We’re loving these cold, still days. It’s making watching the harbour an absolute treat. Highlights today included 3 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Firecrest and 8 Chiffchaff at the PCW Drain. Holes Bay NE looked INCREDIBLE and was full of birds with 700+ Wigeon, 400+ Teal, 4 Pintail, 2 Tufted Duck, 3 Coot (odd in Holes Bay), 300+ Dunlin, 132 Avocet, plenty of Redshank, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher, 2 Rock Pipit and a party of c40 Redwing over. At Lytchett Bay 181 Avocet were logged along with 40+ Dunlin and 1 Greenshank. Off Middle Beach 6 Black-necked grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver were feeding and the Long-tailed Duck was off Jerry’s Point again.

Common Chiffchaff – PCW Drain – Ian Ballam

A loose flock of 26 Red-breasted Merganser (of which 13 male and 13 female) could be seen out over Whitley Lake, Sandbanks today. The groynes along Sandbanks beach saw up to 17 Sanderling. A Great Northern Diver was visible between Salterns & Parkstone Yacht Club during the afternoon. Another Great Northern Diver was observed from Jerry’s Point, as well as 4 Black-necked Grebe and 20+ Red-breasted Merganser.

Coombe viewpoint, Arne offered views of several birds of prey throughout the morning. A Merlin was hassling the Dunlin flock out on Middlebere channel while 2 Marsh Harrier were quartering. A Peregrine proceeded to make an appearance too shortly afterwards. Middlebere also held flocks of Lapwing, Avocet and Teal, as well as smaller numbers of Brent Goose, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank and Wigeon. A Sparrowhawk flushed the waders and wildfowl frequenting Holes Bay and the Little Grebe was still on Sunnyside scrape despite a drop in water levels.

Sightings have been thin on the ground today. However, good report from Lytchett Fields featuring 1 Spotted Redshank, 3+ Water Pipit, 5 Avocet, 2 Curlew, 53 Dunlin, 3+ Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 25 Lapwing, 91 Redshank and 6 Snipe.

Holes Bay reports featured high numbers of Wigeon, c100 Avocet, 2 Tufted Duck, Pintail, Shoveler and Great Crested Grebe.

Good numbers of Common Redshank, c.150 Lapwing, Marsh Harrier and Peregrine over Middlebere this AM.

Not a huge number of sightings today, despite being relatively calm and dry. Along the Poole Harbour south-east shoreline, sightings included 1 Long-tailed Duck off Redhorn Point, 2 Great Northern Diver in South Deep, as well as 9 Black-necked Grebe, 5 Goldeneye and 12 Red-breasted Merganser off Jerry’s Point.

Studland Bay provided good sightings from Middle Beach, including 8 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver, 5 Great-crested Grebe and 12 Brent Geese. A group of 17 Sanderling and 2 Ringed Plover were recorded on one of the groynes at Sandbanks.

Reports at Holes Bay were similar to yesterday, with of 3 Snipe seen flying over. A single Firecrest was reported at the south end of Grove Lake at Upton Country Park, as well as 59 Curlew and 2 Black-tailed Godwit. Another highlight from today, although outside of the BoPH recording area, is a Great Grey Shrike reported from Sugar Hill in Wareham Forest.

Our weekly Poole Town Birding Walk didn’t miss the bad weather, but it did produce some great birding. After enjoying the Turnstones along the Quay, a Great Northern Diver could be seen from Baiter car park. Feeding amongst the Oystercatcher flock on Baiter were 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Black-tailed Godwit and numerous Redshank. A single Greenshank was also feeding at the northern end, near the Skate Park. Parkstone Bay held several Great Crested Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser and Brent Goose. Poole Park was also productive, offering views of both female and drake Goldeneye, 2 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Sandwich Tern. A flock of c45 Brent Goose briefly dropped down onto Baiter Park to conclude the enjoyable walk.

The high tide Holes Bay roost featured 141 Avocet, 310 Black-tailed Godwit, 41 Curlew, 150 Redshank, 9 Shelduck, 15 Pintail, 60 Mute Swan, 15 Shoveler, 35 Teal, 460 Wigeon, 6 Little Egret, 6 Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Grey Wagtail, 2 Canada Geese, Lapwing, Raven, 2 Common Gull, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Oystercatcher, Peregrine, 2 Cormorant, c1000 Wigeon and 250 Dunlin.

Lytchett Fields produced 2 Water Pipit from French Pool’s Viewpoint, as well as 16 Curlew in Arable Field, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper and a Dunlin in Approach Field. Wareham town centre drew in c150 Black-tailed Godwit in the flooded fields near Saxon Roundabout. Elsewhere, Hartland Moor recorded a Merlin this evening.

Huge high waters were experienced across the harbour today, encroaching onto footpaths and roads near the shore. Over at Baiter, a flock of 54 Brent Geese were feeding out on the Park along with 1 Greenshank, 4 Redshank and 8 Turnstone. Our next Poole Town Winter Walk takes place on Wednesday (10am – 1pm) and will incorporate Poole Quay, Baiter and Poole Park, offering a chance to experience many of these abundant winter visitors. More details can be found here.

A Marsh Harrier was recorded over Holton reeds. Lytchett Fields picked up Little Grebe on French’s Pool, a minimum of 200 Teal and 2 Green Sandpiper on Approach Field. Pool’s Field held 63 Redshank, 2 Black-tailed Godwit and a Spotted Redshank.

Frome flood fields held a single Cattle Egret. It’s great to see at least one bird over-wintering as this species was once rare in Britain and Dorset until 2006, but by 2009 it had been removed from the BBRC list. In autumn 2018, numerous records were obtained from several sites around the harbour with a max count of 7 birds in the Frome Valley and by December 2018 a flock of 20 were frequent in the Frome valley. The flooded fields also supported c100 Black-tailed Godwit, 20 Lapwing and plenty of Black-headed Gulls.

A very wet but packed Middlebere channel featured c2000 wildfowl, c350 Avocet, 5 Spotted Redshank, 30 Curlew, 150 Lapwing and a splattering of Black-tailed Godwit. Within the space of 20 minutes, both Peregrine and juvenile Marsh Harrier made a welcome appearance to the channel.

A grand total of 7 wader species could be found along Baiter Park this morning with 12 Turnstone, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 100+ Oystercatcher, 2 Dunlin, 4 Redshank and 2 Greenshank. The Great Northern Divercontinued to show off Baiter slipway today. A drake Goldeneye was also present on Poole Park throughout the day.

Greenshank – Baiter Park – Paul Morton