What a miserable afternoon! The good news is that this weather system should pass in time for tomorrow’s Big Poole Harbour Bird Count. A 24 hour ‘citizen birding’ project that sees your data count. Simply get out birding (all day if you like) and send us your totals. Full details can be found here: https://birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/the-big-poole-harbour…/ Today’s Marsh Harrier count sat at 4 individuals. Other raptors present included Hen Harrier, Short-eared Owl and Peregrine. The Pergins Island, Holes Bay wader roost featured a minimum count of 12 Avocet, 27 Curlew, 300+ Black-tailed Godwit.

Our BoPH Holes Bay Guided Walk this morning clocked up an impressive 726 Wigeon, 13 Avocet, 19 Knot 12 Pintail, 27 Shoveler, 27 Curlew, 30+ Teal, 4 Shelduck. c400 Black-tailed Godwit, c 30 Dunlin, 30+ Redshank, Grey Wagtail, Sparrowhawk and Kingfisher. Limited spaces are still available on Friday 11th December, 12pm to 3pm. Book here to join. Don’t worry if you can’t make this event, we’ll be adding more dates for the new year. The first Water Pipits of the Autumn have arrived! Lytchett Fields recorded its first 2 today. Other notable sightings in the Bay included at least 15 Goldcrest along Waterworks fenceline, 4 Pintail and c60 Wigeon.

Water Pipit – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

With only nine days until November there certainly seemed to be a wintery vibe today, not so much the weather but the birds…..It could have easily have been mid December!!

The first Scaup of the ‘winter’ was seen off Green Island with 6 Red-breasted Merganser too. In Brands Bay/Bramble Bush Bay there were 6 Black-necked Grebe, 6 Common Scoter, 8 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Great White Egret. There’s been a build up of dark-bellied Brent Geese with a minimum of 300 spread across the harbour with birds at Shipstal, Ower Bay, Middlebere and the Wareham Channel. There were 3 different Marsh Harrier at Swineham and ringtail Hen Harriers were seen at Godlingston and the mouth of the Frome near Swineham. Bearded Tit were also very vocal and active at Swineham with a minimum of 20 lifting in and out of the reedbed and on the gravel pit there were 8 Pochard. A Merlin and a Peregrine were sat on posts along the Keysworth shoreline and an Osprey was seen over Holes Bay briefly with a fish. Avocet were represented in good numbers with c100 on the Brownsea Lagoon and another c200 in the mouth of the Frome. Skylark seemed to be moving too with several over Swineham heading north. In total 187 Cormorant arrived into the harbour from the north and settled on the Brownsea shoreline. Off Hamworthy Beach 3 Sandwich Tern were feeding and several Kingfisher were seen. In total 37 Spoonbill were seen feeding around the Arne peninsular.

Spoonbill – Arne 

Scaup – Furzey Island shoreline

Yesterday’s Holes Bay Osprey is still here. There was no chance it leave today with all this miserable weather about, so it was good to see the bird back on the platform again. Below the feeding platform, a high tide roost count on Pergins Island featured 4 Avocet, 317 Black-tailed Godwit, 9 Curlew, 3 Redshank and a Kingfisher from the Stone Bench. A count during a weather window from the new RSPB Arne Lookout offered c.70 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Red-breasted Merganser, Lapwing and 2 adult male Hen Harrier. Incredibly, a third (juvenile male) Hen Harrier was quartering over Arne Moors this morning. So that’s a minimum of 3 present in the harbour! Over at Lytchett Bay, the Fields drew in a minimum of 280 Dunlin, 1 Curlew Sandpiper c.60 Redshank, 70 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Greenshank and a Spotted Redshank, 3 Yellow-legged Gull and a flock of c.30 Curlew were flushed by a Marsh Harrier over the Bay.

Juvenile Osprey – Pergins Island Feeding Platform

It’s the start of a new and different weather pattern this week having just enjoyed a week or so of northerly and easterly winds. It’s back to good old wet and windy south westerly’s again, but hey, we don’t mind as that can still produce new birds at this time of year.

Today we retrieved our sound recording gear from the roof of a high-rised set of flats on Old town Poole where it’s been deployed for 2 weeks recording night migrants. Having had a sneaky peak at some of the sound files the results are looking promising with good numbers of Redwing, Song Thrush and Blackbird calls present within the recording. When we begin finding nice recordings to post, we’ll host them on the sightings page over the next few days and weeks.

Sightings today were from all over the place, starting at Studland where there were 2 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Common Scoter in Studland Bay with another Common Scoter in the harbour mouth. Brent Geese were present with 17 flying in through the harbour mouth and 7 in Studland Bay. 14 Crossbill were logged over Middle Beach with 7 Lesser Redpoll. At Lytchett Fields a Jack Snipe was flushed and a Yellow-browed Warbler was in Upton CP. Between Jerry’s Point and Brands Bay there was just a single Red-breasted Merganser but 49 Great Crested Grebe. Out in Poole Bay 20+ Gannet were heading west. In Holes Bay today there were 40 Shoveler (a big increase), 28 Knot, 471 Black-tailed Godwit, 102 Dunlin, 82 Redshank, 2 Grey Plover and 1 Kingfisher. Along the Studland beaches there are plenty of birds taking advantage of the rotting seaweed which is crawling in flies, with Rock and Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Skylark, Robins and Pied Wagtail all enjoying themselves early this AM.

Redshank, Knot and Grey Plover – Holes Bay north – Martin Adams

Swineham featured Marsh Harrier, passing flock of Lesser Redpoll and 50 Curlew. Early visit to Holes Bay captured the departing 1420 strong Black-headed Gull roost, along with a decent count of staple 550 Wigeon and 21 Knot. The rising tide in Lytchett Bay produced 393 Wigeon, 387 Teal, 180+ Dunlin, 60+ Redshank, 4 Greenshank, 18 Curlew, Kingfisher, Yellow-legged Gull and a notable 9 Little Grebe this morning. Brownsea Island attracted 38 Spoonbill onto the Lagoon.

Rock Pipit – Holes Bay – Steve Grundy

The highlight from today was the probable Long-eared Owl reported in a Lilliput garden this morning, watched  briefly by the observer until seen off by crows. The Cold Harbour Yellow-browed Warbler continued to frequent the area surrounding the Forestry Commission Wareham Office and a Red Kite drifted over Upton this afternoon, possibly the same bird over Swanage North Beach just over an hour later. It also seems that the Lytchett Fields Grey Phalarope relocated to the Stilt Pools at Swineham. A Hobby was seen hunting out over Hartland mid-morning and Marsh Harrier were spread across the west of the harbour at dawn.

The Linnet flock knocking around the Arable Field, Lytchett Bay has steadily increased in recent weeks, today hitting impressive 168 strong! Having not been recorded in Lytchett Bay since mid-August, several Mediterranean Gull made a welcome appearance, with just one in the Bay and 2 on the Fields. The Fields also held an additional 249 Dunlin, 1 Spotted Redshank, 62 Common Redshank, 63 Lapwing and 6 Common Gull. Holes Bay recorded counts of 493 Wigeon, 25 Shoveler, 9 Pintail, and 5 Teal on rising Spring tide, as well as 2 Kingfisher, c.400 Black-tailed Godwit, 100+ Dunlin, 50+ Redshank and 20 Knot.

Red Kite – Upton – Tony Furnell

Lytchett Bay’s first Brent Geese of the season were logged today.  A total of 7 were recorded in the entranced channel. The Bay also held a minimum count of 245 Wigeon. A Yellow-browed Warbler was kicking around Cold Harbour. 3o Spoonbill were observed on our Brownsea Lagoon webcam, numbers are certainly increasing with birds venturing across more of the harbour. Elsewhere a further 33 Brent Geese occupied Shipstal Point, Arne and an additional 4 Brent’s were seen on the reserve from Coombe viewpoint. Two large mixed flocks of Lapwing & Starling in flight, as well as  Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail and Marsh Harrier all recorded from the new Lookout. Visible migration was fantastic at both South Haven and Glebelands with South Haven seeing 347 Lesser Redpoll and 152 at Glebelands and equally impressive numbers of Crossbill 103 at Glebelands.

Wigeon – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam