7th October - RSPB Arne, Dorset

A North American Forster's tern has been in Poole Harbour and more recently the RSPB's Arne Reserve for most of the summer.  I was supposed to have been on one of the harbour cruises in September but that was cancelled due to severe weather.  Ian and I had also talked about going but never found the right time.  So with good weather this weekend we decided to make the journey across the border into Dorset.  Unfortunately the weather would prove to be too good, but more of that later.  We arrived in the reserve car park just before 8.00am and set off out through the oak woods towards Shipstal Point.  The morning light was coming through the trees as we walked.

On our left hand side there was a field with a distant line of trees.  At the top of a dead tree were two Ravens taking in the morning sunshine.

The golden glow of the sun on the backs of both birds.

The wooded area was a mixture of Silver Birch and Alder and calls above us alerted us to at least four Siskin feeding in the Alders.

The path curved around and there were several view points looking out over the harbour in a south easterly direction.

The salt marsh was covered in red Glass Wort.  They usually grow in the mud of low level saltmarsh that is covered by most tides in the monthly cycle. After the main summer growing season the bright green plants turn red and then brown and are largely overlooked.  Hunting in amongst it was a Little Egret.

This area is the favoured haunt for the Forster's Tern.  With it now being autumn it was unlikely that there would be that many terns around, so a lone tern on one of the buoys was of interest and raised the hopes a little until we realised that it was a winter plumaged Sandwich Tern.

We headed for Shipstal Beach and coming around a corner came across this yearling Sika Deer.

Sika Deer were introduced to Britain in the 19th century from Japan, it subsequently became naturalised as a result of escapes from captivity and deliberate releases.

They can now be found here in Purbeck, but also in the New Forest, Lake District and parts of the Borders and Highlands in Scotland.

It is closely related to the Red Deer and the majority of British populations are probably hybrids

We heard some calling but never saw any other Sika, the rut is just starting and they are probably more active at night.

There is a view point looking out over Shipstal and with the morning light looked very impressive.

A close up of the wader roost of mainly Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank on the point.

Away in the distance the haze was lifting around Corfe Castle and it could now be seem a lot better.

From the beach we had three Spoonbill flying past and out of view, while in the trees there were several Chiffchaff calling and Greenfinch and Goldfinch.

The light was poor and the tide still high and there was no sign of the Forster's Tern.  It has frequently been reported on the beach at a low tide, so we decided to go for a walk around the area and would come back when the tide had dropped.  We headed off towards the Shipstal hide.  Above the trees there was a distant Sparrowhawk, while Little Egret could be seen in the gullies of the salt marsh.

The hide is elevated and from the top level we had a great view across the marsh but the birds were distant.  With the tide falling birds were moving, these Wigeon flying past.

Then very good numbers of Curlew moving up the harbour to the areas where the mud was now being revealed by the falling tide.

Ian then picked up an Osprey coming straight towards us and then headed up the channel to our right.  It paused at one point to hover, inspecting the water below.

But nothing was of interest and it kept flying up the channel past us to the left

Leaving the hide it was a lot warmer and there was a lot of insect activity, Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters around the pools and plenty of Red Admiral moving through.  This Speckled Wood settled on the branch of a Scots Pine.

We reached the beach and with the tide out we walked along the beach.  The cliffs here is a favourite habitat of the Sand Lizards, they like to bask on the sandy soil of the cliffs.  We wer not able to find any lizards, but I did find a butterfly that at first I thought was a Peacock, but didn't look right.  I could just make out some orange and zooming in with the camera confirmed it as a Wall Brown.

Then right in front of us one settled to nectar on the flowering heather.

A butterfly I didn't expect to find today.

There were several small gulls and terns roosting around the exposed mud of the point where earlier the waders had been roosting

The first check was Sandwich Terns, but moving to the right we found the Forster's Tern.

Alongside the Sandwich Tern it shows the size which is very similar to that of the Common Tern.

It then took off and flew around the water.  It was very difficult to get on the bird as the light was directly in our faces.  This was the best I could achieve.

Then coming back to roost on the mud.  

With the light so bad and hopefully the tide dropping more, we decided to head back for an early lunch.

Passing an oak tree with Ivy all over it there were a lot of Red Admiral nectaring.

Red Admiral were almost everywhere, here on the ivy but constantly moving over the heath, the saltmarsh and the open water.

While having a coffee outside the cafe there was a Small Copper on a bunch of daisies.

Looking stunning on in the autumn sunshine.

This was probably the product of the third brood this year.

Proboscis retracted.

Later it was settled on the wall in the sunshine.

leaving the cafe we headed back to Shipstal in the hope that the light was better.  Once again passing the Red Admiral on the ivy.

Back at the beach we found the Forster's Tern in the same place and quite settled.  The light was a little better, but not much, the tern was also at the furthest point it could be.

Some action, preening.

Forster’s Tern is a rare but annual in western Europe and has wintered in Ireland and Great Britain on a number of occasions. No European tern winters so far north.  It breeds inland in North America and winters south to the Caribbean and northern Central America.

As referred to earlier it is most similar to the common tern. It has pale grey upperparts and white underparts. Its legs are red and its bill is red, tipped with black. In winter, the forehead becomes white and a characteristic black eye mask remains. Juvenile Forster's terns are similar to the winter adult. This one is a second calendar year bird and has retained the non breeding look, if it were to stay through the winter into spring it might assume the full breeding plumage.

In its non-breeding plumage, the crown is white and a black comma-shaped patch covers the eye and the ear-covert. The wings are grey with the primaries being dark silver grey, while the underside is white. The bill is black and the legs are a dull brownish red. 

It is named after the European naturalist, and Lutheran pastor, Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798), who is best known as the naturalist who accompanied James Cook on his second Pacific voyage.

Because Forster's Tern looks so much like a Common Tern that it was largely overlooked by Audubon and other pioneer birders. However, Forster's is more of a marsh bird at most seasons, especially in summer, when it often nests on top of muskrat houses. 

It then settled down and at point ticked the bill into the wing to sleep until disturbed by a Little Egret.

Having been disturbed it started to stretch the wings.

And looked more alert.

Then another stretch of the wings and it was away, flying directly away from us and up the channel towards Middlebere.  As we watched we also picked up an Osprey heading distantly in the same direction.

We decided to head back and try some of the other trails, heading out to the Middlebere viewpoint where we hoped to find the Forster's and maybe the Osprey

As it was we found neither, this Sandwich Tern raised the hopes initially but as can be seen was a Sandwich Tern.

A Peregrine high over us was the only other highlight of Middlebere.  Time was beating us so we made our way back to the car park.  The weather was amazing but maybe didn't help us that much today.  If the tern remains for any longer I may consider coming back for another try and getting some photographs, but today RSPB Arne was a lovely location.