Still much of a muchness today, with the predictable Long-tailed Duck still off Jerry’s/Brands Bay with 2 Black-necked Grebe also there and 4 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver, 2 Eider, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 4 Goldeneye. In Middlebere there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Great White Egret, 1 White-tailed Eagle and 1 Marsh Harrier. In Holes Bay there was another Spotted Redshank plus a great count of 54 Knot. 

Great Northern Diver – South Deep – John Thorpe

Our Christmas cruise this morning featured 1 ringtail Hen Harrier amongst 5 Marsh Harrier surveying the reedbeds over Arne Moors and Swineham, with the low tide at the top end of the Wareham Channel giving views of 200+ Lapwing and Dunlin. 2 Spoonbill were present on the shoreline near Ower Bay and at least 13 Great Northern Diver were counted across the harbour, with 1 Red-throated Diver off Furzey Island and the Black-throated Diver off the south shore of Brownsea. In Studland Bay, there were 5 Black-necked Grebe and 8 Common Scoter. On the rising tide in Brands Bay was a high count of 554 Wigeon, 227 Pintail, 161 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 21 Lapwing, 25 Grey Plover, 91 Black-tailed Godwit, 7 Knot, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, c.550 Dunlin and 240 Common Gull. Also from Jerry’s Point on the higher tide were 3 Great Northern Diver, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Eider, 17 Red-breasted Merganser and the Long-tailed Duck. 1 Spotted Redshank was reported in Lytchett Bay this morning. 1 White-tailed Eagle was seen flying high from Coombe Heath at RSPB Arne this morning.

Alison Copland – Black-throated Diver – South Brownsea Shore

A very wet yucky day/morning, one that seems where most people were either in hiding or out Christmas shopping as sightings were limited to just 5 pale-bellied Brent Geese that were found in Lytchett Bay this afternoon. We’ll be out on the water tomorrow morning for our last cruise of the calendar year, so hopefully the goodies from the last week or two will get logged and do the decent thing and hang around to the New Year, to get everyones New Year lists off to a good start!

Common Buzzard – Upton CP

With Christmas Day now only a week away, it seems a white Christmas is almost definitely off the cards sadly. Will we ever see one again? Who knows, but there are certainly loads of Redwing and to a lesser extent Fieldfare currently moving/arriving in Dorset. This is really late in the season for numbers to be arriving, but this last week has seen a dramatic increase in Redwing moving about with October, November and early December seeing almost none spread across the area. It would be nice if some Waxwing could arrive with them too. Perhaps a few will turn up on Xmas Day as Christmas present in someones garden? Other sightings today included 2 Slavonian Grebe and 5 Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point, 12 Spoonbill on Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne and a male Hen Harrier in Middlebere. A Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields and off Middle Beach there were 4 Black-necked Grebe and 6 Common Scoter. 

Bar-tailed Godwit – Shore Road, Sandbanks 

One of the highlights from our Winter Safari Cruise this morning was a male Hen Harrier being tailed by a Marsh Harrier over the Keysworth shoreline of the Wareham Channel, with at least 3 other Marsh Harrier active around Swineham. Across the harbour, at least 12 Great Northern Diver were present, with the Black-throated Diver showing well near the south shore of Brownsea. The Brownsea Lagoon provided views of 300+ Avocet, 350 Black-tailed Godwit, 350 Dunlin, 30 Grey Plover, 60 Redshank and 2 Greenshank. The flock of c.25 Spoonbill were roosting near Ower Bay. Studland was well watched throughout the day, with counts from Jerry’s Point including 6 Great Northern Diver, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Eider, 4 Goldeneye, 36 Red-breasted Merganser and 41 Great Crested Grebe. On the early low tide in Brands Bay there were 208 Teal, 413 Wigeon, 176 Pintail, 74 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 21 Grey Plover, 95 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit and 126 Common Gull, and the Long-tailed Duck was present in the afternoon. There were 6 Common Scoter and 10 Black-necked Grebe also counted in Studland Bay. 15 Cattle Egret were reported on Wareham Common this afternoon.

Black-throated Diver – South Brownsea Shoreline – Seb Elwood

Today, after a couple of weeks of trying, we finally managed to break the Poole Harbour Great Northern Diver record with 25 logged across the entirety of the harbour. The biggest total was in the north channel between the Poole Quay and Sandbanks which consisted of 13 individuals, with 8 around South Deep and 4 in central harbour/Wareham Channel. There are still plenty of other good birds around with the Long-tailed Duck, 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Eider, 2 Black-necked Grebe and 7 Goldeneye off Jerry’s Point. Off Fitzworth there were 21 Spoonbill, in the Wareham Channel there were 4 Marsh Harrier and male White-tailed Eagle G463, with the the pair both in Middlebere this morning. On Swineham GP 8 Pochard remained, and this evening, a long awaited double figure count of 10 Black-necked Grebe entered the roost in Studland Bay, where there was also a single pale-bellied Brent Goose.

Long-tailed Duck – Jerry’s Point – Clive Hargrave

Eider – Jerry’s Point – Clive Hargrave

Slavonian Grebe – Jerry’s Point – Clive Hargrave

A cold northerly wind whipped across the harbour, but there was plenty on offer around the including a special 15 minutes for the guests on our Winter Safari Cruise this afternoon. Across the open water, Great Northern Diver numbers seem be be down with ‘only’ 7 logged, including a near sum plum individual out in centre harbour. The Black-throated Diver was off Jerry’s Point with 2 Eider and later this afternoon the Long-tailed Duck was also off Jerry’s Point. In the Wareham Channel there were 4 Marsh Harrier around Swineham and a male Hen Harrier flew across the channel over towards Keysworth. Along the southern shore c25 Spoonbill were roosting off Fitzworth and the Brownsea Lagoon was packed with Avocet, totalling c400. A Guillemot off Poole Quay was new in and there was a bit of thrush passage with a small group of Fieldfare and Redwing moving high across the Wareham Channel. The moment of the boat trip was when the White-tailed Eagle pair were seen cruising in, high over Ballard/Godlingston, taking an age to cruise down towards the harbour, eventually reaching Goathorn, before seemingly peeling off and heading off towards Arne, just as our boat was approaching the Brownsea Lagoon. After a cruise along the Brownsea Lagoon sea wall, we headed along the Brownsea north shore, making our way home, only to then meet the eagles head on, which were heading towards the lagoon, which then started calling and hunting, with female G466 making a few active dives/fishing attempts 100 yards off the side of the boat. Over the last couple of years we’ve seen the eagles plenty of times from our trips, but to hear them calling with a boat full of guests, and to see several stoops down towards the water was truly magical and we hope many more people over time get to experience the very same thing in and around the harbour. Elsewhere a female and male Goshawk was causing mayhem around Middlebere, a Merlin was on Hartland, 3 Black-necked Grebe were in Studland Bay and 8 Pochard were on Swineham GP.

White-tailed Eagle – Hunting Brownsea north shore from Winter Safari Cruise – Andy Brown

Black-throated Diver off Jerry’s Point from Winter Safari Cruise – Andy Brown

Partial summer plumaged Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point from Winter Safari Cruise – Andy Brown

A rather slow day today with the on/off down pours, although there were some good totals logged on the Brownsea Lagoon with 2940 Black-tailed Godwit, 2230 Dunlin, 790 Avocet, 32 Knot, 123 Grey Plover, 120 dark-bellied Brent Geese. Off Jerry’s Point the 2 Eider were still present and there were 2-3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Slavonian Grebe and the Long-tailed Duck was there this morning. In Poole Park, there’s a drake Goldeneye back on the main lake.

Goldeneye – Poole Park – John Thorpe