Good conditions today and a nice little flurry of spring migrants came through the harbour. There were Wheatear at Hartland Stud (3), 2 at Baiter Park, 1 at Arne, 1 at Sunnyside Farm and 4 on Hartland. At Swineham GP a big count of 120+ Sand Martin were feeding over the pit at dusk. Chiffchaff really arrived today with birds singing everywhere it seemed today. In Poole Park 4 Ringed Plover were feeding with c300 Black-tailed Godwit and 62 Med Gull were settled on the mud. Off Coombe Heath 2 Spoonbill were feeding in Middlebere. The male Black Redstart was still along the quay, behind the Thistle Hotel around midday. At Bestwall the White-fronted Goose was still hanging on with a small group of Greylag Geese.

Yesterdays Osprey was seen again briefly at dawn at Middlebere but sadly disappeared as quickly as it was found! At Stoborough a Great White Egret was seen flying over the Causeway, heading east towards the Wareham Channel. On the Brownsea Lagoon 13 Sandwich Tern were settled on the Boomerang, but so far only Med Gull and Black-headed Gull have shown interest in the nesting islands, which is typical for this time of year. Sadly an adult male Golden Pheasant was found dead face down in the water just off Round Island. In Poole Park there were 304 Black-tailed Godwit and 45 Med Gulls. Our school bird boat only returned very small numbers of Red-breasted Merganser, Brent Geese and Great Crested Grebe.

Its really beginning to get exciting now as the harbours first confirmed Osprey of the spring arrived at Middlebere before then disappearing for the rest of the day. This is two days earlier than our first record last year, but will it stick around? We’ll be out first thing tomorrow morning to see if we can pin it down at all. Also at Middlebere 2 Swallow flew through and at Lytchett Fields there was a Spotted Redshank, Green Sandpiper and Greenshank. A school bird boat noted that a large number of winter birds had well and truly departed with only a small handful of Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe and Brent Geese still present across the harbour and on the Brownsea Lagoon signs of spring are obvious with Med Gulls now well out-numbering Avocet. The big female Peregrine was still at her vigil on the tall part of the Asda building in Holes Bay.

Another nice calm day allowing for listening and viewing with more migrants on the move. During the morning c50 Crossbill, were on the edge of Greenland’s Farm and at Swineham c40 Sand Martin were over the gravel pit at dusk. At Holton Lee 2 Wheatear were in the back-fields and the Little Owl was behind the brick cottage. With short bursts of sunshine numerous Buzzard were soaring and displaying and a pair of Sparrowhawk were really active over the Piddle Valley. At Shell Bay a small flock of Sanderling remain including a couple of ringed birds. At dawn a ringtail Hen Harrier circled up high over the Wareham Channel before departing NE and a Merlin was on Hartland Moor. In the Wareham Channel 7 Spoonbill fed on the big low tide and 8 Cattle Egret left the roost and headed west, probably towards Holme and Bog Lane.

Quiet toady despite the calm conditions. More signs of spring with 5 Sandwich Tern on the Brownsea Lagoon with 5 Greenshank, and at Lytchett Fields there were singles of Spotted Redshank and Greenshank and 2 Green Sandpiper.

This is more like it! Low winds, mild conditions and a spring scent in the air. There were 2 Sand Martin over Swineham GP, 2 Wheatear on Greenland’s Farm and another at Sunnyside Farm. Off Middle Beach 3 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Great Crested Grebe remained and Chiffchaff seemed to be more conspicuous around the harbour with several singing at numerous sites. A Woodlark was in full song over Soldiers Road and Dartford Warblerwere singing at Arne. At Holton Lee a single Firecrest was near the cottage and at Sunnyside Farm there was another Wheatear and 50+ Meadow Pipit arrived on the scrape to feed. Out over the Wareham Channel a female Marsh Harrier and Hen Harrier circled together. 

This should by all accounts be the last windy day for a while as a ridge of high pressure builds from the south. This should allow a few more early spring migrants through, but until then, we needed to stay ridged on our feet and well balanced today as we conducted the last Poole Harbour WeBS count of the 2018/19 season. Despite being mid/late March there were still good numbers of wildfowl and waders about. Off Middle Beach a single Great Northern Diver was settled with 2 summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Sandwich Tern, whilst off Pilots Point, Studland there were 29 Sanderling, 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin. In the mouth of Middlebere 7 Spoonbill were feeding and a Great White Egretdropped into the end of Middlebere. 8 Cattle Egret were along Holme Lane commuting between the cattle field and Bog Lane field. At Sunnyside Farm another male Wheatear was on the short grass leading down to the scrapes and in Poole Park 214 many partial summer-plumaged Black-tailed Godwit were feeding just off the footpath along with 42 Oystercatcher. There are now a minimum of 50 Med Gulls back on the gull islands with many thousands of Black-headed Gulls now present too.

Today saw another slight hint of spring with harbours second Swallow of the year dashing over the Wareham by pass, being blown east against its will. There was also a slight increase in Sand Martin with c12, possibly up to 15 over Swineham GP at midday. We were also sent a photo of a Common Chiffchaff that had made landfall in Langton Matravers which was not only sporting a nice BTO metal ring, but also a full face of pollen too, indicating that this was a freshly arrived migrant and not a hanger on from the winter. With so many Chiffchaff over-wintering in the area now it’s difficult to know whether the Chiffchaff we see and hear at this time of year are true, fresh arrivals from the south, but with faces full of pollen like the bird below, there’s really no question. In Middlebere there were 3 Spoonbill and in Poole Park, 281 Black-tailed Godwit were feeding, many of them almost in full summer finery. The female Hen Harrier was seen again at Middlebere and it seems there has been a small amount of exchange in the number of Marsh Harrier visiting the harbour in recent weeks with 2 young males since early March which seemed to have moved on, but three others (looking all female types) leaving the west harbour roost this AM. Many thanks Peter Hadrill for this info. Will this be another blank breeding season for Marsh Harrier in the harbour? We really hope not!!!

Common Chiffchaff – Langton Matravers – Pete Christie

Black-tailed Godwit – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

Very slow going today, with strong winds still battering the landscape. These constant weather systems are effectively acting as a barrier for any migrant birds to push up through from the south. It all looks set to change early next week though with winds easing off during Monday and settling right down through the week. Hopefully unblocking the hole! A night lamping/ringing session carried out by Stour Ringing Group saw 3 Jack Snipe, 1 Common Snipe and 1 Woodcock logged around the Sunnyside farm area. Despite the wind and rain showers, its seems some Common Chiffchaff are getting through with numerous individuals singings at non over-wintering sites. The Holton Lee Little Owl were seen to be scaring off a Stock Dove from around its nesting box which is a positive sign, although the last check of the camera trap (2 weeks ago) showed no footage of them using or inspecting it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed! 5 Sand Martin were again over Swineham GP and in Middlebere 3 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank and 3 Grey Plover were on the mud.

The exciting news didn’t come from the harbour today, but in fact from Rutland Water where the regular breeding female Osprey, Maya, returned safe and well to her nest. Although this bird is nothing to do with our project, it’s good to see that breeding birds are now arriving back, and with next week’s fine(er) weather due to set in we’re hoping for a few more transit Osprey to grace the harbours shores. We’ll be writing a full blog post in due course about what we’re up to this spring and what we’re hoping to see, but in the meantime, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some sightings of Osprey over the coming weeks. The strong wind is really keeping the birding enthusiasm low at the moment, but a few outings today saw 6 Sand Martin reported to us over Swineham GP, the Great White Egret was at Little Sea, Studland. A single summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe was in Studland Bay and 3 Cattle Egret were in fields along the Wareham/Stoborough causeway. The big female Peregrine was settled on the Asda building again, and then was later seen mayhem in Holes Bay NE later in the day. A Kingfisher was also still in the PC World drain channel and at Hatch Pond 2 Cetti’s Warber were heard singing.