A proper winter day for those who joined us in braving the bitterly cold northerly winds on today’s cruise. The stunning winter birding scene rewarded our efforts with fine displays from birds of prey, an increase in open-water species and a nice sprinkling of Poole Harbour scarcities along the way. Marsh Harriers quartered closer and closer the boat as we meandered up the Wareham Channel and entered the mouth of the River Frome, 3 Great White Egret graced Swineham Gravel Pit (offering brilliant side-by-side comparisons to Little Egret on the deck and in flight), 6 Scaup and 6 Common Scoter offered marvellous views in South Deep, a Great Northern Diver showed well off Hamworthy pier and a Guillemot put in a star appearance in the Central Harbour. Elsewhere, 2 Goldeneye occupied Poole Park and a Sandwich Tern hunting around Parkstone Bay.

Common Scoter – South Deep, from Bird Boat – Rene Goad

Scaup – South Deep, from Bird Boat – Rene Goad

A bit warmer today, enough (in sheltered areas) for some butterflies to be active with Comma, Peacock and Red Admiral all seen today. A redhead Goosander was on Lytchett Fields and a first occurrence of this species on the actual fields we believe. Middlebere hosted the usual raptor fest with ringtail Hen Harrier, 2 Merlin, Peregrine and up to 3 Marsh Harrier seen. The west harbour Marsh Harrier roost also produced potentially up to 20 different Marsh Harrier this morning which is just incredible. Also in Middlebere were 5 Spoonbill, 1 Great White Egret and c200 Avocet. Whitley Lake featured 87 Bar-tailed Godwit and 3 Mediterranean Gulls.

Stunning comparison photos by Mark Wright of Merlin (above) and Peregrine (below) – Middlebere

A classic Poole Harbour winter set of sightings today with near perfect conditions this afternoon with a big low tide and zero breeze, making viewing out across the harbour and various bays an absolute dream. Around the studland peninsular, our ‘Winter Birds of Poole harbour’ ID course logged 1 Velvet Scoter with 14 Common Scoter out in Studland Bay, first settled and then all flying togther giving perfect views of all relevant ID features. Also in Studland Bay were 2 Great Northern Diver and 23 Black-necked Grebe were counted in the roost and a Slavonian Grebe was seen earlier in the day. There were also 2 Firecrest in the Knoll Beach car park and at the Shell Beach car park a Siberian Chiffchaff was along the boardwalk. Off Jerry’s Point there were 14 Goldeneye (18 logged earlier in the day), 6 Scaup, another 5 Common Scoter, 24 Sanderling, c15 Red-breasted Merganser, c40 Dunlin, 1 Greenshank, 8 Ringed Plover and c10 Turnstone. Meanwhile plenty of Brent Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Wigeon and a few Pintail were also present in and around Jerry’s Point. Off Baiter this AM there were 2 Sandwich Tern feeding along the shore. At Arne, 2 Hen Harrier were seen, an adult male and a ringtail. Holes Bay NE was busy again with 1 Knot in with 732 Black-tailed Godwit, 114 Avocet, 100 Dunlin and 71 Redshank.

Black-necked Grebe – Studland Bay 

Plenty around the harbour today, aided by the fact we had a low-tide cruise this afternoon which trekked around the whole harbour and up the Wareham Channel. Despite the cold northerly wind, birds were finding the sheltered areas with 6 Scaup in South Deep and the 4 Velvet Scoter were off the south shore of Brownsea briefly. There were also 5 Common Scoter seen from Jerry’s Point but not from the boat. There were plenty of Red-breasted Merganser between Green Island an Brownsea, but only a single drake Goldeneye was logged. There were 5 Spoonbill in the Wareham Channel along with 3-4 Marsh Harrier at the top end near Swineham and a Peregrine was causing havoc. Along the south of the harbour and in the Wareham Channel totals of 200+ were logged for Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Brent Goose, Teal and Wigeon. Elsewhere there were 2 Brambling feeding at the Studland Ferry toll booth. In Shell Bay there was a single Guillemot and at the PCW Drain, 6 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti’s Warbler and 1 Firecrest. In Holes Bay NE 228 Avocet were feeding close to the cycle path and off Baiter 57 Brent Geese have now settled. In Middlebere there was a ringtail Hen Harrier and a Merlin with 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Spotted Redshank, 5 Spoonbill and c200 Avocet. At Knoll Farm campsite, Studland a group of 10 Fieldfare were present with 5 also at Hartland Stud…..they’ve been in incredibly low numbers this autumn/winte rso far.

Brambling – Studland toll booth – Paul Swann

Mackerel sky from low-tide cruise

Spotted Redshank – Middlebere – Paul Swann

Fieldfare (above) and Mistle Thrush – Knoll Fram, Studland – Paul Swann

After some patience and detective work, Water Pipit “1K” (ringed last winter at Lytchett Fields) made another appearance on the fields. This is the 9th field record of 1K since ringing, but it has yet to be observed beyond the ringing site. Hopefully these colour ringed birds will be observed on migration or on territory at their high altitude breeding grounds over the coming seasons. The Bay also logged its first Red-breasted Merganser for the season, with a raft of 7 welcoming in the new month. The 4 Velvet Scoter continue to show off Middle Beach, Studland and a female Goosander was still present in the NE Holes Bay sector, while a Kingfisher was logged along shoreline and the male Tufted Duck was still off the PC World drain. Middlebere enjoy a stunning disoute between a male and female Merlin with a ringtail Hen Harrier for 20 minutes!

The evening saw us hosted our second public ringing demo of the winter at Sunnyside. It was another successful session, in fact our best ever with 4 Jack Snipe (including one originally ringed in Nov 2019!), 1 Common Snipe, 3 Woodcock, 1 Redwing and 1 Pied Wagtail caught for the group.

Jack Snipe & Common Snipe – Sunnyside Ringing Demo – Steve and Julie Smith

A great number of sightings in from Studland today, most notably a report of a Snow Bunting at Studland between Pilot’s Point and Knoll Beach. The 4 Velvet Scoter were still present off Middle Beach today, along with 14 Common Scoter, 1 Gannet and 6 Red-breasted Merganser. In a count of Bramble Bush Bay, 6 distant Goldeneye, 5 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Grey Plover, 17 Ringed Plover, 2 Curlew, 6 Turnstone, 45 Dunlin, 1 Greenshank, 11 Oystercatcher and 2 Redshank were recorded. Numbers of Pintail in Brands Bay were high again, with 50+ counted.

There was a redhead Goosander in Holes Bay NE this morning, seen fishing at the end of PC World Drain. Also noted in Holes Bay NE were 2 Spoonbill and 1 Common Sandpiper. In Whitley Lake, 66 Bar-tailed Godwit, 86 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 14 Turnstone, 6 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Rock Pipit were reported. 1 Goldeneye was also reported on Poole Park.

Goosander – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam

Much of the same today, but in much nicer conditions!! A flat calm Studland Bay welcomed the day in, meaning the 4 Velvet Scoter could be seen well of Middle Beach, along with 11 Common Scoter, 6 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver. Off Shell Beach there was another Great Northern Diver, 1 Guillemot and 1 Razorbill. Full counts between Brands Bay and Jerry’s Point included 33 Great Crested Grebe, 25 Red-breasted Merganser, 6 Scaup, 11 Goldeneye, 6 Common Scoter, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Great White Egret. In Holes Bay north there were thousands of birds gathered on the high-tide, mostly Black-tailed Godwit and Wigeon but a pair of Kingfisher were also showing displaying behaviour close to the cycle path. A Brambling was just north of Knoll beach and 4 Lesser Redpoll were at South Haven. On Holme Lane GP there were 4 Pochard still and a merlin was at Middlebere with 5 Marsh Harrier seen in the Wareham Channel. A Great White Egret was also on Swineham GP.

Kingfishers – Holes Bay – Martin Adams

The storm disappeared over night but the wind chill was still there and by early afternoon a still NW wind had kicked back in again. There’s a mixed bag of weather on the way, but these strong northerly winds could have easily pushed some decent birds into the harbour that have so far gone un-noticed/found so when the wind settles down on and off over the week it would be well worth getting out if you can.

Much of the same today with the 4 Velvet Scoter still off Middle Beach, along with 12 Common Scoter, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 5 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Great Northern Diver. From the House Boats there were 6 more Common Scoter and 2 Sanderling. There was another late Swallow, this time at Lytchett Bay. There were 3 Cattle Egret in the Frome Flood fields near Holme Lane and the 6 Scaup were still off Jerry’s Point. An adult male Hen Harrier was seen at RSPB Arne and a Great White Egret was in Brands Bay. A new colour-ringed Spoonbill was seen, this time in Holes Bay, with white ring ‘NBNZ’. Details have been sent for the birds info.

Spoonbill – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

Spoonbill – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

Wow…..Storm Arwen hit with a vengeance this morning, bringing icy cold winds from the north and even a bit of snow in areas across the harbour. Birding efforts were mostly kept short but still a core of hardy sightings were logged including the 4 Velvet Scoter still off Middle Beach, Studland with 7 Common Scoter, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 9 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver. At Swineham there was a redhead Goosander on the main pit, along with 18 Dunlin on the Curlew Pools and an adult male Marsh Harrier. There were 4 Spoonbill in Lytchett Bay today and 4 Scaup off Jerry’s Point.

‘Redhead’ Goosander – Swineham GP – Peter Moore

Black-tailed Godwit – Swineham – Peter Moore