Thoughts are steadily turning towards spring. The first 2 male Reed Bunting were back on territory and singing this morning in the Lower Piddle Valley. February may as well be the March! Chaotic scenes at Lytchett Bay as a large female Peregrine harassed everything for 20 minutes with no success. Two Marsh Harrier joined in on the action sending up 300+ Wigeon, 200+ Teal, 200 Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Redshank and gulls all in a frenzy. Meanwhile the northern embayment to the east, Holes Bay, enjoyed a beautifully calm morning with 200+ Avocet present and regular Kingfisher activity. Although there were no sightings of the Common Sandpiper, a few Turnstone were feeding actively. The Brambling briefly paid a visit to the Lytchett Feeding Station. Ballad Down certainly felt like spring was pressing forward with Skylarks in song and a Raven collecting nesting material.

Water Rail (yesterday) – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

It’s been a better than average winter for Brambling this year, not necessarily all around Poole Harbour, but at inland sites that can often host several birds, flocks of 30-50 have been logged, meaning several are now turning up in the harbour area including the male that was on the feeders again at Lytchett Bay view point, at the end of Slough Lane, plus there were 2-3 in Upton CP too. As birds are also now beginning to move around due to springs fast approach, it would be well worth keeping an eye out on garden feeders as wandering Brambling could turn up anywhere. At Swineham the redhead Goosander was on the main pit again with several Cetti’s Warbler calling. The Cattle Egret is still on the opposite side of the valley in the cow field, viewable from the bottom of the Bog Lane footpath and there were 3 Egyptian Geese in the Valley along with 4 Green Sandpiper. Off Middle Beach, Studland there were 11 Common Scoter and 2 Slavonian Grebe with a scattering of Black-necked Grebe. The 3 Scaup were still off Redhorn and a Common Guillemot was off Poole Quay again. A Marsh Harrier flush 12 Spoonbill off Shipstal and in Brands Bay there were 2 Spoonbill 2 on the very far side of the marsh, 25 Grey Plover, 344 Black-tailed Godwit and Knot. Finally, the warmth of the sun this AM also made Woodlark active again up around Hartland.

Woodlark – Hartland area – Rob Johnson

There seemed to be a weekend lull with todays grotty weather obviously preventing/deterring folk from getting out birding. The only news from daylight hours were of a Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Bay, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 8 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay and a Merlin off Shipstal.

However, some fascinating news last night from Stour Ringing Group who were out around the Sunnyside area where they caught several Jack Snipe, 1 Common Snipe and a Woodcock. Thats not unusual for anyone thats been on one of our Sunnyside ringing demos, in fact thats quite a typical catch. However, one the Jack Snipe and the Woodcock were in fact birds that had been caught and ringed at exactly the same spot in previous years by the group. Terry Elborn has kindly provided the details of each bird below.

• The Jack Snipe was first caught in March 2017, so was born at the earliest in 2016.
• The Woodcock was first caught in Nov 2016 and was aged as an adult then, so was born at least 2015 and so in its 8^th calendar year at least! How many miles has this bird done so far and how many gun shots avoided!!

We’re learning more and more about these nocturnal species and that winter site fidelity (reliance on the same site each winter) is key for birds like Woodcock and Jack Snipe, sometimes even being caught in the same 3m square patch of grass the following winter having (likely) flown to Russia and back in the mean time! Just incredible.

Woodcock (above) and Jack Snipe (below) – Terry Elborn

It was a bit quiet for sightings today, but 2 more Red Kite passed over Lytchett Bay and the male Brambling was on the feeders in the Pools Field again. The male Goshawk was once again seen over Middlebere and 2 Spotted Redshank were with the c200 Avocet. At Lytchett fields there was 1 Water Pipit.

Brambling – Lytchett Bay (Pools Field, end of Slough lane) – Peter Moore

Winter kicked back in today with a cold NW setting in after the mornings brief wet spell. Another bird boat headed out on the big high spring tide and saw the Brownsea Lagoon looking it’s best with c800 Dunlin, c200 Avocet, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, c100 Bar-tailed Godwit, c40 Grey Plover, 7 Greenshank, plenty of Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler, c100 Oystercatcher, several Sanderling and  Turnstone plus the rest! Elsewhere around the harbour 2 Guillemot were off Poole Quay, 1 Great Northern Diver was in central harbour, there weren’t too many Red-breasted Merganser but plenty of nice close fly by’s, at Swineham 2-3 Marsh Harrier were active and the Swineham scrapes had Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Dunlin on. At Lytchett fields a Brambling was on the feeders plus the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen in the bay and a female Merlin was over the fields too. On Baiter there were 5 adult Med Gulls and off Baiter 2 Goldeneye, whilst at the top end of the PCW Drain there were 7 Common Chiffchaff. 

Black-tailed Godwit – Brownsea Lagoon

Brambling – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Much of the same today, although it’s feeling more and more like (early) spring as each day goes by, with Common Wasp, Red Admiral Butterflies, daffodils and carpets of Snowdrops all reported and seen today. The ‘standard’ birds were once again c10 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach with 1 Great Northern Diver, off Jerry’s Point there were 4 Goldeneye with another 2 off Baiter. 19 Sanderling were in Bramble Bush Bay and the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen at Middlebere late afternoon.

Maybe some sea watching this weekend will produce a few late winter/early spring goodies seeing as it’s going to be blowing a hoolie!

Curlew – Arne – Mark Wright

We apologise for the late sightings post, but last night we hosted our last public ringing demo at Sunnyside which once again was a great success and was finished off perfectly with our first Lapwing caught during a demo. Although the birds seemed ‘jumpier’ last night and reluctant to stay still, we still managed to catch 3 Jack Snipe, 1 Woodcock, 1 Pied Wagtail and the Lapwing. Interestingly, one of the Jack Snipe was a re-trap from January 2020, and aged as a 1st winter back then, meaning it made it’s first migration to Poole Harbour in autumn 2019! And here we are in late winter 2022 and it’s returning to exactly the same area of fields. In total a minimum of 10 Jack Snipe were seen across the site, along with 8+ Woodcock, with 6 more seen up near Scotland Farm. At Swineham 2 Great White Egret now seem to be semi permanent on the pits, at Holes Bay, the first ‘passage’ Red Kite of the spring drifted over. These will become more frequent now as we move into March and April with peak passage seeming to occur in late April/early May. The male Goshawk was once again seen to bomb it’s way down through Middlebere and a male Merlin was on Hartland whilst the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen briefly near Middlebere. From Middle Beach, Studland there were 15 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 7 Common Scoter and 1 Great Northern Diver whilst off Redhorn Point, there were 4 Goldeneye and 3 Scaup. 

Jack Snipe – Sunnyside – Brittany Maxted

Lapwing – Sunnyside – Brittany Maxted