Another pretty dire day today weather wise, but perhaps once this weather goes through it may have delivered the first Great Northern Diver into the harbour? Or perhaps even a Little Auk? Neither were found today, rather a White-tailed Eagle over the Brownsea Lagoon this morning was as good as it gets. Well, c70 Spoonbill still on Brownsea wasn’t too shabby. Last night a first night ringing session of the season was carried out by Stour Ringing Group and an amazing 9 Jack Snipe were ringed, highlighting we’re currently in peak passage for these northern arrivals. Two of the 9 were re-traps, one first ringed in Nov 2023 and the other Feb 2025, once again highlighting winter site fidelity for this species at Sunnyside.  Unfortunately, the weather was so dire yesterday that it was impossible to read the ring number of the ringed Glossy Ibis seen in the Wareham Channel by the surveying WeBS counter, however it’s incredibly likely to have been the same individual that was recently seen at Lodmoor a few weeks ago and captured perfectly by photographer Graham Jaggard. The bird was traced back to the Doñana National Park, Spain where it was ringed as a chick in August 2025.

Glossy Ibis – Lodmoor (Oct 2025) – X social media post by Graham Jaggard 

First Jack Snipe of the autumn – Ringed at Sunnyside – Ed Betteridge

Although things started settled, the wind built pretty rapidly during the course of the early morning. A few small groups of Redwing were moving with 3 ringed in the Lower Piddle Valley. At dawn 4 Eider were in Shell Bay but soon moved off east. Also off Studland was a Black-throated Diver off South Beach with 2 Common Scoter and a dozen Brent Geese. The Dorset White-tailed Eagle chick was seen for the first time in the harbour where it briefly settled in fields close to Middlebere this morning. In the Carey housing estate 2 Black Redstart we’re on house roofs.

Juv White-tailed Eagle G834 – Middlebere – Sam Ryde

Once again, the harbour was at it’s late autumn best this afternoon, with the mud flats fast filling with the sound of wetland birds as they moved to and from various feeding areas. From our Autumn Safari this afternoon female White-tailed Eagle G466 caught a fish fairly close to our boat, although frustratingly did so just behind a spit of salt marsh, however it didn’t stop us from experiencing the absolute ease these birds are able to catch a fish as she twisted effortlessly a few meters above the water before simply ‘plonking’ down into the water to retrieve her prize which looked to be either a Mullet or a Bass. Even more interestingly was the fact we later saw her flying low across the mud from the north side of the Wareham Channel to the south side, directly over hundreds of waterfowl and waders, and other than 10 Avocet that decided to have ‘a pop’ at her, not a single bird flinched, seemingly carrying on with their feeding routine as if there was no danger. Also in the Wareham Channel were 4 Glossy Ibis, 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Merlin, c500 Black-tailed Godwit, c500 Dunlin, 3 Greenshank, 1 Kingfisher, c10 Grey Plover, 24 dark-bellied Brent Geese and plenty of Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall. Round the back of Green Island a small raft of 6 Red-breasted Merganser were settled and the Brownsea Lagoon had c60 Spoonbill, 9 Greenshank, c100 Avocet and 19 Bar-tailed Godwit. Another Red-breasted Merganser was close to the harbour mouth this AM too. This morning, a small goose sp with Graylags flew over the Lower Piddle Valley and was assumed to be a Pink-footed Goose.

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 from this afternoons Autumn Safari – Mike Gaston

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 from this afternoons Autumn Safari – Mike Gaston

Glossy Ibis from this afternoons Autumn Safari – Mike Gaston

This year is turning out to be a year of record breaking numbers for a whole range of species. Only a few weeks ago the harbour logged a UK record of 116 Spoonbill. Tonight we hit a Poole Harbour record of 87 Cattle Egret that came in to roost at Swineham GP along with 41 Little Egret and 2 Great White Egret. Not only that, but 8 Glossy Ibis also came into roost onto the central island at Swineham GP too. All very Mediterranean! Vis-mig up on Ballard was slower this morning but logged 1 Golden Plover, 1 Woodlark, 4 Brambling and 53 Crossbill, as well as smaller numbers of Siskin, Goldfinch etc. On Brownsea 74 Spoonbill were roosting on the high tide, a ringtail harrier, presumed Hen Harrier passed over the Piddle Valley this morning where 8 Lesser Redpoll were ringed along with a late Garden Warbler. A Common Crane was seen to be flying high over Broadstone, heading towards Canford Heath this afternoon.

Garden Warbler – Lower Piddle Valley – Ed Betteridge

Although it was dark, dank and wet at dawn it cleared really quickly and within an hour small numbers of birds were moving overhead, including the first visible push of Redwing and Song Thrush passing overhead including c40 Redwing over Lytchett Bay, c30 over Carey Secret Garden and c20 over Upton CP, plus the autumns first 4 Fieldfare flew over Studland this afternoon. A flock of 15 Lesser Redpoll flew over the PCW Drain where there were c15 Chiffchaff and 2 Firecrest. This evening 52 Cattle Egret went into the Swineham roost from along with a Great White Egret. Middlebere was quiet but still held 2 Curlew Sandpiper and 1 Spotted Redshank. 

Redwing – Ed Betteridge

Another near perfect day with calm conditions, autumnal warmth and great birds. Our Autumn Safari was jam packed with decent birds this morning logging 8 Glossy Ibis, 2 Great White Egret, 2 White-tailed Eagle, 1 Merlin, 4 Marsh Harrier and 2 Common Scoter all in the Wareham Channel, plus another 3 Common Scoter off Jerry’s Point. On Brownsea 76 Spoonbill were roosting where there were also c50 Avocet, 13 Greenshank and 13 Mediterranean Gull. Wildfowl numbers are building nicely with good numbers of Wigeon, Teal and Gadwall now appearing in all the low-tide bays, and there were c20 dark-bellied Brent Geese along the southern shores near Ower Bay. In Middlebere this morning there were c550 Avocet, 7 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, 5 Knot, 2 Great White Egret and 1 Merlin. This afternoon 9 Glossy Ibis flew up the Frome Valley and then this evening 7 Glossy Ibis were back in the Wareham Channel and headed towards the Arne roost at sunset, plus a late Hobby was hunting over RSPB Arne Moors and multiple small groups of Crossbill were moving around the south of the harbour all day. There was an excellent record of 6 Cattle Egret roosting at Hatch Pond last night before heading off north this morning. Last night a noc-mig sound recording station over Oakdale revealed c75 Song Thrush and c50 Redwing migrating overhead and finally, a vis-mig session at the harbour mouth this morning at South Haven, Studland produced 755 Goldfinch, 235 Siskin, 197 Redpoll, 71 Crossbill and 52 Swallow.

Great White Egret – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Autumn Safari – Alison Copland

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Autumn Safari – Alison Copland