Today we hosted one of our Wareham Channel winter bird boats. The forecast showed bright sunshine but potential strong winds. It started off brilliantly with a big low tide as we crept up the Wareham Channel and Wareham River where 16 Spoonbill fed in a muddy channel and the mudflats hosted good numbers of Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Redshank, Grey Plover, Shelduck Gadwall and Wigeon all fairly close to the boat, and as we headed up the River Frome 1-2 Marsh Harrier danced in the wind and Swineham GP saw c10 Tufted Duck, 4 Great Crested Grebe and c50 Canada Geese flew in from Arne Moors. As we headed out towards the harbour the wind had picked up making open water bodies difficult to bird, so we headed for the slightly more sheltered area of the Brownsea Lagoon where c100 Avocet, c200 Dunlin, c50 Grey Plover and c50 Bar-tailed Godwit were sheltering. By the late afternoon the wind had subsided and a sea watch from Branksome saw 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 17 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Guillemot and c10 Razorbill. The Black Redstart continued to show off for the many visitors the turned up to see it behind the Thistle Hotel and the Common Crane was again on Hartland but was seen out from the Middlebere hide during the day in sheep fields opposite the hide. The Mandarin was still posing in Poole Park, and once again, Holes Bay north was looking FAB despite the wind. As the temperatures drop, Holes Bay tends to retain a certain warmth to it due to it being surrounded by urbanisation and also the two outflow channels that run into it. This means many birds prefer feeding here rather than ‘preferred’ feeding sites, so today c200 Avocet, c400 Dunlin, lots of Wigeon and Teal etc were feeding right next to the footpath in the NE section. Well worth a visit this week on the low/rising tide if you have time.

With a cold windy front approaching in the afternoon a birding session along the Studland peninsular at dawn was held as part of our Birding Poole Harbour ID series. A good session saw 2 Sanderling in Bramble Bush Bay with 10+ Red-breasted Merganser. Off Shell Beach 4 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver were settled and at Middle Beach 1 Firecrest and a further 8 Black-necked Grebe were logged. The Black Redstart was in the same courtyard again behind the Thistle Hotel. A sea watch off Branksome in the afternoon saw 1 Black-throated Diver, 2 Red-throated Diver, 6 Razorbill, 1 Kittiwake and 5 Gannet. The Common Crane was yet gain on Hartland Moor, but this time was settled in the middle of Hartland for part of the day. A leucisitic Herring Gull showed up in the Brownsea gull roost, initially giving the impression of an Iceland Gull, but further scrutiny proved otherwise. Around Baiter there were Turnstone on the beaches and a Sandwich Tern flew by and in Parkstone Bay 3 Goldeneye were present.

Black Redstart – Poole Quay – Mark Wright

The adult male Black Redstart was showing better today and is now attracting quite a lot of attention. A school bird boat out around the harbour saw 21 Spoonbill on Shipstal and 2 Great Northern Diver (1 South Deep and 1 off Baiter). At Norden sewage works 10+ Chiffchaff  were on the filter beds and a couple were singing again.  The Common Crane (as recent patterns of behaviour predicted) was seen at sawn flying over Hartland and then again at dusk where a nice crowd of people gathered at dusk to watch it fly over towards Middlebere. A ringtail Hen Harrier was at Slepe Heath with 1 merlin near there too, 3 Marsh Harrier were in the mouth of the Frome.  Middlebere is still holding lots of Avocet, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit. Off Branksome 4 Red-throated Diver were settled with a Great Northern Diver. A Little Owl was heard calling behind Maranoa Farm, near Middlebere.

The Common Crane was out in the centre of Hartland at dawn and didn’t seem to go far during the day and 7 Cattle Egret flew up the Wareham Channel at dawn and 2 Merlin were also out on Hartland. A max count of 46 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Slavonian Grebe have been logged between Studland/Shell Bay and the harbour in the last week too. At Holton Pools there was 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Marsh Harrier and 46 Lapwing. At Holmebridge 1 Firecrest, 2 Marsh Tit and a few Bullfinch were near the bridge. In the fields below the Worgret Manor 6 Cattle Egret were in the field. The male Black Redstart was again showing off behind Poole Quay at flats behind the Thistle Hotel and on Shipstal 24 Spoonbill were feeding. At Bestwall/Swineham 2 Marsh Harrier were off the point and at Lytchett Fields, weirdest sighting of the day came when 4 Sandwich Tern flew over the fields.

Common Crane – Hartland Moor – Peter Moore

Much of the same today, but the crisp, frost covered stillness of the morning meant that the Cattle Egrets in Holme Lane needed their own personal hot water bottles at dawn and were found hitching a ride on the back of some of the cows in the field in true Cattle Egret style. There was also the first Cattle Egret of the year for Lytchett Fields on Sherford (ice) Pools at dawn. The Common Crane yet again appeared at dawn on/over Hartland Moor…disappeared for the day and then re-appeared again at dusk. Where it goes during the day, we’d love to know. In Middlebere a Peregrine was beating up/chasing the Avocet and Lapwing for a while and a Spotted Redshank flew in. In Holes Bay NE there were 234 Avocet, 500+ Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Goldeneye and 25 Pintail with 51 Shoveler Duck, 19 Gadwall and 20 Lapwing in Holes Bay NW.

Cattle Egrets Holme Lane (above) Paul Morton and Cattle Egret Lytchett Fields (below) Shaun Robson

With snow falling north of us up in the midlands it was no surprise today that a flock of Golden Plover were found in the harbour with c40 flushed off the Keysworth estate by a Peregrine. We now tend to only ever see Golden Plover as a result of cold weather elsewhere, when they flee for warmer coastal areas. Also seen today was a Bittern at Swineham briefly in the reed beds along the northern edge of the pit. Also on Swineham GP were 4 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye, 6 Great Crested Grebe and a small number of Gadwall, Shoveler and Tufted Duck. In South Deep there were 2 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe and another Great Northern Diver was off Baiter. The Common Crane was again seen leaving its roost at dawn and then seen arriving back again at dusk at Hartland Moor. From the Middlebere hide the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen and a Merlin was in Hartland. Along Holme Lane 3 Cattle Egret were in the cow field with tens of Redwing and Fieldfare. Off Shipstal c20 Spoonbill were roosting and on Lytchett Fields 2 Green Sandpiper and 2 Spotted Redshank were feeding with a Marsh Harrier out in the Bay and out in the centre of Poole Park Boating Lake the 2 Avocet were still enjoying themselves!

Male and female Siskin – PC World Drain – Ian Ballam

Near perfect conditions around the harbour with all water bodies (even out in Poole Bay) like an oil slick which made viewing diving and open water species easy. Out in Poole Bay 4 Great Northern Diver, 2 Red-throated Diver, 5 Shoveler and c15 Great Crested Grebe were settled and out off Middle Beach, Studland there were 37 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Slavonian Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver with a Firecrest in the car park. There were also 6 Black-necked Grebe in Shell Bay and 3 in Bramble Bush Bay giving a harbour total today of 46 which is the highest for quite some time. There was also a third Slavonian Grebe in Brands Bay. This evening the Common Crane flew into Hartland Moor at 16:40 and then off to Slepe Bog. The White-fronted Goose also re-appeared at Bestwall with the Greylag flock. Poole Park boating lake is now almost fully drained of water and looks FANTASTIC. There were so many birds out there including the 2 Avocet, but also c10 Redshank, c15 Black-tailed Godwit, 9 Little Grebe and c30 Tufted Duck. Along Poole Quay c20 Ringed Plover were along the sea wall at Fisherman’s Dock with a Kingfisher and 6 Turnstone there too. On Hartland 2 Merlin were seen and the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen at Sunnyside Farm. At Holme Lane 6 Cattle Egret were feeding and then moved down towards the Wareham bypass. In Arne Bay 25 Spoonbill were on Shipstal and a Black Brant was in with c550 Brent Geese. Firecrest were pretty numerous with 2 in the Arne car park, 1 at Upton CP and 1 at Middle Beach, Studland. An early morning (pre-dawn survey) saw 8 Woodcock on top of Hartland Stud. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Water Pipit. At Norden sewage works c15 Chiffchaff were in scrub around the filter beds and along Thrashes Lane, 8 Yellowhammer, c10 Reed Bunting and good numbers of Chaffinch were in hedgerows bordering the fields.

Redwing – Upton CP – Rene Goad

Common Buzzard – Upton CP – Rene Goad

A mega busy Poole Harbour WeBS (Wetland Birds Survey) day today so we’ll just get right into it. Off Branksome beach a Red-necked Grebe settled and 7 Red-throated Diver were moving about out in Poole Bay. The Common Crane was seen flying over the Studland Road, and was later assumed to be seen leaving north over Durlston. Along Holme Lane 11 Woodlark were in the main cattle field and 6 Cattle Egret were in the Frome Valley near the bypass with another 2 in Lytchett Minster at Post Green. Off Middle Beach there were 15 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, and 12 Brent Geese and another 4 Black-necked Grebe in Shell Bay. Out in South Deep there was a single Great Northern Diver, 1 Slavonian Grebe, several Black-necked Grebe, 1 Spoonbill and several thousand Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls. At Holton Lee the Little Owl was seen again at dusk and on Poole Quay, a male Black Redstart was seen on houses behind the Thistle Hotel. At Norden sewage works there were good numbers of Chiffchaff and plenty of Red-legged Partridge in the field directly opposite. With the tide so low this afternoon some area, especially along the southern shores of the harbour and Holes Bay south saw large numbers of common waders and wildfowl so it will be interesting to see what WeBS data is returned when all counts have been combined. Out in central harbour near dusk a large gathering of 42 Goldeneye, 57 Great Crested Grebe and c50 Red-breasted Merganser formed and at Lytchett Bay/fields, there were 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Water Pipit, 2 Marsh Harrier, 2 Peregrine, 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull and 1 Spoonbill. A Jack Snipe was flushed off Swineham Point and a male Goldeneye was on the main pit. This list is just the obvious highlights, but with a cold snap on the way, there’s no better time to be out enjoying the harbour…there’s just so much to see!

It literally piddled down all day, which was much needed actually as areas were getting rather dry recently. That said, not much birding could be carried out but the discovery of 2 Avocet out in the middle of the recently drained Poole Park Boating Lake was a superb Poole Town Centre record and will hopefully be a feature of things to come with the Borough of Poole’s new re-workings and plan for the site. Also at Poole Park 1 Mandarin Duck, 2 Shoveler, 2 Teal, 1 Wigeon, 91 Coot, 11 Little Grebe, 3 Black-tailed Godwit and c50 Tufted Duck. At Norden Sewage Works there were 5 Chiffchaff, 1 Firecrest and 1 Grey Wagtail. Along Holme lane 6 Cattle Egret were seen flying towards the Frome Valley.