Young Birders - Raptor Watch, Osprey Nest Viewing and Bird Book Giveaway

July is a fantastic time to see birds of prey in Poole Harbour. For this Young Birders Event we'll be heading up to the Careys Secret Garden Osprey Viewing Platform to see what birds of prey, and other nice birds, might be moving through. From the platform we've seen White-tailed Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Hobby, Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon and of course Osprey. Autumn migration has already begun in July and lots of recently fledged juveniles are moving about. That means that it's a great time of year to see birds moving from this fantastic viewing platform, as hopefully the thermals get going and birds of prey take to the sky.

We'll also be able to catch up with the first nesting pair of Ospreys on the south coast of England, CJ7, 022 and hopefully 4 chicks! At this time there'll be lots of fish deliveries as well as wing stretching as the chicks start to learn to fly and begin to run out of space on the nest. The viewpoint gives us exclusive access to see the nesting pair from a safe distance before they fledge and head to West Africa for the winter.

What to bring
Part of the event will take place outdoors so please dress suitably for the weather conditions and bring appropriate footwear.

Travel

We will meet at the walled Garden in Careys Secret Garden to start the talk at 10am. We will be providing minibus transport to the site if there is interest, as the site is not easily accessible by public transport. This will be departing from Wareham Station car park at 9:40am and leaving the gardens at 12:30pm. This has a limited number of spaces so please ensure you purchase the appropriate ticket. 2 Birds of Poole Harbour staff/volunteers will be present on the minibus to ensure safeguarding. If under 16 you will need consent from your parent or guardian to go on the minibus and attend the event. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this as we want to make these events as accessible as possible.

Key Information:

• Please be aware that the tour involves a 1km round walk on uneven ground with a moderate incline, so we advise wearing sturdy shoes.
• Directions to Careys Secret Garden are included on your ticket. Please note that you are not required to print your ticket as we will use a digital guestlist for checking you in.
• Please ensure to arrive at the meeting point in the walled garden 15 minutes before the event, where you will be greeted by a member of the BoPH team.
• There are toilet facilities on site.
• We are currently working to improve disabled access for our Osprey tours, but due to the incline and ground condition unfortunately the route to the Osprey platform is not suitable for wheelchair access.