2 Apr 25 - Arnie The Tern

I can't remember anything of the film, other than the often-repeated phrase "I'm back" that Arnold Schwarzenegger used in one of his dull Terminator films from decades ago, when there were few TV options to watch in the evening.

On a much more interesting note, in Apr 23, a Forster's Tern was found at Lytchett Bay and it was only the second Dorset record, albeit it had turned up a couple of weeks earlier at Sutton Bingham reservoir. It stayed until mid-May and travelled widely around central and Northern Poole Harbour away, when it wasn't at its regular Brownsea haunt. It reappeared in Poole Harbour in mid-July. Just as we thought it would overwinter, it disappeared in mid-Nov and was seen soon after in North France. We weren't surprised when it reappeared the following Spring and Autumn. Several UK and Irish records have settled into long staying patterns, so nobody was suprised when it popped up again in late Mar 25 at Arne: one of its favourite locations. I didn't make any effort to chase it as I was expecting it to reappear on Brownsea. Sure enough, it was seen on the lagoon a couple of days later. I was expecting it to be there on my next volunteering day. I arrived into the new Lookout hide and scanned the Boomerang Island: Sandwich Tern, Sandwich Tern, Sandwich Tern, Forster's Tern. That was easy. It spent most of the day on the lagoon that day.

Arnie the Forster's Tern: Anybody want to bet if it will be back in the early Autumn?

I spent the morning chatting to members of the public in the Lookout hide and it wasn't until the afternoon, that I managed to visit to the Avocet hide. It was good to see this close Redshank just in front of the hide. Every now and then a Wader will happily feed on the mud close to the hide.

Redshank

After I was relieved from operating the vid-scope in the Avocet hide, it was time to head to the villa for a break. This Female Mallard must take the record for the greatest number of ducklings I've seen a Mallard with: nineteen is a pretty good clutch. I wonder how many will survive?

Mallard: Can I have a Channel 4/5 TV series says single mum with 19 babies?

It had been a good day volunteering on the Brownsea lagoon.

17 Jul 24 - A Brownsea Redshank

The DWT Brownsea Avocet hide can sometimes be a great place for Wader photography with nice light, still water & close Waders. It's well worth taking the opportunity when everything comes together and I've remembered to take the camera.

Redshank: The bright red-base to the bill, the heavy black streaking onto the underparts and the bright orange-red legs indicates this adult Redshank is still in its Summer plumage

17 Oct 14 - It Is Still Packed On Brownsea Lagoon

In the last Post, I looked at the record 49 strong flock of Spoonbills on Brownsea that have been present in recent days. There were 5 colour ringed Spoonbills seen & I included their photos & details as far as we have been able to confirm so far. I did spend most of my time focusing on the Spoonbills. But there was still time to look at the other Birds seen on the Brownsea lagoon. After the hectic breeding season, nearly all the Common & Sandwich Terns have departed, although one Sandwich Tern briefly dropped in. That wasn't too surprising as we get a few Sandwich Terns that now seem to overwinter in Poole Harbour, due to the generally milder Winters we have had in recent years. Overall, there was still plenty of Bird activity as the Waders are back in numbers.

Brownsea lagoon: It is always worth a quick look at the lagoon from the NT centre area as there are parts of  the lagoon at this end which aren't easy to see from the DWT hides

Brownsea lagoon: This was a fairly quiet day as there were only a handful of Black-tailed Godwits today: sometimes there can be several hundred on the lagoon with even more Avocets. The Blackwits were probably over at Middlebere, as it wasn't a particularly high tide today

I quickly carried onto the DWT hides as they give much better views of the Birds.

Great White Egret: The second GWE from Studland has been feeding over here for the last few days, but it returns to Studland every evening. It looks even taller than the Spoonbills

Shoveler: Male

Moorhen: 1st Winter. Note, the dark bill which would be red with a yellow tip in an Adult

Avocet: Poole Harbour plays home to over 1000 Avocets which feed on Brownsea. Sometimes they prefer to roost in good numbers in the Arne/Middlebere area, but smaller numbers can be encountered in any of the good Birding sites within the Harbour

Avocet: They are really happy to get into deep water if there is good food to be found

Redshank: There were only about 15 Redshanks on the lagoon today. Again a sign that the high tide wasn't that high in the harbour & many of the Waders were roosting closer to feeding areas 

As a reminder, Brownsea will close for the Winter after the half term, so you only have a final few days to visit it. After that it will be occasional visits organised by the Dorset Wildlife Trust etc which are popular, but need booking up in advance with the hope that the weather will be good on the day. So it's worth trying to squeeze in the final visit in the next few days.

4 Oct 14 - Osprey: Dive Dive Dive

A grim morning of rain & wind as a front came through finally gave way to clearing skies, but still a cold wind, by early afternoon. This was just in time for the low tide in Brands Bay so I decided to pop down to see if there were any interesting Waders. All pretty standard species with a lone Grey Plover, 180 Black-wits, 173 Redshanks (a personal record count for Brands Bay), 3 Greenshanks & 5 Dunlin.

Black-tailed Godwit

Redshank: Good to get a new personal record count for the bay of 173. My previous best was 166 with typically counts over 120 being noteworthy

I was about to start counting the Ducks (although numbers didn't look inspiring when I went through the Waders), when the Black-wits started to scatter. A quick check & the culprit was obvious, the first Winter Osprey that has been hanging around Brands Bay over the last week, was over the near channel. It stayed around for 15 - 20 minutes as it made over half a dozen dives into the channels in the bay. But sadly all were unsuccessful. Hopefully, it finally caught something after it disappeared over to Newton Bay on the far side of the Goathorn peninsula. This is my latest UK Osprey (unless I see it again next week).

Osprey: 1st Winter. This extensive spotting on the upperparts indicate it is a juvenile/1st Winter

Osprey: 1st Winter. The start of the first dive

Osprey: 1st Winter. Unfortunately, a miss

Osprey: 1st Winter. Starting to rise

Osprey: 1st Winter. I started to feel I was inside a wildlife documentary

Osprey: 1st Winter. Back up high & looking for a new target

Osprey: 1st Winter. The second impact

Osprey: 1st Winter. The second dive was also unsuccessful

Osprey: 1st Winter

 

Osprey: 1st Winter. Back to looking for another fish

Osprey: 1st Winter. The third dive

Osprey: 1st Winter

Osprey: 1st Winter

Osprey: 1st Winter. Back to hovering & looking again

Osprey: 1st Winter. Another attempt

Osprey: 1st Winter. But unsuccessful again

Another few unsuccessful attempts occurred, but further out in the bay. Then suddenly, it flew much closer.

Osprey: 1st Winter

Osprey: 1st Winter. Phew, it's found some blue sky

It then passed right over the hide. At this point, I was trying to photograph it from the hide with the camera as vertical as I could get from inside the hide, while it was nearly overhead. I was surprised to find that I managed to keep the Osprey fully in the frame, despite it being so close & at such an awkward angle on nearly all the photos. I should have joined local photographer, Simon Kidner, who had raced out from the hide by this point. But he had no option given he was trying to use a 500mm lens.

Osprey: 1st Winter. Wow

Osprey: 1st Winter. An uncropped photo so show how close it was