An incredibly wet Swineham was swimming in birds. Great to see the pools holding water, although that wasn’t difficult after today’s weather! Stilt Pools was ram packed, holding, 325 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Spotted Redshank, 5 Mute Swan and 5 Curlew. Two Cattle Egret and 4 Cetti’s Warbler along the Two Rivers Walk were welcome additions to the 140 Coot, 1 Pochard, 7 Great Crested Grebe, 15 Tufted Duck, 4 Mute Swan, 3 Shoveler, Mallard and Kingfisher occupying the gravel pit.

Lytchett Fields performed much the same as yesterday, with unrelenting rain, hundreds of waders and no Dowitcher to be seen! Although the Wood Sandpiper, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, 470 Dunlin, House Martin, Sand Martin, Swallow and Wheatear made for some top birding. A late Osprey was also recorded over the fields late morning! Meanwhile, an early visit to Middlebere on the rising tide produced an impressive c.600 Avocet, 16 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank, 250 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Dunlin, 15 Lapwing, 1 Grey Plover, 30 Redshank, 3 Curlew and a Barn Owl on arrival.

Baiter early doors saw 4 Wheatear, 3 Ringed Plover, 8 Turnstone & 3 grounded Swallows. This was the theme of the day with thousands of hirundines, mostly House Martin, after a huge passage through Dorset yesterday with several sites seeing similar gatherings today due to the rain.

Black-tailed Godwit – Stilt Pools – Gary Hayman

The weather may have been a tad off putting today, but it didn’t stop us getting out and about! If you didn’t venture out today, we hope this video will give you a seen of what’s about in the harbour at the moment and inspire some October birding.

Our enjoyable visit to Swineham this afternoon featured plenty of migrants, highlights being 8 Pochard, 2 Cattle Egret, c.1000 Swallow, c.500 House Martin, 3 Marsh Harrier, 5 Bearded Tit and a Peregrine that was too quick too capture on camera!

Elsewhere across the harbour, Holes Bay continues to draw in winter vistors, with 429 Wigeon, 10 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 11 Mallard, 57 Mute Swan, 3 Pintail, 9 Shoveler, 37 Teal, 12 Canada Geese, c.200 Black-tailed Godwit, 40+ Redshank, 30+ Dunlin, 15+ Curlew, Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull and 2 Kingfisher. A flock of 10 Stonechat was a lovely addition near the screen hide and a Firecrest was opposite Upton House entrance this afternoon, with tons of hirundines whizzing over the fields. There was no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher at Lytchett Fields today, however 2 Curlew Sandpiper and 2 Spotted Redshank helped make up for its absence among the hundreds of waders on the rising tide. A Siberian Chiffchaff at recorded at Broadstone yesterday evening, but there has been no subsequent sightings.

We all love wind! Don’t we? Well, those that went sea watching early doors certainly did with two great harbour species logged out in Poole Bay, initially with a Sooty Shearwater tracked across the bay then a later on a dark-phase Long-tailed Skua. Other notable species logged in the bay were the 1^st Great Northern Diver of the winter, 1 Merlin, c30 Wigeon, 1 Brent Goose, a small flock of Common Scoter, c15 Sandwich Tern, c10 Gannet and 3 Med Gulls. Holes Bay NW had a great range of birds too with 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank, 27 Knot, 46 Dunlin, 400+ Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Peregrine and 1 Kingfisher. The Long-billed Dowitcher made a brief appearance on Holton Pools but wasn’t seen on Lytchett Fields where there was c400 Dunlin, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Ruff, 2 Curlew Sandpiper and c100 Black-tailed Godwit

Interestingly there was a possible 161 species to be seen in September within the Poole Harbour recording area and with October already starting off with a bang, will we see a great October total too?

Pintail – Middlebere 

With October now upon us, it won’t be long before flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare can be heard overhead on cold autumn nights. Today, Yellow-browed Warblers are being encountered regularly along the east coast – although increasingly expected now, they are still a delight to see and hear. Within the harbour, the Long-billed Dowitcher remained present on Lytchett Fields, seen preening on French’s Pool island before moving to left hand end of Sherford Pool island. The Wood Sandpiper continued to show well as well, accompanied by a Curlew Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Greenshank and 2 Green Sandpiper. Nearby, a Marsh Harrier quartered over Holton pools this afternoon. The Holes Bay Black-tailed Godwit roost hit 369, graced by a hunting Kingfisher. While 2 Firecrest were spotted at Llewelyn Woods, on the Western edge of Upton Country Park. Our free Poole Town walks got off to a lovely start with excellent views of Wheatear and 8 Ringed Plover at Baiter, Turnstones along the Quay and flyover highlights awarded to Grey Wagtail and Rock Pipit.

Wood Sandpiper – Lytchett Fields – Martin Adams

Middlebere excellence continued this morning with 2 Barn Owl, c250 Cormorant, 1 Spoonbill, 1 Great White Egret, c400 Avocet, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Grey Plover, 1 Common Snipe and Common Whitethroat, with a supporting cast of Chiffchaffs, Meadow Pipits, Stonechats.

Kingfishers continue to return to numerous urban sites in the harbour, having left the rivers as we progress into winter. Records coming in today from Poole Park and Holes Bay. Holes Bay also held 1290 Black-tailed Godwit , 50 Knot, 20 Dunlin, 5 Pintail, 10 Shoveler, 2 Chiffchaff and a Grey Wagtail.

Today’s rising tide at Lytchett Bay saw 438 Teal, 4 Wigeon, 114 Redshank, 87 Black-tailed Godwit, 26 Oystercatchers, 15 Curlew, 9 Dunlin and 3 Greenshank and 2 adult Yellow-legged Gull.

Avocet (yesterday) – Middlebere – Peter Moore

A fantastic morning at Middlebere produced the first ringtail Hen Harrier of the autumn, Osprey, Great White Egret and Spoonbill! The Lytchett Fields Wood Sandpiper showed briefly at times and Dunlin numbers continue to increase, reaching 308 in the bay with 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Great White Egret and 2 juv Peregrine were causing havoc. A Barnacle Goose also made an unusual appearance on the fields, and a large flight of 300+ Continental Cormorant passed over.  An additional three Lesser Redpoll were ringing at a Lytchett Bay ringing session. A morning visit to the Old Pier at Hamworthy saw 14 Sandwich Tern, 13 Turnstone and a Grey Wagtail. In Poole Town, a Peregrine was recorded on the Holes Bay ASDA block. It was also the Poole Harbour Sept WeBS today which produced the first 6 Brent Geese of the winter along the southern shores of the harbour along with the first Merlin at Greenlands Farm. In Brands Bay there was a Great White Egret and 40+ Great Crested Grebe. There was no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper at Swineham but there were 2 Cattle Egret, 3 Yellow-legged Gulls  and the Barnacle Goose from Lytchett also made an appearance.

Our free Holes Bay guided walks are back! Situated at the most northern part of Poole Harbour, the large shallow tidal bay is a busy winter birding site, hosting several hundred (often thousands) of Teal and Wigeon, as well as smaller wader flocks of Avocet, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Oystercatcher. Join our team as we explore these rich shorelines and gain an insight into our more unfamiliar winter visitors. Booking essential. Full list of dates and booking information here:

https://www.birdsofpooleharbourbookings.co.uk/event/holes-bay-guided-walk

Woodlark – Thermal Image ringing session at a private site in the west of the harbour

An excellent ringing session at Lytchett Bay this morning racked up 11 Lesser Redpoll, a scarce finch for the site. The session also recorded  8 Cetti’s Warbler, Firecrest, Dartford Warbler and a late Sedge Warbler. The nearby Fields attracted 225 Dunlin, and a Wood Sandpiper showed well in the morning. The additions of Common and Green Sandpiper made for a good trio for late September in the Bay. The juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper was still on Stilt Pools at Swineham this morning, as was the Bestwell Cattle Egret still associating with the cattle. This morning’s high tide roost at Holes Bay topped 663 Black-tailed Godwit, along with highlights of 13 Knot, 6 Shoveler, 2 Pintail and 2 Kingfisher, making appearances at both PC World and Creekmoor drains.

https://www.birdsofpooleharbourbookings.co.uk/event/poole-town-birding-walks

Lesser Redpoll – Lytchett Bay – Shaun Robson

It was 4 degrees this morning when we left for work! Then a cold wind set in and then some leaves fell off a tree….well, 2 leaves to be precise, but still, autumn seemed to progress once more. Hirundines were pushing through the harbour for most of the day, initially in bigger numbers but then smaller totals by late afternoon. It seemed to mostly be Swallow with lesser numbers of House Martin and Sand Martin. At Swineham 1 Pectoral Sandpiper was still on the scrape along with 23 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Lapwing and 1 Dunlin with 1 Cattle Egret near the Swineham access road. In Holes Bay NW there were 16 Knot, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 539 Black-tailed Godwit, 96 Redshank, 10 Curlew, 250+ Wigeon, 7 Shoveler, 2 Pintail, 2 Kingfisher and 16 Little Egret. At Lytchett Fields the Wood Sandpiper was seen again and at Holton Lee there were 12 Stonechat.

BREAKING NEWS: As a charity, we’ve also decided to host our popular Big Poole Harbour Bird Count FOUR TIMES A YEAR, building on last years community led data gathering format which saw around 100 data submissions in early January 2020. With autumn rumbling on we thought it would be great to kick start the autumn Big Poole Harbour Bird Count on October 25^th 2020. Keep an eye out on our website and social media channels for more information, but in the mean time……BOOK THE DAY IN YOUR DIARY AS ‘BIRDING DAY’

Cattle Egret – Swineham – Trevor Warwick