What a cracker of a day! A crisp winter sun sat low in the sky and a cold, biting wind made hats and scarves a necessity, which weirdly was a welcome treat with all the mild weather we’ve been getting. That said it seemed people were just out enjoying the sun today as reported sightings were few and far between. Highlights included 15 Cattle Egret along Nutcrack Lane, 1 Great Northern Diver, 3 Black-necked Grebe and a Sandwich Tern in Brands Bay. The ringtail Hen Harrier was seen over Slepe Heath and in Middlebere. At Swineham there was a Common Redstart (another lost and confused late autumn migrant) and 2 Egyptian Geese. There was also a Black Redstart along the Middlebere track. In Poole Park on the main boating lake the Mandarin Duck was near the Café and there were 5 Goldeneye. At Arne 36 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point. Just outside the area the Great Grey Shrike was at Morden Bog.

Pintail – Upton CP ‘Stone Bench’ – John Pick

The sun was back and shining bright today after the murk had cleared. The now (hopefully) resident Cattle Egret flock which this morning stood at 18 individuals (but later rose to 20) were first seen in the field along Nutcrack Lane, then moved to Bestwall, then disappeared then moved back to Nutcrack Lane again, so they seem pretty mobile. A Great White Egret was off Coombe Heath in Middlebere several times today and 2 Hen Harrier were seen with one in Middlebere and a ringtail in Lytchett Bay. In Poole Park there were 6 Goldeneye, 1 Red-breasted Merganser and 4 Sandwich Tern left the roost there too at dawn. At Arne 20 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point with one very confiding individual feeding just off Shipstal Beach.

Late autumn is always exciting as you still never know what’s going to turn up. With the main bulk of autumn migration well and truly over, certainly for sub-Saharan African migrants it seems ludicrous to think a bird like a Garden Warbler could still appear but that’s what happened up at our ringing site on Ballard this morning. Avery late and lost individual! Also ringed on Ballard were 4 Fieldfare, 7 Goldcrest, 9 Chiffchaff, 2 Firecrest, 3 Blackcap and 2 Song Thrush. Off Middle Beach, Studland there were 2 Black-necked Grebe and 4 Common Scoter and off the Brownsea southern shore there was no sign of the Black Guillemot sadly but the 1^st winter Eider was there again along with 7 Black-necked Grebe, c15 Red-breasted Merganser and 2 Sandwich Tern. In Shell Bay the Slavonian Grebe was present again along with 13 Fieldfare overhead and 3 Sandwich Tern. Off Jerry’s Point there were 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 9 Red-breasted Merganser, 27 Great Crested Grebe and 45 Dunlin. From the Middlebere hide there were some good counts of 364 Avocet, 284 Teal, 23 Grey Plover, 5 Spotted Redshank, 291 Dunlin, 208 Lapwing and 15 Curlew. At Bestwall there were just 2 Cattle Egret today with another 7 in a field along Nutcrack Lane and at Lytchett Fields 281 Lapwing, 133 Redshank, 13 Dunlin, 2 Green Sandpiper, 200 Teal and 231 Wigeon were in the bay.

The Black Guillemot was again off the south-east corner of Brownsea Island, favouring the area in between the green and red marker posts that sit fairly close together. Again, viewing is really only possible from the houseboats at Bramble Bush Bay. At dawn a Short-eared Owl was hunting over Slepe Heath…we wish this bird would be a bit more consistent! It doesn’t currently seem to have a set routine or favoured spot to hunt making it quite difficult to view. Maybe as the winter progresses it will find its rhythm! A night ringing session at a site next to Hartland Moor was a bit more productive than last week with 2 new Woodcock caught and ringed (both adults) along with 1 Common Snipe, 1 Redwing and 1 Stock Dove. There was also a decent passage of Redwing overhead for most of the night with many birds being heard over urban areas between 7pm and 10pm.

Woodcock – Hartland Moor – Mike Gould

There was good news today that a Black Guillemot flew in through the harbour mouth at dawn and was later relocated off the south-eastern corner of Brownsea Island. This is familiar behaviour as this is the same routine previous Black Guillemots have carried out over the last few years, which could even suggest it’s the same bird returning? Hopefully it will remain now for the winter, but the best opportunity of trying to see it is with a scope from the houseboats at Studland, looking out across the water to Brownsea. Also in through the harbour mouth at dawn were 70 Shag, 4 Red-breasted Merganser and 80+ Brent Geese. In Shell Bay there were 3 Sandwich Tern, 1 Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe and 5 Common Scoter. In Bramble bush Bay 10 Turnstone and 10 Red-breasted Merganser were on and just off the beach with another 20 Red-breasted Merganser, 18 Great Crested Grebe and 5 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point.  In Brands Bay there were 13 Pintail, 4 Grey Plover, 200 Wigeon but only 1 Teal! From Middle Beach the winters first Slavonian Grebe was seen along with another 3 Black-necked Grebe and 38 Cormorant. In Poole Park the Mandarin was on the smaller lake and there were 2 Goldeneye out on the main boating lake with 6 Little Grebe and a Redshank. At Holton Pools 3 Water Pipit and a Green Sandpiper were out in front of the hide. At dawn 8 Sandwich Tern were feeding off Baiter Beach. At Lytchett Bay there was an adult female Hen Harrier bombing around the reed beds plus 1 Spoonbill, 1 Brambling and 40 Avocet. There was also an adult male Hen Harrier near Hartland at dusk with a missing tail feather. On top of Ballard a male Ring Ouzel was feeding on berries.

There were 2 Merlin on Hartland this evening, a smart male and a female on the west side. At Holton Pools 2 different Marsh Harrier have been frequenting the reed beds out between the polls and Lytchett Fields. There’s still very few Red-breasted Merganser back so far but there were 39 in Brands Bay and 3 in Shell Bay today. It’s likely we could see another big arrival of birds on the next full moon later in November though.

We’ve also just announced via our Facebook page that as of next week we’ll be beginning our Thursday Morning Poole Town Urban Birding Walks, which will commence on November 22^nd at 10am from our BoPH HQ on Poole Quay. This new initiative is being set up to help interpret Poole Towns incredible bird life. For Full Info Click Here

A calmer day today with the harbours first Great Northern Diver of the winter off Shell Bay along with 3 Black-necked Grebe, and another Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach. At Hartland 2 Merlin were along the road near the Middlebere Farm access point at dusk and at Lytchett Bay there was an adult female ringtail Hen Harrier. On Lytchett Fields a flock of 38 Avocet were feeding which is the largest feeding flock of Avocet to have been logged feeding on the fields which is an excellent indicator as to how productive the fields are for food.

There were some incredible downpours today and plenty of rainbows on offer. It looked as if a pot of gold was on offer at the end of a rainbow out in Poole Bay when a Swift species was picked up flying across Studland Bay towards Old Harry. In mid-November the logical thought would be it was a Pallid Swift, an extremely rare vagrant to Dorset with no Poole Harbour records. However, the bird was watched for a good few minuets as it travelled across the bay and all features actually pointed towards Common Swift. An exceptionally late record for this species. Another frustrating encounter was had over Poole when a large (and silent) pipit flew over at dawn, which gave an overall appearance of Richards Pipit but flew over and disappeared before it could be clinched. There was a minimum of 9 Cattle Egret next to the Stoborough causeway mid afternoon. At Sunnyside there were 2 Egyptian Geese again and on Poole Park boating lake the 3 Goldeneye and the Mandarin Duck were still present.  From Shipstal 28 Spoonbill were on the point. At Holton Pools Kingfisher, Green Sandpiper, Wigeon, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Water Pipit, Marsh Harrier and Little Egret were all viewable from the hide. In Middlebere 8 Spoonbill were hunkered up for a while at the end of the channel and the Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit flock were out in front of the hide.

Female Goldeneye – Poole Park Lake – Rene Goad

The storm that was forecast didn’t really kick in until late afternoon/early evening but was certainly wild, enough by midday to create some pretty dramatic scenes especially along the Studland beaches. There were a few birds bobbing around on the waves including 12 Common Scoter in Studland Bay and Black-necked Grebes in Shell and Bramble Bush Bay. Off Jerry’s Point 8 Goldeneye and 11 Red-breasted Merganser were feeding in the shallow water of the low tide. In Brands Bay there were 3 Black-necked Grebe, 45 Great Crested Grebe, 27 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Goldeneye, 2 Spoonbill, c230 Wigeon and 37 Brent Geese. The 3 drake Goldeneye in Poole Park have now been joined by a female.