With the cloud cover arriving last night, and the wind swinging round northerly it’s back to feeling rather wintery again, but hopefully not for too long. It was much of the same again today, with all the recent regulars putting in an appearance somewhere. The Forster’s Tern was once again showing brilliantly on the main Poole Park boating lake, often moving to settle on buoys further out, but would return to the short posts near the enclosed reedy area on the eastern edge, plus the male Mandarin Duck was also on the main boating lake and a female flew over Holmebridge. The 2 Common Crane were seen again, coming in from high over Wareham Common about 11:30am, before heading down towards Swinehem, but they wren’t seen settling anywhere. The Water Pipit was once again seen from our Winter Safari this AM in the mouth of the River Frome and there were 4 Marsh Harrier around the Swineham/Keysworth area. The White-tailed Eagle pair were sat on the shoreline near Ower Bay, 3 Great Northern Diver were counted with 1 off Poole Quay, one off Hamworthy Beach and another near the harbour entrance, and 5 Black-necked Grebe were in Brands Bay. The Brownsea Lagoon is starting to transition from a winter site to a spring site with some new arrivals including a summer plumaged Ringed Plover, plus 89 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Spoonbill, although these have been around since the autumn. The lagoon also held 394 Black-tailed Godwit, 158 Oystercatcher, 74 Avocet, 124 Redshank, 51 Bar-tailed Godwit, 16 Curlew, 12 Greenshank and 11 Grey Plover. A Red Kite drifted down the Piddle Valley, the 10 Glossy Ibis were still out on Wareham Common, beneath North Walls, 31 Cattle Egret were on the northern area of Wareham Common and a Great White Egret was on Bestwall meadows. Finally the adult Little Gull was once again off Rock Lea View in Lytchett Bay and a Spotted Redshank was out in the bay.

Forster’s Tern – Poole Park boating lake

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Another day, another series of harbour highlights including another new bird for the harbour this winter/early spring in the shape of a Water Pipit at Swineham, photographed from our Winter Safari Cruise this AM. Typically a few over-winter around Lytchett Bay/Swineham, but despite much searching, none have been logged yet this year until today, and this could be a spring passage migrant thats just passing through on it’s way south.

There was also great excitement at Carey Secret Garden mid-morning when we were initially alerted by Herring Gull alarm calls and saw male White-tailed Eagle G463 passing over, when all of a sudden we then heard Common Cranes calling before all three then started circling together. This is such a perfect example of species recovery in action and a huge well done and congratulations to everyone involved in making these projects reality. This is an encounter that probably hasn’t been seen in the UK for several centuries, but now it’s happening….its real. Species recovery has the ability to positively impact eco-systems, economies and both physical and mental health. Let’s all work smarter to make these types of experiences a possibility for EVERYONE, no matter where you are in the country.

Other exciting encounters today included the Forster’s Tern giving point blank views in Poole Park after lunch, but it was quite unsettled having first been seen in the harbour entrance this morning, then commuting back and fourth between Baiter and Poole Park on and off. Whilst in Poole Park it offered exceptional photography opportunities as highlighted by Mark Wrights (quite frankly) ridiculously great photos below.

Spring arrivals continue with Chiffchaff now singing at multiple sites and at Swineham tonight, despite no Bittern leaving, there were 24 Sand Martin bombing about. The 10 Glossy Ibis were still on Wareham Common, there were 20 Cattle Egret at Holmebridge and 17 on Wareham Common. Off Middle Beach there were 3 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver and 5 Common Scoter. 

Common Crane and White-tailed Eagle soaring over Carey Secret Garden, Lower Piddle Valley this morning.

Water Pipit – Swineham/River Frome from this AM’s Winter Safari – Joe Parker 

Forster’s Tern – Poole Park – Mark Wright

Forster’s Tern – Poole Park – Mark Wright

It seems with each new day, a new species appears, which isn’t un-typical during spring migration, but when the recent arrivals include Forster’s Tern, Great Bustard and todays ‘new arrivals’….2 Common Crane, it makes for quite exciting birding. The high pressure and clear sky’s are obviously getting birds moving, and we’re sure there will be more new arrivals over the coming days, but whats unknown is what level of scarcity will they be? The first Wheatear? The first Little Ringed Plover? Or Poole Harbours first Great Spotted Cuckoo??

Yes, today 2 Common Crane arrived in down the Piddle Valley and settled at Keysworth for a short while late morning before then heading to Arne Moors briefly, before then heading back up the Frome Valley, over Wareham. For a brief moment they were circling over the 10 Glossy Ibis and 50+ Cattle Egret around Wareham Common…..now thats not a sentence we would have predicted 10 years ago! No Bittern were logged this evening due to the fog, but there were 2 Sand Martin at Swineham today and 6 at Holmebridge, where there were also 1 Great White Egret. The Forster’s Tern seems to be preferring the urban side of Poole this spring with sightings again around Parkstone Bay, and it was even seen sat out on sticks in the middle of Poole Park boating Lake, plus it visited the Brownsea Lagoon briefly. There were 3 different White-tailed Eagles around the harbour including the adult pair and a new 2023 arrival in the Wareham Channel ‘G641’. One of teh most vocal birds singing already is Firecrest, as the Dorset/South coast colonisation continues, with males singing from pretty much every mixed deciduous/coniferous woodland around the harbour!

Singing Firecrest – Annabel Sharpe 

New birds are coming thick and fast this year. With the Forster’s Tern a few days ag0 and the first trickle of summer migrants over the last week, the last thing we were expecting was a message to say there was a Great Bustard up on Ballard Down! Interestingly, the bird was associating with 2 Roe Deer for the whole day, and permanently grazed with them, perhaps thinking it too was a deer of sorts. After watching for a short while, it became obvious that it had an orange ‘flag’ on the lower left leg, which suggested it’s from the Salisbury Plain population/project and incredibly, we’ve already heard back from the Great Bustard Project Team providing info on this bird.  Below is the info from Siobhan Lewis:

This is only the 3rd Poole Harbour record, despite the Salisbury Plain/Wiltshire population now growing quite considerably to about 100 individuals. It will be interesting to see how long he stays until he heads off back north to the Salisbury Plain in time for the summer. The Forster’s Tern was reported briefly again off Baiter mid-afternoon, just after 3pm and the 10 Glossy Ibis were once again out on Wareham Common, viewable from North Walls. There were 4 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Great Northern Diver off Middle Beach, Studland, 3 Spoonbill were on Shipstal, RSPB Arne and 2 White-tailed Eagle were in the Wareham Channel this afternoon. Finally, a dusk watch at Swineham GP resulted in a ridiculous count of 9 Eurasian Bittern that lifted and circled above the gravel pit, with only one calling, before all then settled back down into the reed beds again. Will/did they leave after dark or will they all (or more) go tomorrow??

Great Bustard – Ballard Down 

It seems things are getting better and brighter by the day, with the next few days looking to be even better. March has started with a bang, and today saw the first 2 Dorset Northern Wheatears of the year with individuals at Kimmeridge and Lodmoor, meaning the first Poole Harbour record isn’t too far away. The good news today was that the Forster’s Tern re-appeared, in pretty much the same spot it was re-found on Saturday. It was sat on a mooring buoy in Parkstone Bay this afternoon about 15:30, before heading off to hunt along the Baiter, Whitecliff and Lilliput shorelines before then heading off towards Brownsea about 16:30. There was also an incredible chorus of Mediterranean Gulls, most of which were in full summer plumage, with 163 in Parkstone Bay alone and around 250-300 spread across the northern shores. As (is currently) usual the Glossy Ibis flock were on Wareham Common pretty much all day and the 53 Cattle Egret were moving around the NW fringes of Wareham (Worgret and Wareham Common). Out in Brands Bay/Jerry’s Point there were still 3 Great Northern Diver, 10 Black-necked Grebe, a Spotted Redshank was out in Lytchett Bay and a male Merlin was out near RSPB Arne Moors.

The Wareham Cattle Egret flock – Worgret/Wareham Common – Annabel Sharpe

Forster’s Tern – Baiter (on Saturday) – Joe Parker

What another great early Spring day, made all the better by the fact that the now annual Forster’s Tern appeared this evening off Baiter Park. This individual was first found in the harbour in March 2023, and has since used the area as a staging site both in the spring and the autumn as it moves from it’s over wintering site in Brittany, Northern France, to a range of sites in Northern England during the summer. There’s a good chance it will hang around for a few days (possibly weeks), and should be easy to ID as there are currently no similar looking Common Terns present for several weeks, and the only Sandwich Terns present already have their full summer plumages in tact and yellow tips to the bills.

It was a stunning afternoon for our Low Tide Cruise, albeit with a rather cold breeze! We had 9 Black-necked Grebe, a good number for this time of year, off Jerry’s Point including birds in summer-plumage. A quick stop off to look into the Brownsea Lagoon at the start of the trip allowed us to see 2 Spoonbill and c150 Black-tailed Godwit with c40 Bar-tailed Godwit. Both adult White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 of the Dorset pair were sat on Shag Looe for the entire trip. 2 Marsh Harrier were displaying in the Wareham Channel. Other highlights included 4 Great Northern Diver and c300 Dark-bellied Brent Geese on the mud around Ower Bay.

The Glossy Ibis flock of 10 were once again feeding out on Wareham Common again during most of the day, there were 8 Sand Martin at Holmebridge, 2 Red Kite and 2 White-tailed Eagle were in the Wareham Channel this afternoon and up to 3 Goshawk were seen around Middlebere/Arne. The adult Little Gull was in Lytchett Bay again, 50+ Cattle Egret were at Worgret near Purbeck Sports Centre and Marsh Harrier were displaying over the harbour once again.

BOC (Back of Camera) shot of the forster’s Tern off Baiter this evening – Joe Parker

What a crazy end to February with a whole suit of early Spring migrants having already arrived in to various parts of the UK. Today there were 4 Northern Wheatear, multiple Sand Martin, handfuls of House Martin and a small sample of Swallow logged across the country today, all with a day left of February to go! Despite the early grot, this afternoon produced a decent return from our Winter Safari Cruise including 3 Goshawk, with a 1st winter having a fight with a Raven over Brownsea before chasing each other off to Rempstone, plus 2 active of RSPB Arne. The adult White-tailed Eagle pair were settled on Goathorn as the tide dropped, waiting for their opportunity to go and hunt. A Great Northern Diver was off Hamworthy Beach, 3 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham, including a displaying male. RSPB Arne Moors held c50 Shoveler and c20 Curlew and the mouth of the Frome (Wareham Channel) saw c20 Grey Plover, c30 Avocet, c400 Dunlin and c50 Common Redshank. The Glossy Ibis flock were feeding on Wareham Common again, just south of the bypass, and a drake Mandarin was at Holmebridge briefly.

Adult White-tailed Eagle pair G466 (left) and G463 (right) on Goathorn from this afternoons Winter Safari Cruise – Alastair Swinnerton 

Firstly, we aplogise for the late sightings as we were all out at our Sunnyside ringing demo during the evening and didn’t get home until late but wow, wow wow….this is the day we have all been waiting for! With the start of the year almost exclusively being grey and rainy, apart from a couple slightly brighter days, Spring landed with a bang toady for multiple reasons. Considering it’s still only Feb 25th, there was a flush of butterflies on the wing including many Brimstones bouncing along woodland edges, Red Admirals enjoying early flowering gardens and migrant Peacock Butterflies moving along coastal sites. Not only that, but the first sub-Saharan migrants also arrived with 3 Sand Martin feeding over Swineham GP this evening whilst multiple Chiffchaff got their spring songs underway. The warmth also saw the harbour Marsh Harrier pair start displaying, Woodlark were in full song near Hartland and in the Lower Piddle Valley and mewing calls of displaying Common Buzzard were much in evidence across multiple skylines. The Swineham ‘egret roost’ was spectacular this evening with c60 Cattle Egret, c30 Little Egret, 2 Great White Egret and 10 Glossy Ibis all swirling around above the gravel pit in one big mega flock having been flushed by a Marsh Harrier…..a scene almost straight from southern France or Spain! During the day, the Glossy Ibis flock were once again feeding out on Wareham Common, just south of the bypass and a Goshawk was seen over Carey from there too. With the clear conditions, other birds of prey seemed to be moving around with a ringtail Hen Harrier soaring high over Rempstone at midday a Red Kite was over Swineham and the White-tailed Eagle pair were soaring over Brownsea and seen heading over Sandbanks towards Bournemouth. On the Studland side, 2 Common Scoter were still out off Middle Beach along with 2 Great Northern Diver and and 4 Black-necked Grebe. Winter still clings on and around the Sunnyside/Hartland area 5+ Jack Snipe were seen along with 10+ Woodcock. 

Jack Snipe – Sunnyside ringing demo – Sunnyside Farm