Despite being a fairly grey, murky day there were more new arrivals, including the 3rd Yellow-browed Warbler to be ringed at the Carey Secret Garden ringing station within the last two weeks. An occurrence that would have been unheard of 20 years ago. Almost equally unheard of is the fact that you can now see all three egret species quite easily at semi-urban sites around the harbour during the course of the year with all three present at urban sites today. A Great White Egret was off the Turlin Moor shoreline, a Cattle Egret was in Upton CP and Little Egret were…well, everywhere. The Middlebere track Ring Ouzel still hasn’t moved off yet, and was feeding in the Rowan tree again, joined by four other thrush species (Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackbird and Redwing) meaning at times there were five of the possible six UK thrush species feeding in just one bush, with Fieldfare being the notable absentee. There were c45 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Spotted Redshank was in Lytchett Bay, the White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel all day and there were 5 more Cattle Egret at Holmebridge.

Great White Egret – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

Cattle Egret – Upton CP – Nick Woods

Ring Ouzel – Middlebere Track – Peter Moore

Blackbird – Middlebere Track – Peter Moore

Song Thrush – Middlebere Track – Peter Moore

Mistle Thrush – Middlebere Track – Peter Moore

Redwing – Middlebere Track – Peter Moore

With super calm conditions all day and yesterdays obvious arrival of birds, it was no surprise multiple Yellow-browed Warblers were logged today with a minimum of 3 seen including singles at South Haven at Studland, Middlebere and yesterdays Broadstone bird was still at Hillborne Copse. At Middlebere the Ring Ouzel was still feeding in Rowan along the Middlebere track and a Brambling was also there. From our Autumn Safari this AM we had a good mix of summer and winter birds with a juvenile Osprey fishing in the Wareham Channel and a flock of c100 Swallow feeding over Swineham Point, whilst there were 5 Red-breasted Merganser off the Brownsea western shore, 3 Marsh Harrier at Swineham and weirdly both White-tailed Eagles were seen bombing off fast over Poole Town centre, heading towards Tower Park, quite possibly in a territorial response to female White-tailed Eagle G818 being over towards the Bournemouth area. The Brownsea Lagoon held 44 Spoonbill, c200 Avocet, c40 Ringed Plover, 6 Greenshank and c100 Dunlin. The PCW Drain was still busy with Chiffchaff with c40 feeding along the channel plus 1 Firecrest and 3 Blackcap. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Spotted Redshank plus 4 Redwing and the first dark-bellied Brent Geese of the year with 4 off of Rock Lea View.

Red-breasted Merganser – Central Harbour – Alison Copland

Osprey – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland

This morning heralded the first ‘semi-decent’ winter thrush arrival of the season with Redwing, Blackbird and Song Thrush all arriving overnight. Only semi-decent because it was several flocks of a few hundred birds passing over a few sites this morning. However through the rest of October and into early November these totals will grow, and on a few ‘perfect’ mornings, the total number of Redwing, Song Thrush and Blackbird could actually reach several thousand arriving (with a few Ring Ouzel thrown in for good measure). Talking of Ring Ouzel, a lone individual was feeding on berries along the Middlebere track this morning and this afternoon, but we’re now in ‘peak Ouzel’ time, so there will definitely be more about…they just need to be found. The Yellow-browed Warbler arrival continues, this time with the first urban individual of the season with one in Hillborne Copse, Broadstone this morning. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were only 16 Spoonbill today, and a tiny number of Avocet, but there were 203 in Middlebere so they’re not totally absent. This is a very low total of Avocet for the time of year considering as we had c600 this time last year. We’ll just have to wait and see if and when any more turn up, but hopefully they’ve just been delayed. The White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel up until midday at least, an Osprey was high over the Arne road with a fish, a Red Kite drifted over there too and a Merlin was on Greenlands Farm, Studland.

Ring Ouzel – Middlebere – Mark Wright

Blimey, the temperature certainly ‘dipped’ today. It felt like we were all needing to moult into our own winter plumage this morning. The harbour though was flat calm and pristine and picture perfect in every way. Another Yellow-browed Warbler was logged today, this time at RSPB Arne near the Shipstal Hide. This is the harbours 3rd already this October and we’re not even half way through yet. In the Wareham Channel the White-tailed Eagle pair were loafing around all day and up to 3 Marsh Harrier were milling around Swineham Point where there were also 10+ Bearded Tit in the reed beds. The sinensis Cormorant flock is now up to around c400 individuals, but the flock seems to be split up currently with one group favouring the Wareham Channel and the other the southern shores. There also seems to be a lot of Jays around currently, and although it doesn’t quite seem like an irruption year, it will be worth keeping an eye out high on clear, cold mornings, especially with winds from the north. In autumn 2010 there was a great influx of Jays with flocks of 15+ (even up to 30) arriving in high from the north in the latter part of October. On Brownsea 47 Spoonbill were roosting this morning. There was a good vis-mig passage of birds across the mouths of both the River Piddle and Frome as multiple small flocks of between 20-40 Linnet, Siskin and Meadow Pipit, as well as smaller numbers of Skylark, Rock Pipit headed north. A Kingfisher was on the steps of one of the Poole Quay marina ladders and there are still up to 30 Sandwich Tern spread across the harbour, some even still feeding young which are in tow. A Redwing passed over an Upton garden this AM.

Avocet – Middlebere – Kate Plater

Thats more like it! A near perfect October day with plenty going on compared to yesterday. The autumns first Brambling was at Shell Bay, Studland in the wet scrub near the board walk and 3 Ring Ouzel were up on Godlingston Heath. In Middlebere 2 Osprey were in dead trees at the back of the saltmarsh and there were Great White Egrets in Middlebere, the Wareham Channel and on the Brownsea Lagoon. The White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel this morning, with male G463 taking a disliking to a passing Grey Heron as he darted off to pursue it in a half-hearted attempt to catch it. The Grey Heron was too manoeuvrable and soon made a hasty escape! Bearded Tits were active off Swineham Point, with a small group of 7 lifting out of the reed bed, before then heading off high west. A Bittern was seen dropping into the end of Swineham GP this afternoon and was seen again this evening leaving the GP and heading over into the Piddle Valley. There were 2 different Ruff, one on the Lower Piddle floods and another on floods behind Curlews Cottage, Swineham. A flock of 7 Spotted Redshank were in the mouth of the Frome, before lifting off high north and there were 2 at Lytchett Fields and 2 on the Stilt Pools at Swineham. The Spoonbill flock was split between Shipstal, RSPB Arne and the Brownsea Lagoon. The PCW Drain at Holes Bay was jumping with birds, mostly Chiffchaff (c50) and Blackcap (c20). A few more dark-bellied Brent Geese have started to arrive with small groups of 10-20 now milling around the harbour entrance and in Studland and Brands Bay. This evening 2 Merlin were on Hartland Moor

Great White Egret (left) and Little Egrets – Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton

There was some pretty wild weather today, including some massive hail this afternoon, bringing winter a few steps closer. The first ‘in harbour’ Black-necked Grebe was in Brands Bay this evening along with 7 dark-bellied Brent Geese and 46 Great Crested Grebe. 48 Spoonbill and a Peregrine were on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields and 4 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham. The weather improves tomorrow, so hopefully better birding conditions!

Kingfisher – Middlebere

More winter arrivals today with the seasons first ringtail Hen Harrier seen briefly at Swineham today, Plus, another Short-eared Owl was active this evening just south of Corfe Castle. This afternoon 73 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Great White Egret was in Brands Bay and in Holes Bay wildfowl numbers really increased with 782 Wigeon, 361 Teal, 38 Shoveler and 19 Pintail. There were 3 Spotted Redshank on Lytchett Fields this afternoon and this morning Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and Common Redshank were all feeding together in Lytchett Bay, giving a nice comparison with 3 Spoonbill feeding off Otter Point in the bay.

Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and Common Redshank – Lytchett Bay

With what looked like was going to be a rainy, damp Autumn Safari this AM actually turned out OK weather-wise, and the birding….even better. Winter is certainly creeping up on us fast, and with 5 newly arrived Eider in the Wareham Channel this morning (including 3 drakes), it may be coming sooner than we think. This is a really odd record for this area of the harbour, but it just goes to show how much of a ‘drop in’ zone the Wareham Channel is having had Eider, Common Scoter and Black-necked Grebe all present here in the last few weeks. The winter theme didn’t end there with 7 dark-bellied Brent Geese feeding along the Shipstal shoreline. Thankfully there were still some signs of summer with 2 Osprey hunting along the southern shores, in and around Newton Bay. This attracted the attention of the White-tailed Eagles, where once again we were treated to an epic chase with male eagle G463 relentlessly pursuing one of the Ospreys over Newton Bay, until it dropped it’s fish, only for the eagle to drop down, grab it, and head off towards Brands Bay. We also found female eagle G466 sitting in trees on the edge of Furzey Island, an area we’ve never seen her sit before. The Brownsea Lagoon was packed and we had 65 Spoonbill roosting, with another 3 flying straight past the boat. Also on the lagoon were c30 Avocet, 3 Greenshank, just 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, c30 Dunlin, c10 Ringed Plover, 5 Rock Pipit and 2 Stonechat. At Swineham there were at least 2 different Marsh Harrier flying around and a small number of Bearded Tit were calling the reed beds. A single Redwing flew over Swineham. Elsewhere a Black Tern was in Middlebere briefly and a Ruff was on the Lower Piddle Floods.

Black Tern – Middlebere – Mark Wright

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 resting on Furzey shore – Alison Copland – From our Autumn Safari this AM

Spoonbill flock on Brownsea Lagoon – Alison Copland – From our Autumn Safari this AM

Eider – Wareham Channel – John Thorp – From our Autumn Safari this AM

With the wind swinging round this morning to a brisk SE breeze, it well and truly stopped any migration from the north in its tracks. Therefore it was fairly limited for sightings today. The Holes Bay Cattle Egret flock left at dawn and flew over Lytchett Bay at 07:10 with 24 flying over. The Spotted Redshank was still on Lytchett Fields and there were 2 Marsh Harrier. In Middlebere 2 Great White Egret were feeding as were 6 Spotted Redshank and c260 Avocet, 3 Marsh Harrier were moving around, 1 Osprey as seen hunting and the White-tailed Eagle pair were seen high above Shipstal. On the Lower Piddle Floods 2 Ruff were feeding with Lapwing and a Hobby was hunting there too.

Marsh Harrier – Middlebere – Mark Wright