It was such a stunning morning with sunrise seeing a hat-trick of divers entering the harbour with 2 Great Northern, 1 Black-throated and 1 Red-throated Diver all entering trough the harbour mouth, plus another single Great Northern Diver was in Shell Bay. A Goshawk was seen from the cordite way viewpoint this afternoon and 3 White-tailed Eagle were seen between the Wareham Channel and Middlebere. Holes Bay is hosting it’s usual good haul of early totals with 44 Knot today, plus 1 Spoonbill, 100+ Pintail, 1000+ Wigeon and c500 Dunlin.

Avocet – Middlebere 

That was more like it! Yesterdays grot had cleared by dawn, and although still a bit of a breeze, birding efforts were rewarded today with 2 Great Northern Diver and 2 Red-throated Diver in through the harbour entrance at dawn, with a total of 4 Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point by mid-morning. There was a single lone male Goldeneye in Brands Bay female White-tailed Eagle G466 was also tucked up in the corner of Brands Bay. At Swineham a Glossy Ibis was flying around the point, there were 4-5 different Marsh Harrier in that area and a Ruff was on RSPB Arne Moors and 2 Bearded Tit were in the mouth of the Frome. On Gold Point, 14 Spoonbill were roosting, 2 Red Kite were over Keysworth and there were c80 Red-breasted Merganser spread across the harbour. A juv White-tailed Eagle flew over Coombe Heath this morning and both adult Peregrines were sat on the Adsa building. A lone pale-bellied Brent Goose was with c300 dark-bellied Brent Geese at Shipstal Beach.

Great Northern Diver – South Deep – from this AM’s Winter Safari – Alison Copland

Marsh Harrier – Swineham – from this AM’s Winter Safari – Alison Copland

Glossy Ibis – Swineham Point – from this AM’s Winter Safari – Alison Copland

Another blisteringly cold day, but not too cold for our School Bird Boat that ventured out this morning up the Wareham Channel. Once again there were plenty of Marsh Harrier buzzing around Swineham Point, plus a Peregrine bombed through. A Black Redstart was on houses along Austin Avenue, Lilliput this morning and the Northern Wheatear was still on private land at Wallisdown Waterworks. Both adult Peregrines were on the Asda building this morning, with a Water Rail head found below the feeding ledge this afternoon having been blown off the cache area. Water Rail are common night migrants during October and November, many arriving with the Woodcock from eastern Europe. With the lights of Poole making hunting easier for the Peregrines, catching passing night migrating species such as Water Rail, Woodcock, Redwing, Fieldfare and Golden Plover isn’t uncommon for them. A strong wind ofen blows the Peregrines remains off the feeding ledge, giving a great insight into what our urban Peregrines are feeding on.

Water Rail head outside Asda flats, remains of a Peregrine kill – Tanya Hart

Although we avoided the snow today, it was still pretty dang cold! Our 3-hour Winter Safari this morning certainly lived up to it’s name and the northerly wind whipped across central harbour. The icy blast kept birds low, but interestingly many Marsh Harrier were lingering around the Lower Frome, suggesting they didn’t really fancy tracking off in their normal northerly direction to go and hunt for the day, with 7-8 opting to hang around Swineham for most of the morning, plus we saw one arrive in over Sandbanks mid-morning. Out on RSPB Arne Moors there were 2 Pink-footed Geese in the NW corner, with all the Greylags and Canada Geese. Out in central harbour there was a definite increase in Red-breasted Merganser and there was a single Common Scoter. The Brownsea Lagoon held 8 Spoonbill and 500+ Avocet, along with 5 Greenshank and c100 Bar-tailed Godwit. There were also 12 Spoonbill on Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne and 1 Spotted Redshank at RSPB Lytchett Fields. There have been 2-4 Red Kite hanging around over the Swineham area these last few weeks, with 2 over Swineham GP today and both adult Peregrines were on the Asda building this morning and 10 Glossy Ibis were just south of the causeway just outside Wareham this afternoon. Finally, yesterdays finder of the Wheatear on private land at Wallisdown went back today to double check and get photos, and managed to confirm it to be a Northern Wheatear.….a great late November record, and always worth double checking!

Northern Wheatear – Wallisdown – Daniel Nash

A stunning day in the harbour! The BoPH team went out for a lunchtime twitch, with 1 Snow Bunting reported at Baiter Park. We were treated to fantastic views, feeding out on the grass and between the rocks between Harbourside 1 Car Park and the Sluice. This hardy bird, likely a first-Winter, will be from Scotland or the High Arctic! Other sightings today included a 1 female Brambling at RSPB Arne. The Woodpigeon migration continues with 21,000 over Carey and 3500 over Poole this morning, viewed from Hatch Pond. There was good visible migration at Ballard Down this morning, with 1 Corn Bunting, 1 Golden Plover, 74 Brambling, 554 Chaffinch, a few Redpoll, 1 Crossbill, and over 500 Stock Dove. 1 Yellow-browed Warbler was in the orchard at Middlebere Cottage this afternoon but not re-found later. 2 Glossy Ibis were in Lytchett Bay and the other 10 still at Swineham. Also at Lytchett Fields RSPB were 6 Spoonbill, 2 Goosander, 22 Fieldfare and 86 Dark-bellied Brent Geese. In Brands Bay there were 4 Black-necked Grebe.

Snow Bunting – Baiter Park – Brittany Maxted