Recent Nocturnal Sound Recording

It has been a while since I have posted any nocturnal sounds recorded from Lytchett Bay.  So I've put together a few of the better recording of recent calls from Curlew flying over my listening station into or from the bay.

The first two are just single calls these were most probably birds moving into the bay to feed at low tide.

The next two are both a series of calls the first is probably two different birds calling one flying slight further away and one a little closer to the microphone (second and third call).


This is what I call the 'Worry Call' this from a bird moving across over the bay.


My last sound for this blog was recorded a week ago and is a sign that the Sika Deer have started the annual rut. This was a stags screaming bellow presuming warning off lesser stags this was his patch. He wasn't to far from the microphone probably just a little way into the wood.



Now I have some new software for processing the recordings I'l try to do more regular blogs to include more of the sounds of Lytchett bays wildlife.

Boating Around Poole Harbour

On Friday 7th Jackie and I were invited out with the Birds of Poole Harbour on the Volunteers Osprey Boat.   Starting at Poole Quay at 8a.m. we set off to sail up the Wareham Channel with Mark and Paul giving us a commentary and updating us on the Osprey translocation project. As we passed the Barfluer dock we had a flyby Mediterranean Gull and then a Sandwich Tern or two.  We passed Rockley and I picked up a flight of thirty one Avocet flying towards the harbour they looked stunning with the blue sky as they flashed black and white as they jostled for position in the air.  When we were adjacent to Holton Lee Paul called Osprey but to be honest it was so far away it was hard to see it flying to our north. 

Avocet over the Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

We continued on searching the skies and the water I managed to point out a Woodlark that flew along the Arne northern shore and disappeared into a pine tree out of sight. We then came across a large flock of Cormorant communally feeding Mark explained that this type of feeding was very typical of the sinensis subspecies which we find in the harbour every year and were probably Dutch breeding birds.  

Cormorant (possibly C. sinensis) - Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

As we reached the mouth of the Frome and the Piddle, the two main rivers that feed the harbour, we had several Sandwich Tern and to the left of the boat a Common Seal surfaced as the boat turned we saw another in the mouth of the Piddle.

Harbour or Common Seal - Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

We returned down the channel and then sailed across to the Wytch Channel past Shipstal to as far as Round Island, where we could observe the release pens off in the distance but no Osprey were on show.  In fact it appeared that most had already left toward the south and Africa.  As we headed back to across the harbour we had a distant view of thirteen Spoonbill on Shipstal Point.

As we crossed the Balls Lake shellfish beds I looked back toward Corfe Castle and there circling in the distance was an Osprey a tad closer than the previous view, so I called it and directed everyone on to it so there was at least two still around at least. 

We cruised on passing between Furzy and Brownsea Islands around to look over the sea wall into Brownsea Lagoon.  As we drifted along the lagoon edge we were able to pick out a number of wildfowl such as Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Dunlin and I must have been on form as I located a Little Stint feeding on one of the sand bars just over the wall.  We also add more Little Egrets and five more Spoonbill which decided to take off and fly around giving excellent views and a fitting end to a excellent trip around the harbour.

Spoonbill over Brownsea Lagoon © Nick Hull

Twitching Longham & visit to Middlebere

Jackie and I had a quick twitching visit to Longham Lakes for a Juvenile Black Tern in late August and had good views but when we returned with the group a couple days later it had left.  Though we still saw a good number of birds on the water and in the hedgerows around the lakes.  The highlights for most were watching Yellow Wagtails dodging around the feet of the cattle as they fed on the various diptera and Pauline picked up a high gliding Hobby that carried on south obviously starting its migration.

Juvenile Black Tern - Longham Lakes © Nick Hull

Juvenile Black Tern - Longham Lakes © Nick Hull

Though our walks are primarily for birds we never walk past anything that might catch our eyes and one of such things was a beautiful Hoverfly which was found sun bathing. So a quick photo shoot and  I id'ed it later as Myathropa florea a wasp mimic.  

Hoverfly - Myathropa florea © Nick Hull

We had almost completed our walk when Jackie called "Swift"and hawking above us with the Swallows and martins was a single Swift we took great care, as it was a late individual, that it wasn't something more rare but alas it wasn't but nice to see none-the-less.

Sand Martin over Longham Lakes © Nick Hull

Our Two Owls walk at Middlebere on the 5th September was successful in that we saw all the usual common species one would expect and added a handful of migrants.  Our highlights here were again Yellow Wagtails, which Chris saw first flitting around the cattle out in the bog on Hartland Moor as we were looking for Marsh Gentian.

Marsh Gentian - Hartland Moor © Nick Hull

As we walked down to the hide along the track we had a brief view of a female Bullfinch crossing the track and then heard more Yellow Wagtail calls, we all looked up and a group of 28 flew over heading south.  We also had a splattering of Meadow Pipits, a real sign that autumn is here when the pipits are starting to move. A family group of Mistle Thrush were in the Rowan a species that aren't common in the harbour area but one that likes Sika copse at Middlebere.  From the NT hide we were able to get distant views of a young Osprey sat in one of the favoured dead trees, tucking into a fish, unfortunately too far away to get a photograph.