Strong rain and wind set in early and it doesn’t look like showing much sign of easing over the coming days so birding largely restricted to looking out of the window! One lucky set of garden bird feeders received a visit from a Brambling, otherwise harbour sightings were very thin on the ground. The Lytchett Bay Brambling at the end f Slough Lane was also on the feeders too for a short while. The Common Sandpiper was again at the PCW Drain outflow, 12 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point and on Brownsea 800+ Avocet were present with 4 Greenshank, c50 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Knot, c40 Grey Plover and a whole host of Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwit. There was also a male Goosander on Swineham GP.

If looking for inspiration, with the prominent wind direction coming from the west, perhaps a late afternoon visit to Middle Beach, Studland could offer some shelter and yield a decent grebe roost before dusk…

Brambling – Poole Garden – Shazz Hooper @DorsetShazz

Curlew – Holes Bay – Mark Wright @markwright12002

Common Sandpiper – Holes Bay NE – Mark Wright @markwright12002

Nice for some respite from the wind and rain today, before it kicks off again tomorrow. Not many sightings, but a few highlights with 2 Green Sandpiper on the high tide in Lytchett Bay this morning, as well as the Brambling still being visible at the Lytchett Fields feeding station. A count at PCW Drain reported 5 Chiffchaff, 7 Teal, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Bullfinch and 1 Kingfisher. Also great to spend the morning with a team of volunteers laying out matting on the pathway to the viewpoints at Lytchett Fields… Hopefully the improvements will make the viewpoint easier to access, providing a path over the muddiest areas. Huge thank you to everyone that helped.

If anyone missed our talk last Thursday, featuring the results of The Big Poole Harbour Bird Count and discussion around some of the species highlights, you can find the full recording here.

Green Sandpiper – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Brambling – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Section of new path at Lytchett Fields

Insane scenes on our Winter Safari Cruise! Having already ticked off 2 Guillemot before departing Poole Quay, we set off on a route that took us into the Middlebere Channel with the idea of watching the roosting Spoonbill, but we weren’t expecting what happened next… The flock of 17 Spoonbill were feeding in the Middlebere Channel briefly on arrival but frantically lifted into the air as a female Peregrine bombed into action, quickly isolating one of the birds. After a close chase, the Spoonbill plunged into the water, narrowly avoiding the talons in close pursuit! The Peregrine then changed target and chased an Oystercatcher around the boat before giving up and moving on. A meander around the back of the islands then offered a Common Seal and numerous rafts of Red-breasted Merganser. Brownsea Lagoon was well attended with c.200 Avocet, c80 Bar-tailed Godwit, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Greenshank single Spotted Redshank and a couple of Mediterranean Gulls among the roosting Black-headed Gulls. We concluded with a Great Northern Diver off the Baiter Park shoreline. Elsewhere, Holes Bay  clocked up a further 615+ Black-tailed Godwit, 147 Avocet, 100+ Dunlin and 68 Pintail, with numerous of Wigeon and Teal remaining strong.

Bar-tailed Godwit & Avocet – Brownsea Lagoon – Clive Hargrave

Spotted Redshank – Brownsea Lagoon – Clive Hargrave

Sorry for the delay with posting sightings for today. As you may already know, there’s been some information come out today in regards to the Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle reintroduction project that we wanted to gather together and include in the sightings.

But first, today’s sightings. It’s been a very interesting day of reports, with the highlight being the adult Bonaparte’s Gull in Lytchett Bay still present, best viewed from the Turlin Screen. The Bonaparte’s Gull was first found yesterday evening pre-roost, and was refound this morning amongst the Black-headed Gulls in the bay. Lytchett Fields provided great views of a Brambling using the feeding station again today. Middlebere also brought a few nice reports, especially the 10-12 Golden Plover seen in the channel, along with 1 Great White Egret. At Studland, Middle Beach produced a count of 9 Common Scoter, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe and several Mediterranean Gull. Over in Bramble Bush Bay, 3 Sanderling, 3 Turnstone, 2 Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 22 Red-breasted Merganser, 18 Brent Geese, 4 Gadwall and 4 Shoveler were counted. At Swineham, c.350 Lapwing were reported, along with c.100 Dunlin and 1 Marsh Harrier. At Holes Bay, 2 Snipe were reported near Cobb’s Quay.

And now on to the difficult news… We were extremely disappointed to hear that two of the White-tailed Eagles from the Isle of Wight reintroduction have been found dead on the South Coast, one of which, it has been confirmed, was found in Dorset. Results of the post-mortems have not been released, but suggestions are that the deaths of the two birds happened under suspicious circumstances, rather than natural causes. Time will tell.

As a charity, we are even more-so gutted to see the photo of one of the deceased birds featuring a leg ring that appears to read “G461”, the link to which can be found here. Those of you that have been following out updates will know that this individual is the young male that was regularly visiting the harbour in the past months. For many of the people who watched this bird, it was the first time they had ever seen an eagle, and the hope and excitement that was brought for nature restoration South Coast was immeasurable. G461 was also the eagle that was seen on Brownsea Lagoon by a boat full of school children during our School Bird Boat Project last year, swiftly becoming one of the highlights of BoPH’s project work. That experience is now a very poignant moment, and we hope, in spite of what is found in the post-mortem results, that it’s something that can be replicated in the not-too-distant future.

Dorset Police have issued a statement asking for the public to be vigilant and report anything that seems suspicious in relation to the death of this bird, especially as 3 other eagles are currently in Dorset. We now await the results of the post-mortem with baited breath.

Bonaparte’s Gull (left) with Black-headed Gull – Lytchett Bay – Steve Smith

Studland was well watched today, with Middle Beach being particularly productive, hosting 7 Great Crested Grebe, 8 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 8 Common Scoter.  Inside the harbour, 9 Sanderling and 14 Ringed Plover were reported near the houseboats in Bramble Bush Bay. Further along at Jerry’s Point, 14 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Scaup, 24 Red-breasted Merganser, 6 Goldeneye were present, as well as 1 immature female Marsh Harrier. A count of Brands Bay produced 542 Teal, 325 Wigeon, 213 Pintail, 67 Lapwing, 30 Grey Plover, 19 Knot, 417 Black-tailed Godwit and 855 Dunlin. Elsewhere, the Common Sandpiper was showing well again at Holes Bay, visible between the PC World Drain and the railway embankment. Also at PC World Drain, 2 Tufted Duck, 3 Chiffchaff and 1 Kingfisher were present. 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Peregrine were seen over Lytchett Bay this morning. Finally, 1 Peregrine was also seen on the Barclays Building in town this morning.

Peregrine – Poole Town – Rene Goad

Thoughts are steadily turning towards spring. The first 2 male Reed Bunting were back on territory and singing this morning in the Lower Piddle Valley. February may as well be the March! Chaotic scenes at Lytchett Bay as a large female Peregrine harassed everything for 20 minutes with no success. Two Marsh Harrier joined in on the action sending up 300+ Wigeon, 200+ Teal, 200 Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Redshank and gulls all in a frenzy. Meanwhile the northern embayment to the east, Holes Bay, enjoyed a beautifully calm morning with 200+ Avocet present and regular Kingfisher activity. Although there were no sightings of the Common Sandpiper, a few Turnstone were feeding actively. The Brambling briefly paid a visit to the Lytchett Feeding Station. Ballad Down certainly felt like spring was pressing forward with Skylarks in song and a Raven collecting nesting material.

Water Rail (yesterday) – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

It’s been a better than average winter for Brambling this year, not necessarily all around Poole Harbour, but at inland sites that can often host several birds, flocks of 30-50 have been logged, meaning several are now turning up in the harbour area including the male that was on the feeders again at Lytchett Bay view point, at the end of Slough Lane, plus there were 2-3 in Upton CP too. As birds are also now beginning to move around due to springs fast approach, it would be well worth keeping an eye out on garden feeders as wandering Brambling could turn up anywhere. At Swineham the redhead Goosander was on the main pit again with several Cetti’s Warbler calling. The Cattle Egret is still on the opposite side of the valley in the cow field, viewable from the bottom of the Bog Lane footpath and there were 3 Egyptian Geese in the Valley along with 4 Green Sandpiper. Off Middle Beach, Studland there were 11 Common Scoter and 2 Slavonian Grebe with a scattering of Black-necked Grebe. The 3 Scaup were still off Redhorn and a Common Guillemot was off Poole Quay again. A Marsh Harrier flush 12 Spoonbill off Shipstal and in Brands Bay there were 2 Spoonbill 2 on the very far side of the marsh, 25 Grey Plover, 344 Black-tailed Godwit and Knot. Finally, the warmth of the sun this AM also made Woodlark active again up around Hartland.

Woodlark – Hartland area – Rob Johnson

There seemed to be a weekend lull with todays grotty weather obviously preventing/deterring folk from getting out birding. The only news from daylight hours were of a Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Bay, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 8 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay and a Merlin off Shipstal.

However, some fascinating news last night from Stour Ringing Group who were out around the Sunnyside area where they caught several Jack Snipe, 1 Common Snipe and a Woodcock. Thats not unusual for anyone thats been on one of our Sunnyside ringing demos, in fact thats quite a typical catch. However, one the Jack Snipe and the Woodcock were in fact birds that had been caught and ringed at exactly the same spot in previous years by the group. Terry Elborn has kindly provided the details of each bird below.

• The Jack Snipe was first caught in March 2017, so was born at the earliest in 2016.
• The Woodcock was first caught in Nov 2016 and was aged as an adult then, so was born at least 2015 and so in its 8^th calendar year at least! How many miles has this bird done so far and how many gun shots avoided!!

We’re learning more and more about these nocturnal species and that winter site fidelity (reliance on the same site each winter) is key for birds like Woodcock and Jack Snipe, sometimes even being caught in the same 3m square patch of grass the following winter having (likely) flown to Russia and back in the mean time! Just incredible.

Woodcock (above) and Jack Snipe (below) – Terry Elborn