Today was another wash out, but with all this wind surely its blown plenty into the harbour? After the constant winds and storms of 2013/14 we ended up with a harbour maximum count of 16 Great Northern Diver around the harbour. Ok, it hasn’t quite been that bad, and it is only December 1^st but its well worth getting out checking every nook and cranny of the harbour for a sheltering Red-necked Grebe, a secretive Surf Scoter or perhaps a mis-placed Murrelet!! In our dreams. Through the wind and the rain the 15 Cattle Egret at Holme Lane were still present, there were 2 Egyptian Geese at Sunnyside Farm. Poole Park still held 7 Goldeneye and 2 Red-breasted Merganser.

Winter is great for high totals and with the weather clearing today it allowed for some proper counting to be done. Lytchett Bay/Fields was brimming with birds with totals of 561 Lapwing on the fields and in the bay 1345 Teal, 521 Wigeon, 255 Black-tailed Godwit, 132 Avocet, 85 Oystercatcher, 80 Redshank, 60 Dunlin, 56 Brent Geese, 55 Curlew, 6 Red-breasted Merganser and 9 Gadwall. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 2000+ Dunlin, 4 Knot, 60+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Spotted Redshank, 500+ Avocet and 14 Greenshank. In Middlebere a single Spoonbill was feeding with 30 on Shipstal Point, Arne and at the top end of Middlebere, its still an Avocet fest with a flock of 500+ still wowing the crowds at Arne. The Cattle Egret flock were mostly along Holme Lane today (15 of them). In Poole Park there were 10 Goldeneye, 3 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Mandarin Duck and there was finally a Great Northern Diver in the harbour with one off Baiter Park. 

The less said about today the better! All the harbour ‘regulars’ would have been out there somewhere but due to the dodgy weather not a lot was reported. For views it seems Poole Park and Upton CP seem favoured spots with birders as some smart winter species such as Goldeneye, Pintail, Red-breasted Merganser, Shoveler and Pochard have all been on show at close quarters. We’re hoping once all this foul weather blows on through then the harbour will have a good mix of open water species such as Great Northern Divers, Scoters and perhaps more Long-tailed Duck or two!

Northern Pintail – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

Eurasian Teal – Holes Bay – Rene Goad