Arne RSPB Nature Reserve

Friday 8th May 2015

This was our first visit to Arne, which is an RSPB nature reserve near Wareham and it was long overdue as we have been RSPB members for many years.  According to the information leaflet, 'nestled near the base of the Purbeck hills, RSPB Arne nature reserve is a peninsula that juts out into Poole Harbour'.   For details of the reserve see here.

At the visitor centre in the car park, a man from the RSPB  told us about the reserve and suggested places we might like to walk to and things to look out for, he was so enthusiastic and informative, it was great - plus it appeared to have been a quiet day and I think he was glad to have people to talk to!  

We decided to follow the red route which took in various different habitats found on the reserve, including woodland, grassland, heathland, a beach, and an estuary.  

There were probably as many as a dozen sparrows having dust baths when we approached, most had flown off by the time I got the camera out, although you can still see the little indentations where they had been flapping about in the dust!

Big blousy rhododendrons are beginning to come out.

And here are some of the sika deer, I counted about 36 this afternoon.

A few bluebells.

The edge of Poole Harbour, looking towards Long Island.

We saw a few ant hills, I don't know if this is the start of one but I have never seen so many wood ants in such a small space.  We stopped at another ant hill to watch the ants for a while and some of them were carrying bits of leaf and twig two or three times the length of their own bodies, it was amazing to watch.

It was a bit of a dull afternoon, with rain in the air but it didn't matter.

The beach was a very pleasant spot, there wasn't a soul in sight.

Looking towards Poole in the distance.

We stopped off at a bird hide overlooking the estuary but there wasn't a great deal of bird activity this afternoon and after a while we began to get cold so walked on back to the car, via a geocache near the lovely church in Arne.  A great three mile walk in a new place that we will definitely return to.