We had the first snow of the winter this morning making for a very cold, fresh day which may push some more winter visitors into the harbour. This didn’t stop the White-tailed Eagle pair from being active with some amazing footage of them this morning hunting a Cormorant on the Brownsea Lagoon. They then took off and cruised over the north shore although by the sounds of it, without their prey!

We were also running one of our Poole Quay walks this morning, although just too late to see the eagle action. We were still rewarded with plenty of good birds despite the cold including, 112 Brent Geese on Baiter Park, 8 Ringed Plover, 20 Turnstone, 1 Dunlin, 15 Common Redshank, 25 Oystercatcher, 4 Shag and 1 Mediterranean Gull at Baiter that had a colour ring on it’s leg which we are still awaiting the life history on, but the ringing scheme would suggest it was ringed in Belgium or the Netherlands.

At Lytchett Fields there were 2 Great White Egret and 227 Dunlin and at Jerry’s Point, Studland, the Long-tailed Duck was still present as well as 1 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver and 3 Goldeneye.

Another blissful day across the harbour with flat calm waters and a very light NE wind, bringing with it an almost (dare we say it) Christmasy chill to the air. There was plenty going on again all day with our Winter Safari this morning logging a decent haul of birds including 11 Great Northern Diver spread across the area including birds off Jerry’s Point, in central harbour, off Baiter and in the Wareham Channel. There was a Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s Point and a marked increase of 13 Goldeneye with 8 in the Wareham Channel and others in central harbour and now up to 100 Red-breasted Merganser. The White-tailed Eagle pair, G466 and G463 were active in the Wareham Channel for most of the morning and the younger female eagle with the deformed beak, G801, was seen over RSPB Arne first thing, before she was later observed flying over Ballard Down and settling on Swanage Beach. A Great White Egret was over Swineham and there were 3 Marsh Harrier around the mouth of the Piddle and Frome Valley. The Spoonbill flock seem to have de-camped from Shipstal in recent weeks and are favouring the shorelines along the south of the harbour with 25 roosting off Fitzworth Point this morning. On the Swineham Scrapes a Green Sandpiper was feeding and there were 4+ Bearded Tit in the reedbeds. The Brownsea Lagoon was packed with birds including c350 Avocet, c1600 Black-tailed Godwit, c800 Dunlin, c20 Ringed Plover, 8 Grey Plover and c200 Oystercatcher. Another vis-mig session was carried out up at Glebelands on Ballard Down, and amazingly yesterdays Tree Pipit was still around, which was heard calling somewhere along the ridge. Also logged were 153 Chaffinch migrating NE, also 2 Brambling, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 35 Goldfinch, 2 Fieldfare, 5 Redwing and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker. Hen Harrier sightings were logged at Lytchett Bay, Lytchett Fields, Middlebere and Swineham with both ringtail and adult males logged. Out in Studland Bay, from Middle Beach there were 6 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver, 5 Common Scoter and 2 Sandwich Tern. Another Great White Egret was at the top end of Middlebere and in the PCW Drain at Holes Bay a minimum of 7 Chiffchaff were active. A 1st winter Little Gull was in Brands Bay late this afternoon plus the Long-tailed Duck was off Redhorn early afternoon where there were also 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver (near the harbour entrance), 3 Goldeneye and 42 Great Crested Grebe.

Masses of waders (Black-tailed Godwits, Avocets) on the DWT Brownsea Lagoon – Alison Copland

Masses of waders (Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin & Avocet) on the DWT Brownsea Lagoon – Alison Copland

The harbour was at it’s very best today, bar a few exceptions (Red-necked Grebe for example), it provided everything you could possibly hope for from a winter days birding. Yes the calm weather helped, but when conditions like this occur, not only does it deliver new birds, it also allows for great coverage and today pretty much every corner of the harbour was observed returning a great mix of species. We’ll start with our Low-tide Cruise this afternoon which produced an incredible 24 Great Northern Diver spread across the entirety of the harbour. We were then treated to great views of a Black-throated Diver close to the harbour entrance and then 2 Red-throated Diver close to the boat in central harbour. There was a single Goldeneye off Pottery Pier, 1 Black-necked Grebe in Brands Bay, c20 Red-breasted Merganser in central harbour, 2 Kingfisher, the White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel, a ringtail Hen Harrier flew across in front of the boat in the Wareham Channel and there was also an adult male and female Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel. We also only logged 1 Spoonbill (also in the Wareham Channel), c200 Avocet off Fitzworth, c400 dark-bellied Brent Geese around the harbour fringes, 1 Great White Egret (in the Wareham Channel), c400 sinensis Cormorant, c300 Black-tailed Godwit and really good numbers of typical winter birds such as Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank. The best bird of the day was a newly arrived Long-tailed Duck in Brands Bay late this afternoon and there were singles of Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s Point and off Middle Beach Studland. Also off Middle Beach were 7 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver and 4 Common Scoter. The male Hen Harrier was doing the rounds being viewed at Swineham, Lytchett Bay and Middlebere, as was the female ringtail Hen Harrier which was also seen at the same locations. This morning 3 Great White Egret settled in Lytchett Bay and 5 Cattle Egret headed up the Frome Valley just after dawn. There was a single Brambling in Arne Village and at Middlebere 1 Merlin, 1 Spotted Redshank and 6 Spoonbill. Fieldfare were moving around in small numbers this morning, there were also 7 Cattle Egret logged over Wareham Common, 1 Spotted Redshank was in Holes Bay and 12 Spoonbill were in Lytchett Bay this afternoon.

Black-throated Diver – South Deep, from Low-tide Cruise – Dorothy Windall

Red-throated Diver – South Deep, from Low-tide Cruise – Dorothy Windall

Great Northern Diver, from Low-tide Cruise – North Channel

Goshawk – RSPB Arne – Mark Wright

Great White Egrets – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

Our first Intro to Urban Birding Walk at Holes Bay this afternoon was very successful in the early evening sun. As we looked out onto the rising tide there were huge flocks of waders swirling around including c1600 Black-tailed Godwit, c200 Avocet and c300 Dunlin. A Red Kite slowly soared west over the bay as well as a couple of Common Buzzard. Short views of 1 Kingfisher darting past were well received as well as distant views of c30 Pintail and 500+ Wigeon.

An adult Peregrine was seen on the Brownsea Lagoon feeding on a Wigeon as well as 14 Spoonbill, 211 Avocet, 336 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Bar-tailed Godwit and 9 Greenshank. At Lytchett Fields this morning were 2 Great White Egret and a grey male Hen Harrier as well as 1 Great Northern Diver still in Lytchett Bay. 3 Common Scoter were seen off South Haven, Studland and 2 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach. Middlebere had c300 Avocet, 4 Grey Plover, c200 Dunlin and 2 White-tailed Eagle.

Afternoon Sun at Holes Bay

It properly began to feel like winter today as the wind swung round from the north, delivering us a consistent and chilly breeze all day. The birds didn’t seem to care with various areas offering some top birding despite the cold. Up on Ballard down a small, ringtail harrier sp drifted in along the ridge and headed west. Sadly it couldn’t be confirmed to species, but it’s size and structure suggested that Pallid Harrier was a possibility. It frustratingly drifted out of view pretty quickly, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye out for over the coming days. Also up on Ballard were 2 late Swallow, 2 Brambling, a good count of 363 Chaffinch and best of all a flyover Snow Bunting. Our Winter Safari this morning produced the goods right around the harbour with a great mix of birds. This included a Black-throated Diver at Swineham, in the river just off the public footpath, 8 Great Northern Diver spread around with 3 in central harbour, 3 near the harbour mouth and 2 in the Wareham Channel, 2 distant Slavonian Grebe off Round Island, 1 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, 3 Eider off Brownsea north shore, 5 Marsh Harrier at Swineham including 2 displaying high over Giggers Island, 1 Goshawk hunting over Rempstone, 16 Spoonbill off Fitzworth, 1 Great White Egret over Swineham GP and c10 Bearded Tit at Swineham Point, c300 Avocet, c10 Ringed Plover, 7 Greenshank, c30 Bar-tailed Godwit, c300 Eurasian Teal, c15 Curlew and a mix of Gadwall, Wigeon and Shoveler all on the Brownsea Lagoon. There were also c300 Dunlin in the Wareham Channel and another c500 in Brands Bay where there were also 3 Goldeneye and another Great Northern Diver plus a ringtail Hen Harrier was seen at RSPB Arne.

Black-throated Diver at Swineham from Winter Safari Cruise – Robin Morrison

Eider in Central Harbour from Winter Safari Cruise – Clive Hargrave

Spoonbill and Fisherman off Fitzworth from Winter Safari Cruise – Annabel Sharpe

Goshawk causing havoc over Ower Bay from Winter Safari Cruise – Annabel Sharpe