Wet, windy and tough birding conditions with almost nothing reported today. So we’ll just use this time and space to remind everyone that our Poole Old Town Swift City fundraiser launched on Friday last week which is so far, going really well. For the full project brief and if you think you can help then CLICK HERE for our Just Giving Page to donate.

Also, don’t forget we’re hosting our BoPH HQ raffle for the whole of March and so raffle tickets are available in our HQ on Poole Quay, which is now on summer opening hours, Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 4:30pm (4pm on Sundays). All proceeds go straight back into local conservation projects and education work.

HUGE THANKS to everyone that visited us on our Birthday weekend and bought raffle tickets and cupcakes, along with everyone that also has so far donated to our Swift City fund. It’s been great to see so much local support, so, as long as we keep getting the support, we’ll keep on working hard to make the local area great for both birds and people.

Today was the second day of our Birthday Weekend, and with Cupcakes being guzzled in their hundreds in our HQ, some birds took a more sugar free approach and descended upon Poole Park Lagoon to feed on hundreds of Ragworm. We mentioned yesterday that the lagoon had seen an increase in Black-tailed Godwit numbers well today it had increased again to 342…an amazing inner-town total. What was most interesting is that many of them were in partial summer plumage, suggesting these were in fact newly arrived migrants. A report from southern Portugal stated last week that many of their over-winter Black-tailed Godwit had left early due unseasonably warm February, so it could be that we’ve seen an arrival of early migrant ‘Blackwit’ in to the harbour. Also on the lagoon were 3 Greenshank, c20 Redshank, 7 Med Gulls and a huge number of Black-headed Gulls. The male Black Redstart was…yep…still behind the Thistle Hotel. 7 Cattle Egret were along Bog Lane and a Great Northern Diver was off the northern Brownsea shoreline, visible from our HQ. Thomas, one of our HQ team, captured footage on one of our Brownsea webcams of a colour-ringed Mediterranean Gull which has come back as being ringed as an adult on 24/05/17 in Belgium.

Colour-ringed Med Gull – Brownsea Lagoon – Originally ringed in Belgium on 24/05/17

Pinch, punch first of the month and many happy returns! Yes, today was the 1^st birthday of our engagement HQ on Poole Quay and to celebrate we launched our March raffle which has seen many great prizes donated to us by local (and some not so local) businesses. It’s been an incredible 1^st year that has seen just over 21,000 people visit us in that time period. We’ve met many amazing and kind new supporters of our work, and we hope we can build on this and make 2019 an even bigger and better year for our charity. As a fundraiser we’re hosting a raffle during March which has a great range of prizes that have been donated to us by local and not so local businesses, so please, if you can, head down to our HQ which is now on summer opening hours (Tuesday – Sunday) and buy some raffle tickets.

The 1^st of the month kick-started with some decent records being sent in too, which included some amazing counts from the Poole Park Lagoon such as 298 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshank, 93 Oystercatcher, 20 Redshank, 10 Mediterranean Gulls and 1 Water Rail. And with Spring migration now underway, chances are many other birds will start using this site as they pass on through. At Baiter a single Great Northern Diver, 2 Goldeneye, 3 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Sandwich Tern, 14 Turnstone, 5 Med Gulls, 42 Brent Geese and 5 Great Crested Grebe were logged. The male Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel. A night survey at Sunnyside Farm produced 8 Jack Snipe, 8 Common Snipe and 2 Woodcock and the 1^st winter White-fronted Goose was again at Bestwall late afternoon. At Little Sea, Studland 1 Pochard and a Marsh Harrier were seen, off Middle Beach 8 Black-necked Grebe and 4 Med Gull were logged, in Shell Bay there were 36 Sanderling and 3 Black-necked Grebe with another 14 Sanderling and 3 Grey Plover by the houseboats. At Bog Lane there were still 8 Cattle Egret and a Marsh Harrier was over Slepe Heath.

Finally, we’ve also just launched our first ever crowd funding campaign which seeks to raise £1700 for our Swift City Project we’ve set up in partnership with local business Saltwater Stone. A full blog describing the project can be found HERE, and if you’d like to donate towards the project you can visit our Just Giving page HERE.

Black-necked Grebes – Shell Bay – Ian Ballam

Bit of a slower day today as we’re getting prepped for our Birthday weekend. Highlights were the Black Redstart still behind the Thistle Hotel, 1 Water Pipit, 2 Spoonbill and a Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields and ‘Storkwit’, the albino Black-tailed Godwit out in Lytchett Bay.

‘Storkwit’ the Black-tailed Godwit – Lytchett Bay – Shaun Robson

It sounds as if this we’re going to come crashing back to normality with a bump tomorrow as the February ‘heatwave’ comes to sudden end. So, we enjoyed a team day out today clearing the last areas of scrub around the new Middlebere Osprey platform/nest which we hope will begin getting used either as a pit stop hang out platform for any migrant birds that start to arrive into the harbour or even more exciting, by any potentially interested new settlers. We’ve written a blog about this coming spring HERE.

Sightings from today included 5 Common Scoter settled out in Studland Bay and a big drop in Black-necked Grebe numbers with just 2 out in the bay. There were 6 Cattle Egret along Nutcrack Lane with another (or the same?) 6 at Bog Lane later in the afternoon.

Another blissful sunset saw just 1 Short-eared Owl around the Hartland area this evening and the ringtail Hen Harrier was  again seen at Middlebere. The female Peregrine was on the Asda building in Holes Bay, but no sign of the male it was displaying with a couple of days ago. Hopefully he’ll reappear and a pair bond can be formed here in Poole. In terms of suitable nesting sites there are plenty of options but it would great to be able to find a location to place a nest box up if we can. The male Black Redstart was still in the small courtyard behind the Thistle hotel, we wonder if with all this glorious spring weather, whether it may start singing some time soon? At Arne the Spoonbill flock has now reduced to just 9 but there was a single ringed bird on Lytchett Fields too.

Don’t forget its our HQ 1^ST Birthday this Weekend where our March Raffle begins, so why not pop down for cup cakes a chat and your chance to win some excellent prizes.

We could get used to this! Another scorcher of a day, albeit scorcher in a late February context, meaning 17 degrees. It was however the warmest winter day ever recorded today though, with temperatures in Wales reaching a balmy 20 degrees! It looks to stay settled for another couple of days and then it all comes crashing down again. Still, we’ve had a decent arrival of early spring migrants across Dorset these last few days, so lets just hope we don’t get a last minute cold rush. In the sun, 2 Great Northern Diver looked gloriously in sync out in south deep as they slid across glass like water. Around Hartland, Stoborough Heath and Arne Moors 3 Short-eared Owl were hunting and the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen along the Middlebere track. Out in the west harbour roost, possibly up to 5 Marsh Harrier dropped into the roost and 9 Spoonbill headed out to feed at dusk in the Wareham Channel. A Red Kite drifted low over the piddle Valley and Common Buzzard were very active everywhere. The male Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel and a pair of Peregrine were seen displaying over Holes Bay and a Green Sandpiper was in the Creekmoor Channel that leads into Holes Bay north and a Jack Snipe was seen at Sunnyside Farm.

Tales from the River Bank update: In the last week we’ve had plenty more Otter action plus a different Mink to last weeks animal passing our camera in the dead of night.

Wow, if the recent cold weather is what was needed to produce today, then we really didn’t mind. It could have easily been Easter Bank Holiday as masses of people basked in glorious sunshine along Poole Quay, and boats full of people ventured out across the harbour. Our own Wareham Channel cruise left the quay at 9am, and never have we seen the harbour so flat, certainly not in February! As a result, spotting open water species was nice and straight forward with 2 Great Northern Diver, 7 Black-necked Grebe, c100 Red-breasted Merganser, c50 Great Crested Grebe, c20 Shag and c80 Cormorant, On Shipstal Point 12 Spoonbill flew gracefully around before settling again, a single Cattle Egret was on Patchins point and a 2^nd year male Marsh Harrier flew down the Frome Valley. A single Sandwich Tern was also fishing off Baiter and after about 100 attempts, we finally saw a Golden Pheasant on Furzey Island…albeit a female! Numerous Buzzard were out soaring across the tree line and on the Brownsea Lagoon there were c300 Avocet, c40 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, c100 Black-tailed Godwit, c40 Grey Plover, c300 Dunlin and a small number of Shoveler, Teal and Gadwall. The male Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel, a Great White Egret flew over Lytchett Bay, a Siberian Chiffchaff was ringed in north Poole and a single Cattle Egret was along Holme Lane. At dusk a Short-eared Owl was seen along the edge of Hartland and the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen at Middlebere. Med Gulls are really numerous now with plenty flying around the harbour now, calling regularly and single Sand Martin was still flying around the north edge of Wareham.

Shag – Brownsea shoreline – Robin Sumsion

Great Northern Diver – North Channel – Robin Sumsion

 Siberian Chiffchaff – North Poole – Stephen Menzie 

Finally, the warmth they’ve been predicting all week hit today and it felt like an Easter bank holiday with masses of people down the Quay enjoying a pie, a pint and a visit to our HQ! The foul fog yesterday gave way to blissful sun and our re-scheduled boat was able to depart on time as we headed out towards the Wareham Channel. It was certainly more like a spring boat today rather than the late winter trip it was advertised at, that said a great range of species were logged including many singing birds. Highlights were 4 Black-necked Grebe off Brownsea, one of which was sin full breeding plumage, the White-fronted Goose was on Arne moors but flew over to Swineham GP where a Peregrine flew over and 3 Pochard were on the lake. Reed Bunting were singing all the way along the River Frome as was Grey Wagtail up on Wareham Quay. Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe were logged but their numbers are already decreasing and no Goldeneye were logged. On the Brownsea Lagoon c300 Avocet, c120 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, c300 Dunlin, c60 Grey Plover and c200 Black-tailed Godwit were also counted along with a few remaining Shoveler, Pintail and Gadwall. Many Shag and Cormorant (carbo & sinensis) are in almost full breeding attire. In the mouth of the Wareham Channel 3 Sandwich Tern were hunting and another 2 were on the Brownsea lagoon later in the day. The adult male Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel. At Holton Lee good numbers of Siskin and the lone Lesser Redpoll continue to feed at the feeder hide.

Singing Grey Wagtail – Wareham – Nick Mudge

Sandwich Tern – Wareham Channel – Nick Mudge

Reed Bunting – Holton Lee – Brain Smith

There were a few sightings of note today despite the cold wind. A Sandwich Tern was out roosting in the middle of the drained Poole Park lake along with 3 Med Gulls and the Mandarin Duck was still on the middle lake. The male Black Redstart was behind the Thistle Hotel and the ringtail Hen Harrier was at Swineham. At Arne only 12 Spoonbill remain now and at both dawn and dusk a Short-eared Owl was hunting on Arne Moors which was viewable from up on top of Slepe Heath. At Lytchett Fields there was a single Water Pipit, 6 Scandinavian Rock Pipit, 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Green Sandpiper and 12 Med Gulls.

Sandwich Tern – Poole Park – Paul Morton