9 Sep 24 - Scant Compensation

I started out at St Aldhelms in a North West wind that was at the limited of whether it was worth continuing or not. A Wheatear by the car park convinced me to continue. As I reached the open barn, I had a call from local Birder, Nick Hopper: which I assumed meant he had just found or heard of something good in Poole Harbour. I was half right: Nick said there had been a strong movement of around seven hundred Great Shearwaters East past Portland Bill that morning in thirty minutes. I had a fast eight minute walk back to the car. But I still had to get to Durlston, not helped by a bin lorry who saw me & then moved to block the road for several minutes. I then had another twelve minute walk from just outside the park to the seawatch hide. Local Swanage Birder, Rob Johnson was already there as he only had to drive from his house. He had seen three Great Shearwaters about fifteen minutes earlier, but it turned out they were the Tail End Charlies. Three hours later, I gave up having seen ten Manxies and another thirty or so small Shearwaters that were too far out to identify. But were most likely more Manxies, with maybe the odd Balearic Shearwater among them. The only consolation was had I walked without stopped to the coastguards lookout at St Aldhelms, I would probably have still been too late arriving at the sea. Had I stayed at home & waited for the right tide at Brands Bay I would have seen some Great Shearwaters.

Wall Lizard: The first individual

On the way back to the car, I stopped to photograph two showy introduced Wall Lizards on the Durlston Castle walls. They were scant compensation for missing the Great Shearwaters. Who could have predicted this unprecedented movement on a noticeable North West wind. I tried the following morning as the wind hadn't dropped, but had gone around to the South West. A dark phase Arctic Skua was the avian highlight. But the pre-dawn breakfast was worth it, for a cracking Bluefin Tuna which breached five times when I was looking through the scope at the sea from mid-distance. My first mainland Bluefin Tuna & obviously a nice Purbeck Tick.

Wall Lizard: A head & shoulders close up of the first individual

Wall Lizard: Head & shoulders close up of the second individual

13 Sep 24 - Fri 13th: When Night Meets Day

The conditions looked good for St Aldhelms this morning with light winds & sunny conditions. I was expecting the first Merlin of the Autumn given the date, as well as, a few Autumnal migrants. It all looked hopeful with a few Chiffchaffs and Whitethroats by the car park & more by the open barn. I tried a side track & flushed what I assumed would be a small Sparrowhawk from the track. It stayed low as I raised the bins, but it was too small & slim and almost as soon as I got the bins on it, it landed on the track again. I was now looking at a cracking Nightjar about twenty metres ahead of me. I hadn't noticed any white in the wing or tail, so it wasn't an adult male. Wow: St Aldhelms & Valleys Tick number 180. A Nightjar has never been on my radar for St Aldhelms, except for possibly on a seawatch hawking over the sea. This sounds silly, but that's how St Aldhelms stalwart Steve Morrison saw his first St Aldhelms Nightjar: albeit it was back in the last 80s when Birders didn't realise Nightjars fed over the sea in the daytime & thought they might be Matsudaira's storm petrels. I lifted the camera, but it was watching me & it lifted off the track & flew around thirty or more metres & disappeared from view. Fortunately, as I got closer I could see it had landed back on the track. I took some distant photos, then walked forward two or three metres to take some more shots.

Nightjar: This is easily my best views of a Nightjar in the UK. Perhaps Fri 13th isn't always as bad as the movies make out

I stopped to take the final set of photos before backing out & leaving it in peace. But as I moved back, it lost its nerve & flew again. I saw it fly along the track before appearing to head off into some trees. I retraced my steps to check out a side-track. I had only been there a few minutes, when I heard two noisy walkers chatting as they came down the track. Well they would certainly have flushed it, if it hadn't spooked itself. After I finished on the side track, I headed back along where I had last seen it, to give the fields a scan. To my surprise, the Nightjar was sitting on a fence post only a few metres off the track. I walked past it and stopped for some more photos. It was watching me, but comfortable as I took the extra photos. I checked the fields, but there was nothing of note in them. The only problem was I needed to walk back past the Nightjar to collect my scope and head back towards the main track. I deliberately looked the other way as I walked past the Nightjar, but that wasn't good enough. It spooked again and flew a few metres deeper into cover. Still at least it won't be disturbed where it landed for the rest of the day.

Nightjar: The dark band and the line of white coverts on the closed wing rules out it being a Common Nighthawk. But based upon the last UK record, Common Nighthawk prefer garden fence panels to big heavy posts to roost on

According to Steve Morrison's All Time St Aldhelms & Valleys list on Bubo, this appears to be only the fifth record for the patch. Albeit given their camouflage and nocturnal nature, there will be other Nightjar occurrences that were overlooked. By early afternoon, I had added a few Wheatears, a Spotted Flycatcher, a few Blackcaps and a female Reed Bunting, but nothing else more unusual. The Nightjar had used up all my luck for the day, but it was worth it.

30 Aug 24 - The Poole Harbour Osprey Pelagic

I was down to act as a spotter on the Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey cruise focusing on the Wareham Channel in the morning. We left on time at 09:00 for the three hour cruise & headed off for the Wareham Channel with Mark Constantine, Paul Morton & Sam Ryde on board running the commentary. We also had Imogen Lloyd from the Isle of Wight Forestry England Sea-eagle Project on board as a guest visitor. We were quickly heading for Gold Point where Sam had picked out a perched White-tailed Sea-eagle on the beach. It was remarkably unfazed as the bird boat approached. However, this is something I had seen ten days earlier when the resident female was seen sitting on a 'No Landing' sign on the Wareham Channel side of the Arne Peninsula: on a cruise when I hadn't taken my camera.

White-tailed Sea-eagle: Male. Sitting on Arne's Gold Point

White-tailed Sea-eagle: Male. It's tricky to figure out which of the pair it was, until it shuffled on the beach and revealed it only had one foot

After filling our boots with the White-tailed Sea-eagle, Paul remembered it was an Osprey cruise & we departed for the Wareham Channel. It's tricky to be sure how many Ospreys were seen during the day, but I wouldn't be surprised if the total reached around ten individuals. This included a mixture from the local family, as well as, arrivals heading South from other UK pairs. We started with two Ospreys distantly perched in a bare tree on Arne, but quickly saw the first fishing Osprey. This was followed by Ospreys being on view somewhere in the Wareham Channel throughout the morning.

Osprey: Adult. This adult Osprey made a fairly close pass to the boat before heading off to another part of the Wareham Channel to fish. We had plenty of Osprey encounters during the morning, but this was the only one I photographed

As a spotter, my job is to help the passengers see the Ospreys, Sandwich Terns and other Birds & Seals that were feeding in the Wareham Channel, as well as, to provide useful tips on how to identify them. Often this means that once I'm happy that all of the passengers around me are looking at the present species of interest, I switch to scanning in other directions to look for other interesting species. But occasionally, I stopped scanning and took a few photographs.

Sandwich Tern: There were several Sandwich Terns fishing in the Wareham Channel during the day

We spent the morning cruising up & down the Wareham Channel. As well as the many Osprey sightings, we enjoyed flight views of the White-tailed Sea-eagle pair fly along the Channel and land in a waterside tree. Eventually, it was getting close to mid-day & we headed for Poole quayside. Everybody seemed to have had a good morning. For once the weather had been kind with warm, still & sunny weather and jackets and fleeces were taken off in the sun. As we disembarked, Mark & Paul asked if I wanted to go back out on the afternoon boat, as Mark had some pressing work commitments that stopped him going back out. It only took a few seconds to say yes. I headed off to get some lunch before returning in time to join Liz Woodford as a spotter on the 14:00 boat.

Historic Lancaster Bomber: This was the second day of the Bournemouth airshow and we had nice views of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster, as well as, a couple of more distant Spitfires. This was the 'Bird of the Day' for me

Paul & Sam led on the commentary on the afternoon cruise as we motored towards the Wareham Channel. Fairly quickly, Sam decided to get Paul to run through the new Birds of Poole Harbour exercises that they had been practising. Fortunately, the passengers were sensible enough to not all stand up & join in.

Paul & Sam call this the White-tailed Sea-eagle Position

Paul & Sam call this the Buzzard Position. I was too slow to photograph the Osprey and Marsh Harrier Positions

With the exercises over, Paul & Sam's commentary switched to the importance of Poole Harbour and the successful reintroduction of Ospreys into Dorset. Later, Imogen provided more detailed about the Isle of Wight White-tailed Sea-eagle reintroduction project. This was followed during the afternoon with views of multiple Ospreys and more distant views of the White-tailed Sea-eagles chasing Ospreys with fish over the top of the Arne reserve. Unfortunately, these aerial dog-fights weren't close on this occasion.

Osprey: Well it was an Osprey cruise

It would be interesting to know how these numbers in the Wareham Channel compare to a decade ago before the first Osprey releases. Certainly, Ospreys were regular in this area in the Autumn, but there weren't the frequent bird boats to allow a direct comparison of non-local Ospreys over the years. However, it does feel that the presence of the local pair have helped to attract & hold migrating Ospreys these days.

Osprey: Like the morning, there were frequent Osprey sightings throughout the afternoon

On both cruises, we saw Common Seals & Grey Seals. This Common Seal was an absolute beauty as it enjoyed a relaxing rest on the mud bank close to the main channel leading into the River Frome. It was unfazed by our boat, albeit we weren't as close as this photo suggests.

Common Seal

Common Seal

Common Seal

Common Seal: Showing the short and concave snout of a Common Seal. Grey Seals have a longer and more Alsatian-like pointed snout, as well as, being significantly larger. There is a good comparison of the head shapes for the two Seal species in one of my recent Blog Posts

In the end, we were late back to the quayside as Paul decided to head back up the Wareham Channel towards the end of the cruise for another Osprey. It had been another superb Osprey cruise.

Osprey: We saw this individual dive into the water & it spent some time before it resurfaced. Clearly, it had caught a decent-sized fish and had managed to drag it back to the surface

If you haven't been on one of the Birds of Poole Harbour cruises, then I can thoroughly recommend them. But it is best to overdress as it is generally colder on the water than on the quayside. It was a pleasant chance to be able to get down to T-shirts in the glorious afternoon weather.

Osprey: But, it was clearly struggling to get the fish out of the water

The final thought was the Birds of Poole Harbour team would have made a profit from these two cruises. They reinvest this money into inviting schoolkids from across the towns around the local area on a cruise, where they focus on educating the schoolkids about the importance of Poole Harbour and protecting it and its wildlife. This is a free event for the schools, but hopefully it will help excite a passion for Poole Harbour and its wildlife in the next generation.

Osprey: After a long fight, the Osprey decided to drop the fish as it was clearly too large to lift out of the water. Maybe it spent the evening calling to the other Ospreys about 'the one that got away'

17 Aug 24 - Jersey Tiger

Jersey Tigers used to be restricted to the Channel Isles. But they have been a well-established breeding species along Dorset's Purbeck coastline for a decade or more now.

Jersey Tiger: It's always nice to see them locally

15 Aug 24 - Golden-ringed Dragonfly

The highlight of a walk down Winspit was a couple of Golden-ringed Dragonflies, one of which posed for a few minutes near to the valley's sewerage works.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly: The British Dragonfly Society states "they breed in acidic rivers & streams of all sizes and they may be found away from its breeding habitat over heathland". There isn't any acidic heaths closer than Corfe Heath, so given the lack of water locally, I'm assuming they are breeding on the nearby sewerage works pool or the outflow stream in the valley

Golden-ringed Dragonfly: I always enjoy a head & shoulders photo of a Dragonfly

14 Aug 24 - Failing To Photograph The Celebrity

It was only when I was sorting these Black-tailed Godwit photos, that I noticed that I had failed to photograph the celebrity: the out of focus colour-ringed Blackwit. We did notice it was ringed soon after.

Black-tailed Godwit: The back individual is an eleven year old Female

It was colour-ringed as Juvenile Female on 10 Nov 13 at Seaton Marshes LNR. The ring details are: left leg lime over black over lime & right leg yellow over red over yellow. Since she was ringed, she has been seen in a good number of locations, but she seems very faithful to Poole Harbour in recent years:

• Seaton Marshes LNR, Devon - Axe Estuary Ringing Group (10 Nov 13)

• Seaton Marshes LNR, Devon - Neil Croton (14 Dec 13)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Axe Estuary Ringing Group (19 Jan 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Michael Summerton (24 Jan 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Ian Stanbridge (25 Jan 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - David & Elisabeth Price (25 Jan 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Katharine Bowgen (29 Jan 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - AJ Bellamy & Jenny Newland (23 Feb 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Richard Ormerod (3 Mar 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Axe Estuary Ringing Group (29 Mar 14)

• Bowling Green Marsh, Devon - Lawrence Pierce (15 Apr 14)

• Arne, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Julian Swindell (4 May 14)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Graham c/o Kevin Sayer (20 May 14)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (28 May 14)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (9 Jun 14)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Chris Walker (15 Aug 14)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (1 Jan 15)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (26 Jan 15)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Graham Armstrong (4 Aug 15)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Chris Thain (17 Aug 15)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (16 Jan 17)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (30 Jan 17)

• Lytchett Fields, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (19 Oct 17)

• Lytchett Fields, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (24 Oct 17)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (26 Oct 17)

• Upton Country Park, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Greg Wills (30 Dec 17)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (28 Feb 18)

• Oare Marshes LNR, Kent - Gary Clewley (25 Jul 18)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (8 Oct 18)

• Lytchett Fields, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (12 Oct 18)

• Baiter, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (12 Mar 19)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Thomas Weston (17 Mar 19)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Clare Slade (18 Apr 19)

• Titchfield Haven NNR, Hampshire - Clare Harrison (19 May 19)

• Lymington-Keyhaven NNR, Hampshire - Martin Cooper (17 Jul 19)

• Lymington-Keyhaven NNR, Hampshire - Martin Cooper (5 Aug 19)

• Lymington-Keyhaven LNR, Hampshire - Pete Durnell (6 Aug 19)

• Avon Floods, Hampshire - Keith Betton (30 Aug 19)

• Holes Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Steve F Smith (25 Sep 20)

• Frodham Marsh, Cheshire - Bill Morton (7 Aug 21)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Martin Adams (17 Sep 21)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (19 Nov 21)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (28 Nov 21)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (29 Nov 21)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (15 Dec 21)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Ian Ballam (22 Jan 22)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (25 Feb 22)

• Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Shaun Robson (15 Feb 23)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Steve Smith (14 Aug 24)

• Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset - Martin Adams (16 Aug 24).

14 Aug 24 - A Brownsea Little Egret

One of the nice things about visiting Brownsea, is sometimes it is possible to get close photos of Brownsea's Birds. Generally, this is when they are in close to one of the hides. So, it was good to see this Little Egret feeding on the shoreline next to the main jetty.

Little Egret: When I first started Birding, Little Egrets were a national rarity. Around the start of the 1990s, they started occurring more often and the first pair bred in the UK in 1996. Poole Harbour is home to nationally significant numbers of Little Egrets and this is one of the species that gives Poole Harbour a Special Protection Area designation

14 Aug 24 - Poole Harbour Seals

We are lucky to be able to see both species of UK Seals in and around Poole Harbour. The most frequently seen species are Common Seals. They can be encountered anywhere in Poole Harbour, but especially in the Wareham Channel, around the islands from Long Island to Brownsea and Studland's Brands Bay. Grey Seals are the scarcer of the two species. Again they can be encountered anywhere in Poole Harbour, but they are generally more likely seen closer to the Poole Harbour mouth. They are also the most likely species in Studland Bay.

Common Seal on Stone Island

As I was waiting for the National Trush ferry to Brownsea, I could see there was a Seal on Stone Island, the stoney bank just inside Poole Harbour. A quick scan with the scope confirmed it was a gorgeous Common Seal, showing off a green algal coat. A closer scan confirmed there was a second Seal in the water looking at it: this was a Grey Seal. These two individuals provided a good comparison of how to identify the two species.

A close up of the Common Seal showing the shorter, more concaved head profile: Adult Common Seals grow to about five foot in length

Grey Seal showing the elongated head with the long muzzle: This is often compared to the mussle of an Alsatian Dog. Adult Grey Seals are longer than Common Seals and grow to about eight to nine feet in length

12 Aug 24 - A Trip Down Memory Lane

A visit to Ilkley, to catch up with my sister & her husband and my Dad's side of the family, allowed me to have a quick walk around the Cow & Calf. This was my first chance to revisit this distinctive landmark perched above Ilkley since I was a kid. When we were kids, this was a guaranteed walk on the many trips we made to the area to visit relatives.

The Cow & Calf Rocks: The Calf is the right hand most rock

The Cow & Calf Rocks

The Cow & Calf Rocks: The rocks are Addingham Edge Grit which are a type of Sandstone. Addingham is the next town to Ilkley

The Cow & Calf Rocks: 1871 graffiti. At what point does graffiti become historically significant?

The Cow & Calf Rocks: More 1875 historic graffiti

The Cow & Calf Rocks

It was good to travel back down memory lane to this iconic landscape.

2 Sep 24 - Painted Lady Surprise

Whilst walking around St Aldhelms, I was surprised to see three or four Painted Lady Butterflies, especially, as I've not seen any all year. A closer look reveals that all were pristine & therefore, they must have hatched locally. It's always good to see this lovely Butterfly with its amazing life cycle of migration. I wonder if this group will mate and the females will migrate South before egg laying?

Painted Lady

Painted Lady

2 Sep 24 - Magnified Out Of All Proportion

I had a text last night from Phil Saunders, the other main St Aldhelms Patch Birder, saying that the forecast was for still conditions & early morning mist at St Aldhelms and those conditions had proved good for the site in his experience. I set the alarm for 05:00 to allow time for a pre-dawn breakfast. The pre-dawn weather hadn't turned out as forecasted with miserable light to steady rain and it wasn't misty in Swanage. But St Aldhelms is higher and the mist can be very local along the Purbeck coast. I had another cup of tea & decided to see whether the rain would stop. It did about thirty minutes after dawn. By the time I was halfway to St Aldhelms, I was driving in the mist. This was a lot better.

Initially, it was very quiet at St Aldhelms, but after a half hour I had found a Garden Warbler. Not a surprising species in the neighbouring valleys, but at least it was an improvement on two Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and the first Whitethroat and I don't see many Garden Warblers at St Aldhelms. As the visibility started to lift, I had a few more Warblers around the Trev's Quarry area, but there was no improvement on the range of Warbler species. However, the first Wheatear and a brief Redstart sighting had added some migrant variety. I decided to push on & try the Shrike Bushes in the Pier Bottom Valley, but this only added a few more Whitethroats. Finally, as I overlooked the small pools on the mudslip at the bottom of Pier Bottom, I found a Reed Warbler, some more Whitethroats and Chiffchaffs. There were also three Mallards skulking on the pools, which always an erratic species at St Aldhelms. Next I heading up the steps to the Coastguards Lookout above Quarry Ledge. A few Wheatears in this area was more promising. It looked like today's migrants were really staying coastal, instead of doing their usual bounce quickly inland along hedges routine. Checking the bushes on Quarry Ledge produced another Willow Warbler and finally a Pied Flycatcher.

Chapmans Pool & the Jurassic Coast: The mist never really lifted, but at least was better than the eighty metres visibility when I arrived

Pied Flycatchers are always nice to see, but when you are doing an Isle of Purbeck Year List and have reached the start of September without seeing one, they are especially special to see. They are a species I expect to bump into locally, without making any effort, but I've been struggling to connect this year. I reckoned that I only had another week before the main window started to close. What I didn't want to do was to have to start looking at good Pied Flycatcher spots locally, as often these aren't the best places for some of the more interesting potential migrants.

Pied Flycatcher: It was good to finally add one to the Historic Isle of Purbeck Year List

On the walk back to the car, I added singles of Golden Plover and Spotted Flycatcher to the day list. In the end, I had seen a reasonable selection of migrants. While I hadn't found the Dotterel, Melodious Warbler or Ortolan I was really hoping for, the Pied Flycatcher was magnified out of all proportion as it would stop me having to focus on seeing one for the Year List. It took me to 185 for the Historic Isle of Purbeck Year List.