Last night a Quail was sound recorded on our Lytchett Bay Patch. This 1st becomes the 6th remarkable species recorded this year! Bee-eater 1st, Black Kite 1st, Snow Bunting 2nd, Golden Oriole 2nd (both of these 1st for 30+ yrs) + Forster's Tern. ebird.org/checklist/S3... 1/2

A nice surprise on our first ringing session of the season. Juvenile Redstart. A scarce species here at best. Scarce Dorset breeder. Nearest known breeding 6km away. @harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social #dorsetbirds

Lytchett Fields had a good selection of waders on the 2nd high tide 2day. Perfect breeding plum Spotted Redshank was the star of the show. Supporting cast 7 Green Sand, 3 Greenshank, 25 Redshank, 73 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Lapwing and 1 Curlew. @harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Jet lag eased, stifling temperatures eased, made it out onto Lytchett patch for a proper look around. Greeted by at least 6 Green Sand and 50+ Black-tailed Godwit. Earlier Andy C had 2 Greenshank. The returning waders are on their way. @harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

A casual walk through some woods in Kenai, Alaska suddenly became unforgettable when we were alerted by some mobbing Varied Thrushes to the arrival of this monster...American Goshawk. A totally unexpected lifer. It posed for 10 minutes before vanishing into the forest. 😀

So, as we head through the summer there’s still loads of rare breeding birds to be found and recorded… here’s some ideas youtu.be/50fFUafiVgY?...

Perspective from Vancouver.....

@dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @harbourbirds.bsky.social 👍👍

If you are fortunate to find any of the RBBP duck species, please try to return to the site through the breeding season to look for broods - often the only way to confirm breeding as nests are usually well hidden.

DUCKS: by this time of spring most ducks will have settled at potential breeding sites. So all records of scarce & rare breeding ducks, including Shoveler, Wigeon, Garganey, Pintail, Pochard and Red-breasted Merganser, should be submitted, with breeding evidence, to the relevant county recorder

This patch of cow parsley at Lytchett Bay has at least 37 Painted Lady, a different patch yesterday had 45. Wonderful. @ianballam.bsky.social @lytchettbirder.bsky.social

This evenings 'stint sp' at Lytchett Fields which seemed long and pale legged in the field at times, but always distant. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @narwhalsh.bsky.social @ianballam.bsky.social

The Lytchett Stint seems to be a Little after all. Still working on it and anything changes we will let people know. Probably not worth making any journey at the moment. Thanks to everyone for their input. @harbourbirds.bsky.social @ianballam.bsky.social

18 Bee-eater over Rock Lea View, Lytchett Bay. Patch Platinum. Headed towards Holton Lee, SW 🍾🍾🍾

Fumbled phone shot and video.

Just had a flock of Bee-eaters over Longfleet. 10+ Calling and moved off North/West direction.

One of the ugliest sights in birding! The endangered, range restricted and aesthetically brutal, Greater Adjutant reduced to wading through human waste for food. All of the 200+ birds we saw on recent trip to Assam were at human rubbish dumps. 😱😥

A few interesting arrivals this morning at Lytchett Bay. Tufted Duck over, first of year for us. 3 Avocet, 1 Bar Wit, 4 Whimbrel and a Cuckoo so far. @harbourbirds.bsky.social @ianballam.bsky.social

A warning to Poole birders 😀 There may be a few more strange looking Shelduck appearing over the coming months as one of the Hybrid birds that have been around a couple of years has bred with a standard bird! 5 normal looking(at moment) ducklings in Lytchett Bay @harbourbirds.bsky.social

britainsfavouritebutterfly.co.uk/butterfly/or... Orange-tip Always a joy, lifts the spirit every time.

NEW BLOG, following up our recent video: how to how to submit records of rare breeding birds rbbp.org.uk/2026/05/15/s...

@narwhalsh.bsky.social and @ianballam.bsky.social would have been in hospital for a week if they had this list during a LB visit just 5-years ago. How times change!

I was looking at a Lemon-rumped Warbler when I saw a moving orange, red, white image moving through the grass behind. "TRAGOPAN". Then it walked slowly across the track 😲. Temminks 📷 by @birdingvet.bsky.social Then 1 hour later Blyths Tragopan, great work by Rofeeq Islam. 2 Tragopan morning 😁😁😁

By submitting records of rare breeding birds, you can help inform their conservation. Don’t know how to submit records? Don’t worry, here’s RBBP Secretary @markaeaton.bsky.social to tell you how youtu.be/MWNq_JM9cZU?... #UKbirding #ornithology #birds

Unexpected addition to garden list. Wheatear sitting on neighbours roof. 😁

Dodgy record shots of Forster's Tern in Lytchett Bay today illustrate extent of moult into breeding plum & developing red base to bill. Nonetheless whiteness of upperparts, orange-red legs & feet and long tail streamers make this bird a standout. @harbourbirds.bsky.social @ianballam.bsky.social

Forsters Tern, now in 90% breeding plumage feeding in Lytchett Bay. @harbourbirds.bsky.social

It has reached lunchtime and my timeline is inexplicably devoid of #Bluethroat photos. Good job I finally cracked and popped out to see it for the first time this morning. 🤣 Nikon Bridge performing as well as the bird in early morning light. #Dorsetbirds

Volume up! The shorebird migration at Donggang, on the border of China and North Korea, is spectacular and is now a major tourist attraction. It's easy to see why... Best times are either side of spring high tides. #eaafp #shorebirds #migration #china #northkorea

Bluethroat still present at Swineham. Was just feeding halfway along path at eastern end then flew into Reed bed area. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social

1st yr Bonaparte’s Gull here in a large field with BHGs now - Briantspuddle, Dorset @birdguides.bsky.social

News has reached us of people trespassing at the Woodsford Garganey to get a better view or a better picture. This is an active working quarry & risks disturbing a rare breeding species. It also dissuades finders from releasing bird news. A lose, lose, lose situation. Please lets up our game.

Nice to find this White-spotted Bluethroat at Swineham this evening feeding with 3-4 Stonechat @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social 📸 Ed Betteridge

Just dropped through my Dorset letterbox this morning. Great work by all involved, plenty of art to add to the excellent photos. If the web has drawn you away from County bird reports & bird clubs, have a rethink. They are an essential part of our birding communities culture 🙏

A couple of better shots of todays 1st record of Large Tortoiseshell for Lytchett Bay (these from my camera rather than my phone!!)

Occasionally you get lucky taking flight shots with a bridge camera. Just to show its not impossible..... Long staying Ad Little Gull showing well at Lytchett Bay this morning. Its a beaut. #Dorsetbirds

Home after an amazing time in wonderful Japan. I said it before and I will say it again. Where did we go wrong? The last part of our trip was around Tokyo and included a trip out to the Izu Islands. A must do at this time of year for the chance of an albatross spectacular on the return ferry.

Is this the biggest ever single species count on eBird? Gobsmacking photos of an estimated 2.75M Snow Geese in North Dakota (HT @evornithology.bsky.social) ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Visit to eastern Hokkaido complete. The weather and temperatures were on the whole very kind. Seeing the eagles on the drift ice is one of THE wildlife spectacles of our amazing planet. Life is very tough up here in winter so the birding was all about quality rather than quantity.

The Woodpecker Network is encouraging birders to detect Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers by using passive acoustic sound recorders:

And my last Kyushu post goes to another town embracing & protecting "their" iconic species. Reminded me of home & the work done by @harbourbirds.bsky.social in making Poole & Osprey two words that lie expectedly in the same sentence. Kadogawa & Japanese Murrelet. This vulnerable alcid is celebrated.

The real draw in Kyushu for a birder are the Cranes, c14,000 of them wintering around Izumi alone. 6 species were possible, we found 5. Missing the single Demoiselle that is somewhere in the feeding flocks. In addition to a single figure number of Common here are the others.....

Our time in Kyushu, Japan has come to an end. Loved it all. Nagasaki memorial 😥,Great weather and some tremendous birding.

Fab morning @careyssecretgarden.bsky.social Migration Festival Part Two Had a chance to learn more about bird ringing with @harbourbirds.bsky.social & hear from Chris Packham & Megan McGubbin about bird slaughter in Malta & Cyprus & recent work against North Dorset Hunt www.operationdeadair.org

Mammals in Honshu were thin on the ground but quality was high. The Japanese Macaque (aka Snow Monkeys) might be a tourist bun fight but they are unmissable and a lot of fun. Japanese Serow and Japanese Racoon Dog were more surprising and very welcome.

End of Honshu (Japan) leg, part 1. Super enjoyable. Safe, friendly, clean, efficient, respectful country. Where did we go wrong? Birding has been lovely with lots of palearctic migrants. Almost all target species seen. Copper Pheasants (no pics 😥), Crested Ibis, Japanese Waxwings chief among them.

Rolling back the years... #UKBirding