hartland Moor along with one ringtail Hen Harrier over the site.

White-tailed Eagle – RSPB Arne – Kate Plater

Although still windy (and cold), today was actually pretty eventful for mid-March. Our Spring Safari Cruise this AM saw plenty of action including the White-tailed Eagle pair G463 and G466 soaring and interacting with one another over RSPB Arne, directly opposite the new Ham Common viewpoint at Rockley. If anyone had been stood on there, they would have had a great view! Amazingly we also had a Great Northern Diver just off the Brownsea shore, which is a species thats been nearly totally absent for the last month. There was also a distant Black-necked Grebe of Jerry’s Point and c80 Red-breasted Merganser spread across the harbour. With Brownsea now open again for the season, it was great to see the lagoon still so busy with 3 Spoonbill, c250 Avocet, c80 Bar-tailed Godwit, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, c100 Dunlin, c15 Grey Plover, c100 Oystercatcher, 2 Pintail and smaller numbers of Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler. At Swineham an adult male Merlin dashed across the gravel pit, with another (or the same) snatching a Sand Martin at dusk this evening. Until the Merlin attack, there had actually briefly been 6 Sand Martin at Swineham this evening, accompanied by 1 Barn Owl and 3 Marsh Harrier off the point and 2 Spoonbill were on the Swineham scrapes. At the PCW drain c10 Chiffchaff were enjoying the sun this morning and 3 were in full song and around mid-morning and there was a Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields. There were also 4 summer plumaged Sandwich Tern dotted around (2 Shipstal, 2 Brownsea). The Poole Peregrines were seen mating and dropping down onto the nesting ledge, suggesting they could be laying eggs any day now. And finally, although not Poole Harbour, the first Osprey of the season was seen landing on a nest up at Rutland Water, in Leicestershire which heralds the start of what will hopefully be another exciting year. We don’t anticipate our Poole Harbour pair to arrive back until very early April, but the first migrant Osprey could start passing through any day now, although in recent years the first observation seems to be anytime from March 20th onwards.

Of note, with so many people enjoying Lytchett Bay, Lytchett Fields and the new Rock Lea Viewpoint, you may be interested to read the recently completed and excellent Lytchett Bay 2022 Bird and Nature report.

Great Northern Diver – Brownsea shoreline – Alison Copland

Spoonbills – Swineham scrapes this evening

Last nights and todays wind didn’t seem to deliver anything too unusual to the harbour area, certainly not 7 Alpine Swift feeding above Poole Town. Now that would be something. The best that could be mustered once the wind had died down a bit was 4 Sand Martin over Swineham GP this evening. Also a White-tailed Eagle flew low over Lytchett Fields heading towards the Wareham Channel. around 5pm. This afternoon 2 Spotted Redshank were in Middlebere and Chiffchaff were singing at Hatch Pond (2), PCW Drain (2) and Norden Sewage Works (3).

Baiter Starling 

Surprisingly clear conditions this morning made for an enjoyable Spring Safari Cruise: Brownsea Lagoon was busy with 120+ Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 60 Avocet, 3 Grey Plover, 70 Dunlin, 8 Curlew, 10 Redshank, and 1 Greenshank. The recent spring tides and much awaited rain have resulted in considerable flooding at Swineham, where there were 10 Shoveler, 22 Shelduck, 23 Gadwall, 64 Teal, 12 Curlew, 5 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Lapwing, plus 5 Tufted Duck on the gravel pit. Despite the strong winds, 2 Sand Martin (perhaps some of yesterday’s arrivals) were on the wing, along with 1 Peregrine, 2 Kestrel, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 White-tailed Eagle and several pairs of displaying Buzzard.

Elsewhere a single Black-necked Grebe was seen off Bramble Bush Bay. In Lytchett Bay highlights were 318 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Spotted Redshank. And at Arne 10 Spoonbill were at present at Shipstal once again.

Great Crested Grebe – @twamers on Twitter

Despite the wind and rain, spring punched through with the first 5 Sand Martin of the year, flying low over Swineham GP desperately trying to feed. There may have also been a minor Chiffchaff arrival too, with low numbers along the river edges in scrub. White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 were in the Wareham Channel pretty much all day, and the 2 Cattle Egret were still in the field on the outskirts of Wareham, at Worgret.

Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin – Wareham Channel

The inclement weather continues, offering little inspiration to venture outside with a pair of binoculars. Those who did endure the rain enjoyed 3 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Bay, along with 312 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Dunlin, 6 Red-breasted Merganser and an undeterred Peregrine overhead. A summer plumage Sandwich Tern off Baiter this morning offered a nice seasonal change among the 70 Cormorant, 40+ Oystercatcher and 3 Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Nearby, Poole Park featured a flyby Curlew and 21 Greylag Geese, including 8 colour-marked individuals from the local project.

Grey Plover – Brownsea Lagoon (yesterday) – Clare Slade