First of all, Happy New Year to everyone. We hope that you’re all safe and well. We’ve decided we’re going to focus purely on positive conservation stories and projects this year, rebuilding our people engagement work when and where we can, re-focusing and hopefully making 2021 one of the best years in the charities history. Today couldn’t have got the year off to a better start with an amazing range of birds right across the harbour as well as a stunning wintery scene from sunrise until about midday. Starting in Poole at the PCW Drain 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti’s Warbler and a Kingfisher were logged and in Holes Bay NW where 40+ Knot were roosting plus 110 Oystercatcher along the Railway embankment and 1 Goldeneye in the SE sector. At Shell Bay there were 3 Great Northern Diver and off Middle Beach 2 Common Scoter, 14 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver. Off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Slavonian Grebe 1 Razorbill, 2 Great Northern Diver and 3 Black-necked Grebe and off Redhorn 1 Long-tailed Duck, 4 Scaup, 1 Great Northern Diver and in Brands Bay a Pochard (very rare here) circled the bay before heading north and 40+ Shoveler (scarce here) were settled with c80 Pintail. A Great White Egret flew up and then down the Piddle Valley mid-morning and a Cattle Egret flew over Lytchett Bay. At Old Harry a Black Redstart was on the top on the ridge and 1 Brambling, 14 Yellowhammer and c25 Chaffinch were in a mixed seed crop field at the base of Old Harry. There seemed to have been an arrival of winter thrushes too with higher than recent totals of Redwing around the area including urban Poole gardens and 9 Fieldfare were outside the Brands Bay hide.

Slavonian Grebe – Jerry’s Point – Brittany Maxted