Rather quiet today but the sighting of an almost certain Siberian Chiffchaff at the KFC end of the PCW Drain was a welcome find as none have been found yet this winter. Off Jerry’s Point/Brands Bay area there were 4 Scaup, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Great Northern Diver, 3 Slavonian Grebe, 16 Goldeneye, 2 Common Scoter and 25 Red-breasted Merganser. In Brands Bay were c220 Brent Geese, c130 Wigeon, c300 Teal, c95 Pintail, 10 Shoveler, 27 Knot and 11 Grey Plover. Holes Bay was busy with it’s standard array of Avocet, Dunlin, Wigeon etc. and 6 Common Snipe were kicking around Lytchett Bay.

Goldcrest – Slepe Heath

A quick overview today. Most notably the increase in the number of wildfowl that are using Little Sea currently which today stood at 477 Wigeon, 81 Pintail, 17 Teal and 27 Shoveler. This is a marked increase since the dire situation the areas been in over the last 10-15 years. Maybe the National Trusts efforts of removing the carp are already paying dividends? Long may the recovery continue! Also today 2 Slavonian Grebe 4 Scaup, 3 Great Northern Diver, 19 Goldeneye, 31 Red-breasted Merganser and 2 Common Scoter were off Jerrys Point. The Common Sandpiper at Holes Bay was becoming a bit braver and was even seen walking along the main cycle path during the morning!

Common Sandpiper – Holes Bay – Ian Ballam

We haven’t seen freezing fog for a while, and despite not being able to see much for pretty much all day, several new species managed to find their way into the harbour. First of all 2 White-fronted Geese entered the harbour mouth at dawn along with a Long-tailed Duck and then by mid-morning there were 4 new Eider off Jerry’s Point. Then, out of nowhere an over-wintering Common Sandpiper appeared at the entrance of the PCW drain channel in Holes Bay NE. And there’s almost certainly more out there lurking around the harbour! Other highlights included a Great White Egret in Brands Bay, 3 Slavonian Grebe, 6 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Common Scoter, 4 Scaup, 23 Goldeneye and 2 Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point. At Swineham a Pochard was on the gravel pit and there were 4 Bearded Tit off the point.

Common Sandpiper – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam

Some more interesting sightings today including a Short-eared Owl flushed from the heather backing Redhorn Quay.  Also off Reddorn were 4 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Common Scoter, 12 Red-breasted Merganser and a Great Northern Diver with the Goldeneye flock now up to 20. Off Jerry’s Point were 2 more Great Northern Diver, 4 Long-tailed Duck off Brownsea and a Black-necked Grebe.  The 4 Scaup were in Brand’s Bay, also c50 Pintail, c80 Shelduck, c150 Brent Geese, c400 Wigeon and c200 Teal.  In Upton CP there were 5 Lesser Redpoll near the Stone Bench with 804 Black-tailed Godwit, 82 Redshank, 101 Avocet, 62 Curlew and 1 Grey Plover on the tide line there. In Holes Bay SE there were 2 Goldeneye and 2 Red-breasted Merganser. Off Baiter Park were 5 Goldeneye, 1 Great Northern Diver, 2 Med Gulls, 40 Brent Geese and 4 Great Crested Grebe. In Lytchett Bay a series of ringed birds were logged with data back already for some including a Dutch ringed Avocet and Spoonbill, a Curlew from the New Forest and another Avocet yet to be traced. On Littlesea there were an amazing 434 Wigeon roosting on Littlesea!

Lesser Redpoll – Upton CP – Martin Adams

Definitely a ‘lockdown’ vibe across the harbour today, but people still able to report sightings from their daily exercise allowance where a Goshawk was reported from Godlingston Heath. At Holes Bay a single Spoonbill settled and fed close to the cycle path and there were 100+ Black-tailed Godwit again in the NW sector with 426 Dunlin and 130 Shoveler. A Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye were in the SE sector. Another 6 Spoonbill were in Lytchett Bay. Off Redhorn Point a Long-tailed Duck was showing nicely along with 3 Scaup, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver and 14 Goldeneye. A Firecrest was was near the discovery centre at Knoll Beach and at Sandbanks Shore Road a Purple Sandpiper was again on one of the groynes. A Firecrest and 3 Chiffchaff were at the top (B&Q) end of the PCW Drain. Another Great Northern Diver was off Baiter too.

Spoonbill – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam

Very quiet from across the harbour today with many people now back to work and Christmas holidays over. The news that 2 Red-crested Pochard arrived at Longham Lakes today highlights that birds are still moving and responding to the cold weather and that there’s still a possibility of species like Smew turning up, or simply an increase in common duck species and some winter ‘grey’ geese? Highlights today saw 2 Firecrest in Poole Park behind the model railway hut, also 1 Great White Egret at Holmebridge, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier at Middlebere along with the Merlin on the post at dusk. A night-time survey returned c20 Woodcock on the top fields at Hartland, 8 Jack Snipe and 7 Skylark. At the PCW Drain there were 5 Common Chiffchaff and 1 Great Northern Diver off Baiter. The male Pochard was still on Holme Lane GP.

Pochard – Holme Lane GP – Garry Hayman

It was another busy day, but nowhere near as beautiful as yesterday. Best from across the harbour included 4 Long-tailed Duck, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Common Scoter, 3 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point. Off Old Harry a Fulmar flew by and there were c200 auk’s (50/50 split between Guillemot and Razorbill), c30 Kittiwake, c40 Gannet, 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver and 3 diver sp, 2 Peregrine and 2 Shoveler. In the arable field leading along to Old Harry there were 6 Yellowhammer in the field along with 32 Skylark that were flushed by a Sparrowhawk. At Swineham there was an excellent count of 22 Pochard which is a harbour high count by quite some way in recent years. It also highlights that many duck responded to yesterdays cold weather and that Smew should be on peoples radars if out looking in Holes Bay, off Baiter, at Poole Park or at Swineham. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen over Keysworth this afternoon with a Marsh Harrier and a Merlin was hunting from the Middlebere post at dusk and 3 Sandwich Tern were off Shore Road.

17 of the 22 Pochard that were at Swineham today – Trevor Warwick

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone. We hope that you’re all safe and well. We’ve decided we’re going to focus purely on positive conservation stories and projects this year, rebuilding our people engagement work when and where we can, re-focusing and hopefully making 2021 one of the best years in the charities history. Today couldn’t have got the year off to a better start with an amazing range of birds right across the harbour as well as a stunning wintery scene from sunrise until about midday. Starting in Poole at the PCW Drain 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti’s Warbler and a Kingfisher were logged and in Holes Bay NW where 40+ Knot were roosting plus 110 Oystercatcher along the Railway embankment and 1 Goldeneye in the SE sector. At Shell Bay there were 3 Great Northern Diver and off Middle Beach 2 Common Scoter, 14 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver. Off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Slavonian Grebe 1 Razorbill, 2 Great Northern Diver and 3 Black-necked Grebe and off Redhorn 1 Long-tailed Duck, 4 Scaup, 1 Great Northern Diver and in Brands Bay a Pochard (very rare here) circled the bay before heading north and 40+ Shoveler (scarce here) were settled with c80 Pintail. A Great White Egret flew up and then down the Piddle Valley mid-morning and a Cattle Egret flew over Lytchett Bay. At Old Harry a Black Redstart was on the top on the ridge and 1 Brambling, 14 Yellowhammer and c25 Chaffinch were in a mixed seed crop field at the base of Old Harry. There seemed to have been an arrival of winter thrushes too with higher than recent totals of Redwing around the area including urban Poole gardens and 9 Fieldfare were outside the Brands Bay hide.

Slavonian Grebe – Jerry’s Point – Brittany Maxted