Last nights and todays wind didn’t seem to deliver anything too unusual to the harbour area, certainly not 7 Alpine Swift feeding above Poole Town. Now that would be something. The best that could be mustered once the wind had died down a bit was 4 Sand Martin over Swineham GP this evening. Also a White-tailed Eagle flew low over Lytchett Fields heading towards the Wareham Channel. around 5pm. This afternoon 2 Spotted Redshank were in Middlebere and Chiffchaff were singing at Hatch Pond (2), PCW Drain (2) and Norden Sewage Works (3).

Baiter Starling 

Surprisingly clear conditions this morning made for an enjoyable Spring Safari Cruise: Brownsea Lagoon was busy with 120+ Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 60 Avocet, 3 Grey Plover, 70 Dunlin, 8 Curlew, 10 Redshank, and 1 Greenshank. The recent spring tides and much awaited rain have resulted in considerable flooding at Swineham, where there were 10 Shoveler, 22 Shelduck, 23 Gadwall, 64 Teal, 12 Curlew, 5 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Lapwing, plus 5 Tufted Duck on the gravel pit. Despite the strong winds, 2 Sand Martin (perhaps some of yesterday’s arrivals) were on the wing, along with 1 Peregrine, 2 Kestrel, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 White-tailed Eagle and several pairs of displaying Buzzard.

Elsewhere a single Black-necked Grebe was seen off Bramble Bush Bay. In Lytchett Bay highlights were 318 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Spotted Redshank. And at Arne 10 Spoonbill were at present at Shipstal once again.

Great Crested Grebe – @twamers on Twitter

Despite the wind and rain, spring punched through with the first 5 Sand Martin of the year, flying low over Swineham GP desperately trying to feed. There may have also been a minor Chiffchaff arrival too, with low numbers along the river edges in scrub. White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 were in the Wareham Channel pretty much all day, and the 2 Cattle Egret were still in the field on the outskirts of Wareham, at Worgret.

Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin – Wareham Channel

The inclement weather continues, offering little inspiration to venture outside with a pair of binoculars. Those who did endure the rain enjoyed 3 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Bay, along with 312 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Dunlin, 6 Red-breasted Merganser and an undeterred Peregrine overhead. A summer plumage Sandwich Tern off Baiter this morning offered a nice seasonal change among the 70 Cormorant, 40+ Oystercatcher and 3 Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Nearby, Poole Park featured a flyby Curlew and 21 Greylag Geese, including 8 colour-marked individuals from the local project.

Grey Plover – Brownsea Lagoon (yesterday) – Clare Slade

Another much-needed drizzly day to help make up for the lack of rainfall over the winter, though not many sightings to go with it. 12 Avocet were still present in Holes Bay, along with 50 Pintail, 2 Gadwall and 1 Shoveler. In Lytchett Bay, 2 Avocet were reported along with 2 Little Grebe. 1 Goldeneye was also reported on Holme Lane Gravel Pit, along with 2 Pochard seen there yesterday. At Hatch Pond, nice signs of spring continue with Great Crested Grebe present with young!

Great Crested Grebe – Hatch Pond – Ian Ballam

No snow fall today, just some very wet sleet around lunchtime, although tonight could produce some of the white stuff, with a few flurries into the morning. I think we all know what that really means though……cold rain! Despite the cold today, it was blissfully still and the harbour was like a millpond, especially after lunchtime. In Middlebere 3 Spoonbill were feeding, a Spotted Redshank flew over and a Marsh Harrier passed the hide. At Lytchett Fields 2 Water Pipit were in the approach fields with 5 Green Sandpiper. In Wareham the 2 Cattle Egret were in the in the cattle field again opposite the Worgret Manor Hotel. We’ve also been super busy today with a couple of exciting pieces of work which we’ll hopefully be able to announce later in the week. We still have some tweaking to do, but keep an eye on our sightings page and social media for updates.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese – Middlebere 

The dry spell looks to be coming to an end with plenty of rain (and possibly snow) over the coming days. Somehow we managed to totally avoid any rain this afternoon on our Low Tide Cruise, despite at least one down pour passing just north of us on Poole Quay. And even managed a sunset by the end! Once again, plenty of highlights with a White-tailed Eagle over Goathorn, Brands Bay, 4 Marsh Harrier at the mouth of the Frome, 1 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, c200 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon, 800+ dark-bellied Brent Geese spread across the southern shores, c400 Black-tailed Godwit, c100 Pintail, c300 Wigeon and c30 Mediterranean Gull. Earlier this morning another White-tailed Eagle was settled on the ground on Bestwall floodplains for around 30 mins, before heading towards the harbour. Elsewhere, Water Pipit ‘1K’ was still at Lytchett Fields, as was a Spotted Redshank and an adult Yellow-legged Gull with 3 Cattle Egret flying past Rock Lea view again.

Sunset on our Low-tide Cruise this afternoon

Spotted Redshank Holes (yesterday) – Peter Moore

Calm and bitterly cold conditions today gave the harbour a rather subdued feeling, with seemingly few birds on the move. The primary exception were the wetland species, with good numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Curlew, Teal, Pintail and Brent Geese all still present and feeding across much of the southern harbour on the afternoon low tide. Brownsea Lagoon also continues to hold good numbers of Avocet, plus a single Spoonbill this morning. In the south west corner of Holes Bay was a Spotted Redshank, along with 2 Water Rail, 1 Snipe and several Black-tailed Godwit. A few other winter visitors were also still to be found, with a small flock of 12 Redwing feeding among the livestock at Sunnyside Farm. That said, signs of early spring are certainly in the air, with at least 2 Red Kite seen circling over the Wareham Channel. Here Marsh Harrier were also active, and further inland at Norden a White-tailed Eagle was spotted soaring overhead.

The cold was certainly creeping back in today, and the number of birds still out on the mud during our Low-tide cruise this afternoon would suggest there’s still plenty of birds that still consider it winter too. Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and dark-bellied Brent Geese all remained at c1000 and there was still decent rafts of Wigeon, Teal and 250+ Pintail along the southern shores. At the top end of the Wareham Channel c200 Lapwing were still hunkered down on the mud and 100+ Red-breasted Merganser and c50 Great Crested Grebe were spread across the open water areas. There were multiple other highlights to compliment the high number of commoner species with a mostly summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, singles of White-tailed Eagle, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier and Peregrine in the Wareham Channel, a decent spread of summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gull right across the harbour, and best of all…a hunting Barn Owl on Furzey Island!! We also had a Kingfisher on the quay and another on Goathorn. Elsewhere the 2 Cattle Egret were again in the cow field off the Worgret Manor roundabout, a Water Pipit was at Lytchett Fields along with 1 Spotted Redshank. This morning, there was actually 4 different White-tailed Eagle in the harbour/Wareham Channel, with views had from the Ham Common viewpoint and there’s also been a decent Starling murmuration located in Wareham Forest, consisting of several thousand birds. It apparently seems to form behind the Birchwood Touring Park, along the Sugar Hill road with birds starting to arrive around 17:15 and peaking half an hour later. Thanks @PlushieTumRs on Twitter for the heads up about this. You can’t beat a decent murm!

Cattle Egret – Worgret/Wareham – Clive Hargrave