After an 11 week long summer holiday, full of cricket, birding, exams and crucially sleep, I was pretty exhausted and in a good mood I only wish I could still have right now. Once I'd got home from Norfolk, it was pretty much straight to school the next morning to collect my GCSE Results. It's hard to describe the nerves we all felt, especially as getting back into the same school was dependent on the grades we got. Thankfully, I got results that were much better than I'd expected - this also meant I'd be able to go on the annual National Trust Green Academies Project (my Young Rangers group) to Brownsea Island feeling in good spirits!
Unlike the time before, the weather was scheduled to mostly be dry and fairly warm which made the trip all the more exciting. We departed Morden Hall Park at around 11 on Tuesday 27th, setting foot on Brownsea at around 4pm after a loud and probably terrifying journey for lead ranger Richard, who was driving down. The boat trip across included 3 Shag, while from the entrance area overlooking the lagoon, there were handfuls of Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Dunlin. Our evening was mostly spent setting up camp and relaxing around our tents; although I was in charge of cooking, there was still plenty of time for me to break my scope and misplace my camera lens caps, meaning I didn't look out of the lagoon that much. Despite this minor inconvenience (at the time,) we spent an extremely enjoyable evening playing various games on a chilled, warm evening.
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| Orienteering |
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| Bedroom view |
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| Dawn |
The first night went by with very little sleep (largely due to the other people I was sharing a tent with..!) However, being out on an island in nature is just an exciting experience in itself; perhaps the wildlife highlight of my trip was dozing and hearing a constant stream of waders passing overhead in addition to the Tawny Owls. These included Curlew, hundreds of Oystercatcher, Redshank, Whimbrel and what I was certain was an Ortolan Bunting at around 23:45. When I was back on social media a few days later, I found that one had been recorded over Corfe Castle a few minutes earlier to when I heard my possible bird, which meant it didn't match up as the 'same' bird, though it could very well have been another. Either way, one that got away...
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| The neighbours |
I was up at dawn with very poor visibility looking out onto the Harbour; nonetheless, on the birding front, several Yellow Wagtail were heading southwards as were at least 3-4 Tree Pipit. I was slightly disappointed not to get onto a few more of these in the end, as I suspect I must have missed so many. Our first Red Squirrels were also seen around the campsite, although the views were frustratingly brief.
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| f Redstart |
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| Common Sandpipers |
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| Common Sandpipers |
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| Common Sandpipers |
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| Common Sandpipers |
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| Common Sandpipers |
We followed this up by a quick lunch and then began a Orienteering course across some of the island. Of course this was to be a race and of course I was bound to lose whichever team I was in (unless my camera and binoculars were confiscated) but we set off across the island in the early afternoon. This started well, and although we didn't get lost once we were able to get some awesome views of Sika Deer and Red Squirrels throughout the walk. Birding highlights included a few Stonechat and 2 Common Redstart, a bird that's always pleasing to see, no matter how common they are. When we eventually returned to our campsite, despite the turning weather, we decided to go for a paddle (I don't do swimming in the cold...) on the beach. From here, at high tide, I was pretty pleased to watch a group (or collective noun a 'fling') of Common Sandpipers spooked off the beach further down. It was the first time I'd seen multiple Common Sandpipers together like this, and so seeing them swerving in amongst the waves was a pretty cool way to end the day's birding. As the weather began to turn, we returned to camp for a wash before dinner on the second night. With rain hammering down, we weren't able to stay outside for too long, so inside one of the large tents provided for such occasions we spent several hours playing a variety of games. Eventually, with everyone happy and also very tired, we retired for some sleep before our return home the next day.
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| Sika Deer |
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| Sika Deer |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Sika Deer |
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| Sika Deer |
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| Sika Deer |
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| Red Squirrel, Brownsea Island |
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| Red Squirrel, Brownsea Island |
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| Red Squirrel, Brownsea Island |
Our final morning began with a stunning sunrise - we couldn't have asked for much better really! I was obviously up at 5am again for a walk nearby for some wildlife, where I got some tidy views of Oystercatcher, Curlew and Little Egret, but also of a few more Red Squirrels. A few more Yellow Wagtails flew over camp as we tidied up, and by 9am we were sadly walking back to get the ferry back to the mainland. I was still able to get a cheeky year tick from the hide though, with at least 39 Spoonbill roosting on the lagoon in the addition of numerous waders, such as Avocet, Ringed Plover and a fresh, juvenile Curlew Sandpiper. A partially leucistic Red Squirrel brought to an end another extremely enjoyable trip to Brownsea Island.
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