Despite the rain, which ended up lasting aaaallllllll day, there was still plenty of great birding top be had. The rain saw birds literally falling out of the sky, and from this mornings Osprey cruise there were several flocks of Common Snipe arriving in from high over Swinheam including a flock of 21, soon followed by a flock of 17 Knot which came down on Swineham. A Great White Egret also arrived in down the Frome before settling on Giggers Island. The White-tailed Eagle pair were doing their usual morning mooch around with male G463 on the Arne peninsular and female G466 on a pole off Shag Looe Bar. There’s still no shortage of Osprey with 3 in Middlebere this AM and a minimum of 7 in the Wareham Channel this afternoon plus 1 over the Brownsea Lagoon and there were 2 different Marsh Harrier in the area too. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were now up to 43 Spoonbill, and 2 Curlew Sandpiper were hiding in amongst the Dunlin. The lagoon also hosted 7 Greenshank, c40 Ringed Plover, c20 Avocet, 3 Knot, c15 Sanderling and decent numbers of Common Redshank, Teal and Curlew. The river valley’s are looking nice and flooded again and in the Lower Piddle Valley a Wood Sandpiper was feeding. Lytchett Fields was also busy with waders and saw high counts of 328 Teal and 319 Black-tailed Godwit, also 1 Ruff, 14 Dunlin , 1 Spotted Redshank, 15+ Redshank, 70+ Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Lapwing and lots of Common Snipe. Also at Lytchett Fields 2 Whinchat, c25 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Wheatear and 3 Firecrest. In the PCW Drain a Pied Flycatcher was opposite KCC at Wessex Gate Retail Park and there was also 1 Common Redstart, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 5 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, c20 Common Chiffchaff, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Common Sandpiper along the channel.

Great White Egret – Swineham, from Osprey Cruise this AM – John Thorpe

Spoonbill – Wareham Channel, from Osprey Cruise this AM – John Thorpe

White-tailed Eagle – Wareham Channel, from Osprey Cruise this AM – John Thorpe

There was a couple of interesting new arrivals today, most notably a Black-necked Grebe which arrived in from the west and settled off the side of the boat in the Wareham Channel on our Osprey Cruise this AM. There was also a Little Tern flying around Giggers Island, hunting in the mouth of the Frome and on the Brownsea Lagoon the Spoonbill flock has risen to 40 birds. From our Osprey Cruise this AM, there was once again no shortage of Ospreys with no less than 5 milling about, including another one which was targeted by the White-tailed Eagles after it had caught a fish. Other Osprey sightings included 3-4 off Coombe Heath, RSPB Arne including an un-ringed juvenile, plus 3 in and around Lytchett Bay for most of the day. The Brownsea Lagoon also hosted a nice mix of waders including a Little Stint amongst the c100 Dunlin flock, c30 Ringed Plover, 8 Greenshank, c15 Avocet, 3 Sanderling, 1 juv Curlew Sandpiper (seen later in the afternoon)and there were 4 Northern Wheatear along the Brownsea sea wall. In Holes Bay there were 32 Wigeon back, feeding on the algae and in the PCW Drain there were 3 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Common Whitethroat, c20 Chiffchaff , 2 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap and a Common Sandpiper. Marsh Harrier still seem to be a bit thin on the ground with 1 moping around the Wareham Channel this morning and one in Lytchett Bay. At North Haven, Studland there were singles of Spotted Flycatcher and  Garden Warbler.

Osprey on edge of Wareham Channel – From this AM’s Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Spoonbills on Brownsea Lagoon – From this AM’s Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Male White-tailed Eagle ‘G463’ on edge of Wareham Channel – From this AM’s Osprey Cruise – Mark Wright

Pretty grey and overcast all day, with a couple of heavy downpours, but the birding was Ok. The first 2 Pintail of the autumn arrived in Middlebere and there were 6 Wigeon there too. The Brownsea Lagoon held 31 Spoonbill, there were 3-4 Osprey in the Wareham Channel where both White-tailed Eagles were settled all day. At the Carey Secret Garden ringing station 8 Yellow Wagtail and a Whinchat were ringed along with 4 Grasshopper Warbler, 10 Blackcap and 7 Sedge Warbler, with Blackcap outnumbering Sedge Warbler for the first time this autumn period, which is typical for early September. Over the last 5 days a new White-tailed Eagle has been present in the harbour, G486 was seen today on the edge of Brands Bay. Over the Frome Valley last night at Stoborough a ‘noc-mig’ (nocturnal migration) sound recording session produced a flock of Sanderling, Grey Plover, Turnstone and Wigeon calls.

Whinchat – Carey Secret Garden ringing station 

As the month draws to a close, and we see in September, the month that brings our Osprey season to an end, what a time to reflect on the last 6 months and think back to whats been achieved. We still have at least one of our Osprey chicks here with us, ‘5R2’, which is still being fed by male 022, but as far as we know, the rest of the family have now all left on their migration south. We won’t know for sure for at least another 5-6 days, as there’s always the chance one will reappear at some point. Regardless, there’s still no shortage of Ospreys currently with 5 seen from this mornings Osprey cruise and 4 this afternoon. The White-tailed Eagle pair were also in the Wareham Channel all day, this morning hunting over the growing sinesnsis Cormorant flock. This afternoon a juv Little Gull was seen from the cruise in the Wareham Channel and there are now 36 Spoonbill back on the Brownsea Lagoon where the Garganey was also seen again today. On Coombe Heath at RSPB Arne an adult male Marsh Harrier drifted over and there were a few Wheatear around, plus 4-5 Osprey seen from Coombe too. There was a strange (worrying?) record of a Gannet sat on the marsh at the back of Brands Bay where there was also a Scottish ringed Osprey, 4 Wigeon, 2 Knot and a smattering of common waders.

Female White-tailed Eagle ‘G466’ hunting over Cormorant flock from Osprey Cruise this AM – Wareham Channel – Phyl England

What a stunner of a day. Beautiful clear blue sky’s all day and a light NE breeze. There were no less than 10 Osprey in the harbour this AM, possibly up to 12, including a newly arrived blue ringed individual, ring number ‘422’ which is a 2022 Kielder Forest bird. The Wareham Channel was literally like an Osprey service station this morning with individuals coming and going constantly between 9am and 12pm during our Osprey Cruise. This afternoon the White-tailed Eagle pair tag-teamed their hunt on a fishing Osprey in the Middlebere Channel and soon dislodged the Osprey of it’s fish. It’s hard to tell but over all there could have been 10-15 Osprey present today. During this afternoons trip the first autumn ‘flock’ of Wigeon arrived in from high over the Wareham Channel and headed towards Holes Bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon 29 Spoonbill were counted and the male White-tailed Eagle G463 was on Gold Point at RSPB Arne which was also viewed from this mornings Osprey Cruise. This evening we received the late news of a White Stork perched up on Corfe Castle, which sounded a bit spurious to begin with until a photo was sent through! The PC World Drain was busy again with 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Garden Warbler, c20 Chiffchaff, 5 Willow Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat and 1 Kingfisher present. There was a decent increase in Avocet numbers on the Brownsea Lagoon with 38 today (up from only c15 the last few days).

White Stork – Corfe Castle – Eoin McDowell

Male White-tailed Eagle ‘G463’ from Osprey Cruise this AM – Twitter (X) @twamers

It happened again! The White-tailed Eagles are well and truly leaning that migrating Ospreys are an easy target for a free meal. After yesterdays showdown during our morning Osprey Cruise, where a White-tailed Eagle chased down an Osprey and it’s catch for it’s breakfast, the exact same tactic was used again this afternoon/evening for the eagle to try and obtain it’s dinner. There were between 8-9 different Osprey active in the Wareham Channel, Middlebere and Lytchett Bay area today, and female White-tailed Eagle ‘G466’ seized upon the opportunity to nab another free snack by chasing down another, poor unsuspecting migrant Osprey this afternoon in an attempt to steal it’s fish, which would have been spectacular on it’s own. However, the pursuit and the fish snatch all happened in front of a back drop of Corfe Castle, which provided a scene which could have been dated back to 1066 when the castle, White-tailed Eagles and Ospreys were all in each others company the last time round! Just breath taking. Plus, this morning we were hosting one of our free ‘Pop Up’ watches at Ham Common nature reserve, when female White-tailed Eagle G466 flew right over head, much to the delight of the building crowd. On the Brownsea Lagoon today there were 26 Spoonbill, 1 Garganey, 17 Avocet, 4 Greenshank, 19 Sandwich Tern, c30 Ringed Plover and a Wheatear was on the wall. Up on Hartland Moor there were 3 Redstart, 3 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Hobby, 1 Osprey and a Green Sandpiper. The Brands Bay Great Crested Grebe roost has already climbed to 28 and there were 4 Spotted Flycatcher in Studland Village. The PCW Drain was jumping with birds this AM, next to KFC with c30 Chiffchaff, c10 Willow Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 1 Common Whitethroat. At the Carey Secret Garden Ringing Station 16 Grasshopper Warbler were ringed along with 34 Sedge Warbler and an unexpected Water Rail. Yesterday there were 2 Whinchat on the Hartland tramway.

Water Rail – Carey Secret Garden Ringing Station – Matthew Scraggs