Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey Tour is deemed magnificent!

29 August 2024

Good Morning Again,

I am often asked by my readers in North America where to go and see ospreys in the UK. I suggest Rutland Water when Blue 33 and Maya are raising chicks and I always suggest Poole Harbour. Both have cruises on the water and readers have written back to tell me of their adventures. They were never disappointed. So, when you are planning a trip think migration season at Poole Harbour (or otherwise). Book into a nice hotel and take the tour that the Birds of Poole Harbour’s team offers.

Geemeff just returned and all I could see were a line of WOW, WOW, WOW! Here is what happened!

Poole Harbour cruise Wednesday 28th August – it was my first time visiting Poole Harbour, and we had the most extraordinary day with such miraculous timing for our cruise, witnessing an epic interspecies kleptoparasitism encounter. The Birds of Poole Harbour team were all animated and glowing, everyone aboard was thrilled to have seen the epic battle between the Osprey and the White-tailed Eagle. That was the highlight, of course, but we saw so much more! Within minutes of setting off, we’d seen about half a dozen Ospreys, and then spotted the WTE perched in a tree. We saw juvenile Ospreys trying and failing to catch fish, sometimes pulling out of their dives at the last minute, other times landing with a loud splash. The boat was reasonably comfortable, we all sat outside on the upper deck with plenty of room to check out the action on both sides, and the friendly and knowledgeable BoPH team kept us fully informed, taking pains to ensure even novice birders knew exactly where to look. The weather was perfect, neither hot nor cold, and partly cloudy which helped the team point out where the action was – eg left of the blue patch just above the treeline by the dead tree etc. Highly recommended! As Poole Harbour is such an important stopping point for migrants and an excellent place for juveniles to learn to fish, at this time of year and into September you’re guaranteed to see Ospreys as well as a chance of seeing the resident pair CJ7 & 022.

We saw a huge flock of Black-tailed Godwits and then a Peregrine appeared, in definite hunting mode. The Godwits rose up in a cloud and the chase was on. Imagine a murmuration of Starlings – the Godwits looked like a smaller version but moving in the same sort of way, with the bigger darker shape of the Peregrine underneath, chasing. Every now and then the cloud would break into two groups, and the confused falcon would take a few seconds to decide which group to pursue. It was ultimately unsuccessful, but provided a thrilling spectacle. We also saw a Marsh Harrier, hunting low over the reed islands, don’t think it got anything either.

Ospreys had mobbed the eagle in its tree, but it just sat there. Eventually they went back to fishing, and one was successful, pulling itself up out of the water with a big Grey Mullet – did you know they swim upside down? No, me neither! So when the Osprey flew off, it had the fish upside down in its talons. But not for long – the WTE left its tree in a hurry and started chasing. The Osprey was aware and held out for as long as possible, but with the huge WTE right on top of it, it dropped its fish, and the eagle immediately went after the fish. Gasps and whoops from all of us aboard! BoPH team said that Osprey was a migrant passing through, as the resident Ospreys CJ7 & 022 know where the eagles hang out and would out-fly them and keep their fish, as happened a couple of weeks ago, witnessed by that day’s cruise passengers.

Another WTE appeared and flew down to its mate but they weren’t allowed to feast on their stolen meal for long, as they were dive-bombed by several juvenile Ospreys. I was watching through binoculars, I didn’t even attempt to film it as I knew I couldn’t get any detail so I just enjoyed the action – but there were several proper photographers aboard with mile-long lenses and they got perfect shots. One of them was the award-winning wildlife photographer Robin Morrison, and below are his photos he tweeted afterwards, retweeted by BoPH and me too. The fine detail he got is unbelievable, I didn’t even get that much with my bins. I did get some 40x super slo-mo of an Osprey who flew almost overhead, and the Peregrine chasing the Godwits, and I’ll put those up on youtube and post the link when ready.

By the way, the White-tailed Eagles (also referred to as ‘flying barn doors’!) were the one-footed male G463 who’s had quite a few adventures since being sat tagged for another RDWF translocation programme, and his mate G466. More here:

A Who’s Who of White-tailed Eagles at Poole Harbour 

Aren’t Robin Morrison’s photos simply stunning? @robinmmorrison if you’re on TwiX

Link to my retweet and Robin’s gracious response saying he’s always happy to share his photos:

Wow wow wow what stunning photos @robinmmorrison I was on @harbourbirds cruise this morning and watching this epic battle through binocs, I didn’t bother attempting to capture it with my feeble camera – thanks for sharing your amazing photos! Unforgettable! https://t.co/qaabQQqYzM

— Geemeff (@geemeff) August 28, 2024

BoPH posted our cruise species observation list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S193045755

I note it says 65 people aboard, it certainly didn’t feel like that many people as there was plenty of space and three team members to point out the action plus the captain who went forwards, backwards and sideways to ensure we got the best possible views. As I said, highly recommended!

Please note that the Robin Morrison photographs are magnificent and are copyrighted. Thank you. Please do not post elsewhere.

Links to contact Birds of Poole Harbour for their cruise:

Birds of Poole Harbour Website: www.birdsofpooleharbourbookings.co.uk Email: bookings@birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk Phone: 01202 641003

Thank you, Geemeff, for sharing your osprey adventure with all of us!