A rather stop/start day, but eventually the dank, murk won and once again it was rather grey over the harbour. In Holes Bay NE the adult Little Gull was feeding in the mouth of the PCW channel and the redhead Goosander was out in the middle of the NE sector. Around the harbour there were 6 Great Northern Diver, and at Swineham 3-4 Marsh Harrier were active despite the rain and another Little Gull was just west of the Wareham bypass, just past Purbeck School.

Adult Little Gull – Holes Bay NE – Mick Brooks

Although still wet, the mild weather has really got a lot of birds going, with Rock Pipits in full song and display flights up at Old Harry and Ballard this morning, and once again Woodlarks singing beautifully at a few heathland sites. There were 2 adult Little Gull on the floods just west of Stoborough this afternoon and 12 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne. On Baiter 2 pale-bellied Brent Geese were feeding with the dark-bellied Brent Goose flock and sadly what looks to be a dead Black-throated Diver was found long dead on Baiter Beach. The redhead Goosander was in Holes Bay NE again and an adult Little Gull was in Holes Bay south.

Deceased Black-throated Diver – Baiter Beach – Brittany Maxted

2 pale-bellied Brent Geese – Baiter Park – Brittany Maxted

The rain forecast didn’t materialise this morning, allowing plenty of birders out today. Off Jerry’s Point there were 3 Slavonian Grebe, 5 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Red-necked Grebe showing well. Off South Beach, Studland there was another Slavonian Grebe, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Common Scoter and 1 Great Northern Diver. There were 12 Great Northern Diver spread about inside the harbour from our Winter Safari Cruise this morning, with most being in South Deep, Central Harbour and the North Channel. In Shell Bay there was an impressive group of 350+ Dunlin and 40 Sanderling, although these were later scared by dog walkers. 6 Spoonbill were feeding in the Wareham Channel this morning and at least 12 were later roosting at Shipstal. 1 Ruff was amongst a flock of Lapwing flying around the lower Piddle Valley. In Holes Bay the 1 adult Little Gull and red-head Goosander were still present. The 10 Glossy Ibis were still at Swineham today, behind the rugby Club

Female Crossbill inspecting one of our Osprey Platform Cameras

Despite being a weekend, there didn’t seem to be much birding going on, with very limited reports coming through, although all the old guard are still about with the 10 Glossy Ibis still at Swineham, the 3 Purple Sandpiper were at the Haven Hotel groyne, 2 White-tailed Eagle flew over Brownsea and flushed c3100 Black-tailed Godwit. At Shipstal, Arne 17 Spoonbill were roosting, c15 Cattle Egret were around Worgret and a Spotted Redshank was at Lytchett Fields. These still mornings are allowing for early bird song to be heard with Woodlark almost in full voice at multiple sites.

Black-tailed Godwit flock flushed by White-tailed Eagles – Brownsea Lagoon – Derek Morgan

White-tailed Eagles passing over Brownsea Lagoon – Derek Morgan

Great Northern Diver – Brownsea channel – Derek Morgan

Finally some blue sky, but the chilly easterly wind persisted. A huge high tide and super flooded river valleys means there’s currently large amounts of water dispersed around the area, and today a large number of waders were on the Brownsea Lagoon including 1000+ Black-tailed Godwit and 500+ Dunlin, plus 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit and c200 Avocet. Also a magical Merlin chase ensued over the lagoon this morning in perfect morning sunlight. There were 5 Great Northern Diver along the north channel, and off Jerry’s Point this morning a Red-necked Grebe was reported, plus there were 3 Slavonian Grebe, 6 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Great Northern Diver, and out in Studland Bay 2 Common Scoter, 1 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver. In The Wareham Channel and at Swineham a Ruff was with the Lapwing flock and there were another 2 Merlin hunting in that area, along with 1 Red Kite and 4 Marsh Harrier. The 2 Brambling were still along Thrashers Lane, Studland, a Siberian Chiffchaff was on Wareham Common and another was in the PCW Drain, 20 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point, 1 Spotted Redshank was at Lytchett Fields and 2 White-tailed Eagle were in Brands Bay this afternoon.

Siberian Chiffchaff – Wareham Common – Trevor Warwick 

It’s suddenly got colder as a strong easterly wind picked up during the course of the day, and with it delivered another new bird for the calendar year in the shape of a Short-eared Owl. However it may have actually been 4 Short-eared Owls, with a group of four ‘owls’ seen chasing each other across the Arne Road this evening, one of which definitely was a ‘Shortie’, so it stands to reason all four could have been. The Cirl Bunting flock was still at Old Harry, with 9 counted today, the 10 Glossy Ibis were on Wareham Common, as was a female Merlin and 53 Cattle Egret. At Sandbanks 3 Purple Sandpiper were on the angled groyne by North Haven with 35 Sanderling. At Lytchett Fields a Little Gull was still milling about, a Slavonian Grebe and 4 Great Northern Diver were off Jerry’s Point with another Slavonian Grebe in Studland Bay. The Siberian Chiffchaff was still at the PCW drain, 3 (Lesser) Redpoll were at Hatch Pond and Holes Bay held an amazing 4600+ Black-tailed Godwit.

Also we’d like to thank the RSPB Arne team for allowing us to install a new camera on a favoured perching branch we know many migrant Ospreys like to use, which will allow us to read ring numbers of local and passage birds during the Spring, Summer and Autumn of 2026. Today this Raven came and tested the camera out for us.

Raven on ‘Osprey perch’ 

Glossy Ibis flock – Wareham Common – Trevor Warwick

Our Winter Safari Cruises are a real pleasure to run, and this morning’s outing was no different. Mirror calm conditions across the harbour enjoyed a Great Northern Diver-fest, clocking 5 in the North Channel, 3 across South Deep, 2 at Whitley Lake and a further 2 off Hamworthy. The trip also featured 7 Black-necked and a single Slavonian Grebe around the back of the islands before two adult White-tailed Eagle stole the show, gracing the Wareham Channel before taking flight and settling on Shag Looe Head. Other trip highlights included appearances from the two over-wintering Sandwich Tern, roosting Spoonbill at Shipstal, a colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gull from Portland and a satellite-tagged Dark-bellied Brent Goose (presumably local celebrity “SY”).

Elsewhere around the harbour, the Old Harry Cirl Bunting flock is now confirmed to hold 10 individuals, remaining faithful to the scrub and set-aside crop field just west of the iconic chalk stack. A vigil from Jerry’s Point offered Red-necked Grebe still, while scoping out across Poole Bay boasted 14 Red-throated Diver south, plus a light scattering of auks on the water. A commendable Black-tailed Godwit count in Holes Bay NW during the intermittent downpours logged 3,453 individuals(!) and neighbouring Lytchett Fields recorded a Merlin. A male Black Redstart was located in Ridge and an adult winter Kittiwake made a brief in-land appearance on Wareham Common.

Good to log sat-tagged Dark-bellied Brent Goose “SY” again on today’s safari © Alison Copland

Cirl Bunting (male) – Stubble field near Old Harry Rocks © Martin Wood