Our BoPH philosophy has always been….never be put off by the weather. When things look like they may grim, don’t stay in….head out!

It was an incredible range of birds across the recording area today, despite the howling SE winds and driving rain. You know it’s a good winters day birding when all five grebe species and all three diver species get logged during the course of the day.

A dawn sea-watch out in Poole Bay yielded 15 divers, including 7 Red-throated Diver, 3 Great Northern Diver and 5 diver sp, plus the Black-throated Diver entered the harbour at dawn. There was also an unidentifiable shearwater species out in Poole Bay this morning, which in structure and tone looked good for Sooty Shearwater, but couldn’t be confirmed. Also out in Poole Bay were 3 Kittiwake, c10 Gannet, c50 Razorbill/Guillemot and 4 Great Crested Grebe.

From our Winter Safari Cruise this morning we were surprised with a winter plumage Red-necked Grebe in South Deep. It couldn’t be re-found later in the day, but conditions were not helping and it could easily be lurking elsewhere, with Shell Bay being an area they turn up in too. Red-necked Grebe are our least frequent grebe species with sightings almost less than annual now and fleeting. The last one was March 2024 so hopefully this bird sticks around longer. Other highlights included 1 Spotted Redshank in the Wareham Channel along with c400 Avocet, 4 Spoonbill and White-tailed Eagle G834 still active.

In the Piddle Valley a dawn watch saw multiple birds leave various roosts, with 2 Glossy Ibis, c15 Cattle Egret and 3 Great White Egret head to various feeding spots having left the Swineham roost, a Barn Owl was out on Wareham Common, good numbers of Redwing were moving at dawn, with loads pitching down in urban areas too, including a flock of 80 in Holly along Constitution Hill, Poole. Lots of the roosting Common Gull from Poole Harbour were also heading inland up the river valleys and 3 Woodcock went into roost over the Carey floodplain. Also at dawn the 17 Tundra Bean Geese flew in over Holmebridge from the harbour direction and settled in the normal fields at Binnegar, and there were 44 Russian White-fronted Geese in the field at Ridge. During the Poole Harbour WeBS a drake Green-winged Teal was in Wytch Lake, opposite Middlebere, 2 Purple Sandpiper were on the stoney groynes again next to North Haven hotel, 13 Spoonbill were in Lytchett Bay this morning, a 1st winter Kittiwake was on the Brownsea Lagoon and this afternoon a 1st winter Little Gull was in Shell Bay. From Jerry’s Point this afternoon whilst trying to relocate the Red-necked Grebe (which couldn’t be re-found), there were counts of 2 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver, 7 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Sandwich Tern.