by ReserveTeam | Sep 19, 2020 | Birds, News
On Friday 18th September 2020, a White Stork dropped in to the outlying fields of Abbotsbury Swannery. There have been fly overs in the past, including a flock of 21, but this is the first to stop in. This individual is a ringed bird, coming from the Knepp White Stork...
by ReserveTeam | Aug 17, 2020 | Birds, Little Terns, Migration, News
On the 25th July 2020 we were lucky to see several colour ringed Little Terns at the Western end of the Fleet, from the Swannery. One of which was a green ring 1XZ, this bird was ringed as a chick at Kilcoole, Co Wickford on 1/7/2015. This is the second Irish Little...
by ReserveTeam | Jul 1, 2020 | Birds, News, The Fleet
In 2019 Cormorants successfully nested and fledged young for the first time on the Reserve and they have repeated their success in 2020. This aquatic bird has made use of an old Tern platform. Up to 50 individual Cormorants can be seen perched on these wooded beams at...
by ReserveTeam | Jan 7, 2020 | Birds, News
There were notable influxes of both Short-eared Owls and Cattle Egrets last winter, with at least ten of the former and up to fifty of the latter frequenting the fields around The Swannery and nearby Clayhanger Farm. The latter have only recently colonised Britain,...
by ReserveTeam | Dec 11, 2019 | Birds, News
Despite a slightly lower number of nests than the past two years, this year has still been a very productive one for the Common Terns on our island in the Fleet, at Abbotsbury Swannery. There were 70 pairs of terns nesting on the island, with 140 chicks hatching....
by ReserveTeam | Oct 1, 2019 | Litter, Management, News
Once again our thanks go out to the many volunteers who help clean up the litter on Chesil and the Fleet. Most recently the local wildfowlers and the Dorset Countryside Volunteers have both carried out litter picks on the Reserve, clearing over 30 bags of litter and a...
