A gorgeous late winter (dare we say it….early spring) day, once the fog had lifted. It seems a few people were out getting their daily exercise today before the ‘Beast from east’ arrives….if it ever arrives? There were signs of an early cold weather movement wit 2 Pochard in Lytchett Bay with 4 Pintail. Up on Ballard 5 Rock Pipit were apparently displaying in full parachute mode on the cliff face highlighting how mild it was in the sun and 2 Fulmar were seen settled on the cliffs too. In Studland Bay there were 9 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Common Scoter, 1 Great Northern Diver, 11 Great Crested Grebe and 2 Shoveler. Off Jerry’s Point there were 5 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Long-tailed Duck, 4 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Common Scoter and on Little Sea the Great White Egret was roosting. At Wareham Common the first Reed Bunting was back on territory singing and both Mistle and Song Thrush were really going for it at different sites right across the harbour providing a wonderfully tranquil calm before the (snow) storm? The Siberian Chiffchaff was still at the PCW Drain with 2 Firecrest. In Brands Bay the pale-bellied Brent Goose was still present and Egyptian Geese were at Lytchett Fields and Swineham.

Footage of Caspian Gull from Brownsea webcam (05/02/21)

Sanderling & Turnstone – Whitley Lake, Sandbanks

Dunnock were in full song right across the harbour today – Upton CP

Without doubt, todays highlight was a Caspian Gull found on the Brownsea lagoon webcam whilst searching for the Glaucous Gull which also appeared. Caspian Gull are exceptionally rare in Poole harbour despite their building presence elsewhere along the south coast. In fact todays was only the 3rd confirmed record for the recording area. Other nice highlights today included 6 Red-throated Diver west at Branksome Chine this AM and 51 Great Crested Grebe sat on the water. At Whitley Lake, Sandbanks there were 2 Sandwich Tern, 11 Sanderling, c30 Dunlin, c50 Bar-tailed Godwit and 1 Great Northern Diver.  A quick scout around Baiter produced 66 Oystercatcher, 57 Brent Brent, 10 Turnstone, 2 Redshank with  Goldeneye offshore. A German colour-ringed Common Gull was was observed from Stone Bench, Upton Country Park. Both Peregrine were seen again on the ASDA highrise. Two Slavonian Grebe still towards Brand’s Bay early afternoon. Upton Country Park featured 3 Firecrest along the path that runs between Grove Pond and Lambs Leas Field, a pair as you enter from Back Drive and the other on it’s own at the other end of the path.

Caspian Gull – Brownsea Lagoon – screen grab from webcam

Common Buzzard – Upton CP – Ian Ballam

Firecrest – Upton CP – Ian Ballam

(Dark-bellied) Brent Goose – Baiter – Martin Adams

Join us on an online twitch this eve as we try & locate the Glaucous Gull again on our Brownsea Lagoon webcam. It’s been in the last two evenings so a good chance it could re-appear! We’ll start scanning from 5pm.

A Great White Egret made a welcome appearance at Redhorn Point, adding some variety to the old reliable Scaup, Slavonian Grebe,  Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye and more. At least 380 Dunlin, 141 Avocet, 124 Redshank, 50 Curlew, 24 Oystercatcher on the low tide. Most notable was a sharp drop in Black-tailed Godwit numbers saw only 119 individuals recorded today! At least 106 Redwing on east field of Upton Country Park. A rising tide at Lytchett Fields held 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 230 Dunlin, 70 Redshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 94 Lapwing and 65 Teal. A female Sparrowhawk and Marsh Harrier made an appearance throughout the day, and a flock of 30 Linnet passed over.

Great White Egret – Redhorn Point – Garry Hayman

All eyes on the Brownsea Lagoon webcams this evening to stream the gull roost. With a first winter Glaucous Gull seen yesterday, it’s likely to appear again this evening. The familiar Jerry’s Point crew continue to impress, with 4 Long-tailed Duck, 5 Common Scoter, 4 Scaup, 3 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 14 Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser present. Whitecliff shoreline featured 2 Goldeneye, 17 Turnstone, 5 Oystercatcher and a single Dark-bellied Brent Goose that separated from the large flock feeding on Baiter playing fields. Numerous observers spotted the Peregrine on the ADSA high-rise building. Another Peregrine was logged around Old Harry, perched on the cliffs with several Rock Pipit around. The surrounding fields held a minimum of 8 Yellowhammer and c.10 displaying Skylark. South Beach clocked up c.100 Mediterranean Gulls, c.70 Common Gulls, 1 Great Northern Diver. Plus there was 1 Slavonian and 1 Black-necked Grebe. On the return leg there was a Great Northern Diver and close views of Shag. The woods leading to Old Harry held a Firecrest.

Finally, highlight of the day was a 1st winter Glaucous Gull that appeared on the Brownsea Lagoon webcam at 17:20. We’ll be scanning again each evening to try and re-find it, so make sure to tune into the Mac Hide webcam from 5pm to help us search!

Glaucous Gull – Screen grab from Brownsea Lagoon webcam

Peregrine – ASDA highrise – Shazz Hooper

Male Pintail – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

It was nice to squint a little today as the sun broke from the clouds late morning. The welcome warmth prompted some activity and we encountered our first butterfly of the year on the wing – a Peacock. It terms of bird records, an unringed Water Pipit was observed at Holton Pools and 3 Spotted Redshank were feeding in Middlebere Channel. A search for the Sandbanks Purple Sandpiper returned 3 Black-necked Grebe, Great Northern Diver and a Kittiwake. Moving south of the Ferry Terminal, Shell Bay clocked up a further 2 Black-necked and 2 Slavonian Grebes, 1 Great Northern Diver and a handful of Gannets feeding offshore. Jerry’s Point and Redhorn Quay totals included 4 Long-Tail Duck, 3 Common Scoter, 4 Great Northern Diver, 3 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Scaup, 4 Black-necked Grebe and good numbers of Goldeneye. Knoll Beach produced 26 Mediterranean Gull, 5 Common Scoter, a single Black-necked Grebe and several Great Crested Grebe. Turnstone were very prominent with good counts across the northern side of the harbour, various counts observed feeding flocks at Hamworthy (22), Poole and Baiter Parks (21), Whitley Lake (34) and Sandbanks (30).

Peacock Butterfly – Piddle Valley

Mediterranean Gull – Knoll Beach – Garry Hayman

The Holes Bay Common Sandpiper continues to show well, today being photographed through the foliage from the cycle path while 2 Water Pipit were recorded at Lytchett Fields. Jerry’s Point continues to delight with 7 Black-necked Grebe, 6 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver and the Pale-bellied Brent Goose. Four Long-tailed Duck remained distant offshore and the regular 4 Scaup were still off Redhorn Point.

Comparison of Black-necked (left) and Slavonian Grebe (right) – Jerry’s Point – Garry Hayman

Common Sandpiper – Holes Bay – Ian Ballam

There it is….January 2021 finished with already. No-one should ever wish time away, but in these circumstances I think we’re well within our right to wish some sun and warmth our way. That said, the cold weather further north pushed some birds this way including 5 Russian White-fronted Geese over Lytchett Fields. We hope more of these will appear over the coming weeks as birds begin making their way back north and places like Lytchett Fields, Swineham and the Frome Valley could all easily hold passage geese during February, so if out on your daily exercise in those areas keep an eye out. Other highlights at Lytchett Fields were a colour-ringed Water Pipit, a male Merlin, 1 Jack Snipe and c200 Linnet in the arable field. On the Asda building there were 2 Peregrine back, no doubt plotting and planning on perhaps trying to figure out where they can potentially lay eggs this year? We really hope so! Off Jerry’s Point there were 4 Long-tailed Duck, 4 Scaup, 3 Common Scoter, 18 Goldeneye, 5 Slavonian Grebe, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver and the usual spread of Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe. At Holes Bay the over-wintering Common Sandpiper was back at the drain channel entrance, a Goldeneye was just off the cycle path and Wigeon numbers in Holes Bay are already dropping off.

Plus, exciting news – This evening Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin kindly launched news of our new Reintroduction and Rewilding Summit, an online event planned for April 10th which will showcase some of the most progressive and exciting nature restoration projects across the UK (and Europe). Although the actual event isn’t until April 10th, each week leading up to that day we’ll be posting a new podcast, hosted by Charlie Moores which seeks to draw out the detail of many of these projects and provide context in how they fit into a wider nature recovery framework.

Podcasts will feature the likes of Roy Dennis, Derek Gow, The White Stork Project and The Vulture Conservation Foundation. Plus, on April 10th not only will a whole range of topics and projects be discussed, guest speakers will also include people such Benedict Macdonald (of Rebirding fame) and young birder Indy Greene.

You can get full details by visiting our website and you can listen to the first podcast on the webpage, which this week focuses on the Poole Harbour Osprey project – https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/the-reintroduction-rewilding-summit/

Comparison shots of Common ‘collybita’ Chiffchaff (above) and Siberian ‘tristis’ Chiffchaff (below)

PCW Drain- Rene Goad

January has almost come to an end and we can soon look forward to the shortest month of the year. Lets then get that quickly out of the way and done with before the excitement of spring engulfs us. The less said about today the better, with persistent rain falling pretty much all day. Only real highlights were 2 Goldeneye and 1 Red-breasted Merganser on Poole Park Lake, 1 Great Northern Diver, 30 Red-breasted Merganser and 38 Turnstone off Baiter and at a very flooded Lytchett Fields, 21 Avocet, 3 Green Sandpiper, 5 Greenshank and a flock of 30 Stock Dove.

Despite the rain, we do have an exciting announcement planned for Sunday evening so make sure you check our website and social media channels for updates. It will hopefully provide the inspirational and motivational need we all desire at the current moment in time….So watch this space.

Bar-tailed Godwit – Shore Road

A Great Northern Diver was spotted off the Hamworthy shoreline this morning, along with 30 Turnstone along the old jetty. PC World Drain continues to support Kingfisher, Firecrest and the Siberian Chiffchaff among the Common Chiffchaff. Continuing the urban round up… c.70 Goldfinch, 2 Mistle Thrush and 5 Turnstone were logged at Poole Park. Whitley Lake shoreline held 91 Bar-tailed Godwit, 29 Turnstone, 16 Sanderling, 48 Oystercatcher, 12 Dark-bellied Brent Goose and 3 Curlew.

Jerry’s Point clocked up a further 3 Great Northern Diver, 5 Common Scoter, 4 Scaup, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 7 Goldeneye, 19 Red-breasted Merganser and 11 Turnstone. A Spoonbill was feeding in Brand’s Bay and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose joined the Dark-bellied flock off Redhorn Quay, along with 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-necked Grebe and 14 Goldeneye. A falling tide at Lytchett Fields produced 2 Greenshank, 67 Redshank, 280 Lapwing, 50 Teal and 10 Common Gull in amongst 500 strong Black-headed Gull flock.

Pale-bellied Brent Goose – Redhorn Point- Garry Hayman

Spoonbill – Brand’s Bay – Garry Hayman

A Peregrine caused some commotion behind Lilliput petrol station at this morning as it passed overhead towards Ashley Cross. Two Firecrest, 1 Redwing, 1 Blackcap and 6 Tufted Duck were the hightlights at Creekmoor Lakes while Holton Pools featured both Greenshank and Redshank. Lytchett Bay totals included 14 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 5 Egyptian Goose over, 75 Wigeon, 100 Teal, 11 Red-breasted Merganser, 63 Shelduck, 55 Avocet, 1 Spotted Redshank, 30 Curlew, 3 Greenshank, 82 Redshank, 150 Lapwing, 7 Snipe, 4 Spoonbill, 2 Mediterranean Gull among 400 Black-headed and 36 Common Gulls, a single Chiffchaff, 2 Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. Other birds of prey logged across the harbour included a Merlin over Hartland Moor and a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering Middlebere.

Redwing – Creekmoor Lakes – Martin Adams