Poole Harbour sightings blog

A record of all interesting and notable sightings from around the harbour throughout the year.

Latest Sightings

Harbour Update – posted 05/11/24

Posted on: November 5th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

As the firework bangs ease off and the smoke drifts away, it seemed like there was a lot of ‘zeeping’ in between the whizz, pop’s and bangs tonight as good numbers of Redwing passed over Poole Town Centre. Male Osprey ‘511’ equalled the Poole Harbour record today for the latest Osprey to be present within our Poole Harbour recording area, and with the weather forecast to remain the same over the coming week, there’s a good chance he could remain a while longer yet. There are currently several others in the UK too, so this isn’t the latest UK record so far this autumn/winter, but ‘511’ seems very settled and seems to now be in a daily routine, so is he gearing up to stay? There was another incredible late ‘summer’ bird today when a juvenile Hobby was found out on Hartland by local harrier watcher Peter Hadrill. On the Brownsea Lagoon c40 Spoonbill were on the Tamerisk Island this morning, 4 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham and the White-tailed Eagle pair were seen over Purbeck golf course. A Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields and a Rock Pipit was colour-ringed there this AM. Just outside the recording area a male Black Redstart was at Lytchett Matravers recreation ground. With the weather so settled no divers or sea duck have been dumped into the harbour yet, and the best out in Poole Bay this morning were just 3 Razorbill about 3 miles off shore!!!

Black Redstart – Lytchett Matravers rec – David Foster


Harbour update – posted 04/11/24

Posted on: November 4th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

Autumn was clinging on with it’s fingernails today with not only the long-staying Osprey in Middlebere but also 4 Swallow there too and another at the harbour mouth. A Black-necked Grebe was off Jerry’s Point and 4 were in the Wareham Channel again. Great White Egret were in Middlebere and another was at Swineham. At South Haven Studland, there was some limited vis-mig with 442 Goldfinch the highest totalling species and 2 Common Scoter were on the water off shore with another flying off south. A Ruff was on Lytchett Fields and the White-tailed Eagle pair were in the SE of the harbour near Brands Bay.

Male Osprey ‘511’ cruising over the Middlebere Avocet flock – John Thorpe

Great White Egret cruising over the Middlebere Osprey – John Thorpe


Harbour Update – posted 03/11/24

Posted on: November 4th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

Apologies, for our website being down due to IT issues and any inconvenience this has caused. It is now back up and running, so here are yesterday’s belated sightings.

The surprisingly mild weather for November continued yesterday, alongside the overcast conditions. A single Hawfinch was found in a Yew Tree in the south-east corner of the Lytchett Matravers recreation ground. Hopefully the first of many to stick around during this ‘irruption’, so keep checking those yew trees and listening out for them overhead!

Osprey ‘511’ was still hanging around the Middlebere area and still favouring a flatfish diet. At least 1 Great White Egret was also present in Middlebere, alongside the growing flock of Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit. 1 Great White Egret was  also in Lytchett Bay, along with the first Fieldfare for the site this winter with 21 flying over. Also present were 8 Greenshank, 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 1 Merlin and 1 late Sandwich Tern. The 1 Barnacle Goose was still frequenting the Swineham area with the Canada Goose flock. Also present were 3 Ruff in Stilt Pools, 1 Great White Egret, 1 Cattle Egret, 4 Marsh Harrier and in the Lower Piddle Flood, 5 Spotted Redshank and 1 Ruff. In the Wareham Channel, both White-tailed Eagles were present during parts of the day along with 3 Greenshank and 15 Grey Plover flying over

Barnacle Goose with Canada Goose – Swineham Bestwall Floods – Clive Hargrave

Osprey ‘511’ with Flatfish – Middlebere Channel – John Thorpe


Harbour Update – posted 02/11/24

Posted on: November 2nd, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

Another really grey day with the sun apparently not due to re-appear for several days yet. So we start November in a typically grey, wintery manner. What wasn’t so typical though was the setting of mist and murk surrounding Corfe Castle with an Osprey flying past, which was a scene captured perfectly by local photographer Alison Copland. There were 2 Black-necked Grebe in the harbour mouth this morning, and this evening the ‘Harrier Watchers’ logged 14 Marsh Harrier entering the west harbour roost. At Swineham 2 Ruff were still on the Stilt Pools, plus 35 Cattle Egret and 1 Great White Egret. The lone Golden Plover was seen again over Swineham with the Lapwing flock.

Osprey flying past a wintery Corfe Castle – Middlebere – Alison Copland


Harbour update – posted 01/11/24

Posted on: November 1st, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

We were wondering whether it would happen, but today it did with the current long-staying male Osprey ‘511’ residing in the harbour into November. He was first seen hunting in the Wareham Channel, and was later in Middlebere eating a fish. This is an incredibly rare occurrence, although this same individual did something similar last year, but ended up leaving on October 28th. It was odd he didn’t leave over last weekend as the weather was stunning, and perfect for him to disperse. Maybe we’re just about to see the first UK over-wintering Osprey ever? Probably not, as he’ll have an established over-wintering site somewhere, but you never know?! Yesterday’s Barnacle Goose that was in Brands Bay arrived in to Swineham with it’s Canada Goose chums this morning where there were also 2 Ruff, 3 Great White Egret, c40 Cattle Egret on Keysworth, a Peregrine over Gigger’s, 3-4 Marsh Harrier at Swineham, 5 Black-necked Grebe in the Wareham Channel and a Golden Plover went over with c50 Lapwing. There were 21 Red-breasted Merganser in South Deep, the White-tailed Eagle pair were in the SE of the harbour in and around Brands Bay/Goathorn and then later over Middlebere and 3 Kingfisher were along Poole Quay. In Lytchett Bay a Common Sandpiper and a Spotted Redshank were logged.

Osprey ‘511’ – Middlebere – Kate Plater


Harbour Update – posted 31/10/24

Posted on: October 31st, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

Well, here we are a few hours before November and there was still an Osprey in the harbour this morning, there were a few crickets/grasshoppers still ‘chirping’ last night, plenty of bats were out hunting at dusk this evening and this afternoon a few small dragonflies were out on the wing, most likely Common Darter. With the mild weather set to continue is there a chance we could have November records for each of the taxa mentioned above, potentially making November the new September?! Thankfully there was an element of autumn/winter today with a Barnacle Goose in Brands Bay this evening and now 23 Red-breasted Merganser there too with 21 Great Crested Grebe and now 121 Pintail. A Common Sandpiper was in Holes Bay this morning, suggesting it’s likely to over-winter there seeing as the passage period for this species finished about a month ago. There were 3 Firecrest in scrub below Constitution Hill viewpoint and Short-eared Owl flew over Purbeck Golf Course this evening. The White-tailed Eagle pair were moving between Brands Bay and the Wareham Channel and a Great White Egret was in Middlebere. Early this morning a Brambling was sound recorded over Oakdale, Poole.

Avocet – Black-tailed Godwit and Pintail – Middlebere – Kate Plater


Harbour Update – posted 30/10/24

Posted on: October 30th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

A calm, tranquil and slightly quiet day today. Best described as….’settled’!! Best came this morning when 54 Cattle Egret were out on Wareham Common. We’ll double check but we think this could be a harbour record. They soon separated into smaller groups and departed up the Frome and Piddle Valley. Despite the cloud a vis-mig session was held at South Haven which produced 4 late Swallow plus 837  Goldfinch, 166  Chaffinch, 43 Linnet, 23 Siskin, 2 Brambling but no Redpolls! Thrush passage included 109  Redwing, 40 Fieldfare (the first of the autumn), 4 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush. On the Brownsea Lagoon only 39 Spoonbill were present today, there was a Great White Egret in Brands Bay and the 6 Black-necked Grebe were still in the Wareham Channel.


Harbour Update – posted 29/10/24

Posted on: October 29th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

There was lots of good birding to be had today with quality throughout the day. The day started with the 6th Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn being ringed at the Carey Secret Garden ringing station and the 2nd Water Pipit of the season ringed at Lytchett Bay, plus another was on site. There were Great White Egret in Lytchett Bay, 2 in Middlebere, 2 in the Wareham Channel and 1 roosting on Swineham GP. The Black-necked Grebe flock in the Wareham Channel has risen from 4 to 6 and both White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel all day. This evening a Bittern flew in over Slepe Heath heading south, calling as it headed towards Corfe and 2 Merlin went into roost on Hartland Moor. This afternoon 2 Black Redstart were in Upton on roofs at Tree Hamlets, including a cracking adult male. On Wareham Common 12 Cattle Egret were with the cows and 45 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon and 4 flew into the Piddle Valley to roost this evening whilst 7+ Marsh Harrier were also going into roost.

Great White Egrets – Middlebere – John Thorp

 


Harbour Update – posted 28/10/24

Posted on: October 28th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

It looks like the Hawfinch arrival is building traction with 10 reported over at Durlston this morning. No doubt if various harbour locations were observed this week during dawn we could see/hear more records for this autumn period. The last irruption in 2017/18 followed a similar pattern, although it was the huge numbers in the Netherlands during the latter part of October 2017 which gave an indication it was going to be an exceptional year for these normally scarce birds. We haven’t heard that there are larger than normal numbers in the near continent, but to have double figure counts in Dorset shows ‘something’ is going on, so more could be on the way….from somewhere? Despite the cloud and rain that set in this morning, around 2000 Wood Pigeon passed passed over the Piddle Valley and c500 flew over Lytchett Bay. This morning 13 Cattle Egret flew over Hatch Pond in Poole and 31 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon. The White-tailed Eagle pair were in Brands Bay this afternoon and 2 Merlin were on Hartland Moor.


Harbour Update – posted 27/10/24

Posted on: October 27th, 2024 by Birds of Poole Harbour

It was another unusually warm and calm day for this late in October, meaning that plenty of birders were out, so lots of sightings today. News came in early of a Red-eyed Vireo trapped and ringed at Durlston CP this morning, so although outside of the harbour boundary, it’s worth looking for any more North American migrants with this, and others popping up around the country! Although it felt warm, there were signs of winter creeping in for our final Autumn Safari this morning, with numbers of Red-breasted Merganser and Dark-bellied Brent Geese, noticeably increasing around Brands Bay and Central Harbour. The 4 Black-necked Grebes were still in the Wareham Channel along with 1 in South Deep and 1 reported later off Middle Beach. In the Wareham Channel we had 1 late Osprey moving between the channel and Lytchett Bay, along with 1 Great White Egret and 2 Marsh Harrier. The 2 White-tailed Eagles were sat on the gull islands this morning and the male, G463, gave us a great finale for the trip by taking off in hot pursuit of a Carrion Crow for 30 seconds, before settling once more.  Female G466 was later seen in the Wareham Channel catching a small fish.

On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 42 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank, 48 Avocet, 11 Greenshank and 3 Knot. 1 Slavonian Grebe was in central harbour this afternoon. A single Snow Bunting was seen at Middlebere between Sika Copse and the Harrier Hide, although it could not be relocated once flown. Also in the Middlebere Channel were 2 Great White Egret, 1 Osprey, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 3 Spoonbill and 2 Spotted Redshank. In Holes Bay there were impressive number of Black-tailed Godwit building, with 1307, along with 905 Wigeon and 28 Avocet. Finally 1 Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff was trapped and Ringed at the Careys Secret Garden ringing site.

 

White-tailed Eagle G463 in hot pursuit of a crow from this morning’s Autumn Safari Cruise – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride

Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff – Careys Secret Garden Ringing Station – Matt Scraggs

Red-eyed Vireo – Durlston CP Ringing Site – Winter Stobart


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