It was still Cattle Egret mania today with 21 behind Curlew Cottage at Swineham/Bestwall just outside Wareham. They can be quite elusive though and although seen together twice in two days, the flock can easily disappear as quickly as they appear. Checking the rest of the Frome Valley is always worth a shot, certainly at the Wareham bypass bridge, the Stoborough Causeway and from Holmebridge. At Holton Pools 2 Water Pipit were on the scrape but the huge high tides also saw 60+ Redshank out in front of the hide along with several Black-tailed Godwit, Teal and Wigeon. On Canford Heath 2 Firecrest were ringed out on the heath along with an excellent total of Greenfinches (63). Out in Studland Bay there were 3 Black-necked Grebe. We’ve also had the information back for the yellow-flagged Bar-tailed Godwit found during our WeBS count the other day. It was ringed as a 1^st winter female on the 26/08/18 at Klepp in SW Norway.

Ringed (Klepp SW Norway) and overwintering (Poole Harbour)  location of Bar-tailed Godwit seen during WeBS on Nov 4th

Well, that didn’t take long! In a matter of days we saw our Cattle Egret flock rise from four, to eleven to twenty today. This is a massive total and again breaks a Poole Harbour record. Surely this ‘irruption/colonising’ of Cattle Egret over the last couple of years here in southern Britain will see a breeding population big to grow? A pair did breed at the Little Egret colony last year but now with probably over 70 (or close to) Cattle Egret currently in the county it makes a good basis for a decent colony to begin. In Poole Park the drake Mandarin was popular again, giving views down to about 6 inches as it fed from peoples hands!!! There were also 3 Goldeneye still on the main boating lake too and 3 Sandwich Tern were roosting the reed islands. At Little Sea, Studland there were now 2 Great White Egret which lays to rest the question of how many there are currently in the harbour…well, around the Studland peninsular anyway. There could be others hanging around the Wareham Channel/Middlebere area. There were also 2 redhead Goosander still on Little Sea. Tonight, amongst the whizz and pops of brightly coloured fireworks there was a good passage of Redwing and Song Thrush going over. We wonder if any get caught in the crossfire?

Two of twenty Cattle Egret at Bestwall, near Wareham – Gordon Mutton

Poole Harbour WeBS days are always good for a few ‘turn ups’ with so many birders out around the harbour surveying. And sure enough a couple decent findings were made. Firstly a Poole Harbour record flock of 11 Cattle Egret were found in the Frome Valley, just north of East Holme. Its quite possible there are more about and as the winter progresses it would be great if we could get up to the same dizzy heights as Abbotsbury and see 50+ by January! There was also a Black Brant found out in the Wareham Channel which although will be tricky to see as the whole area is surrounded by private land, it will almost certainly join one of the more accessible flocks of Brent Geese in and around Middlebere or Arne so well worth scanning through those Brent flocks. In Bramble Bush Bay the Eider was still present and out in Studland Bay 6 Black-necked Grebe and 8 Common Scoter and another 2 Black-necked Grebe in Shell Bay.  Goldeneye numbers are rising with 14 off Long Island and another 3 drakes in Poole Park where the Mandarin was again present on the small lake. In the morning there were c500 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon, which later moved to the mouth of Wytch lake on the low tide. On Swineham GP a single Pochard was kind of noteworthy and 3 Spotted Redshank were in the mouth of the Piddle with 7 Bearded Tit there too. There were 2 Marsh Harrier commuting between Swineham and Lytchett Bay. A flock of 31 Spoonbill were feeding off the northern Arne shoreline and a flock of 12 Crossbill went over the Arne approach road. Across the whole harbour on the low tide waders were giving good views in still calm conditions…well, from 1pm anyway and a colour-flagged Bar-tailed Godwit was photographed which seems to be from a Norwegian ringing scheme.  

Black Brant – Wareham Channel – Nick Hopper

Bar-tailed Godwit – Goathorn – Paul Morton

Mandarin Duck – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

Goldeneye – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

Still a pleasant day today but with a wind building from the south-west a choppy sea and rustling trees made things a bit tricky for birding. That said being tucked up in a hide was well worth it as at Holton Pools there were two Water Pipit again also 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Marsh Harrier, 17 Teal and out in Lytchett Bay 26 Avocet and 9 Brent Geese. Out in Bramble Bush Bay there were 2 redhead Goosander and 32 Red-breasted Merganser. There was a dash of colour in Poole Park with a drake Mandarin Duck on the main lagoon. From the Coombe Heath hide at Arne and the Middlebere hide, looking down into Middlebere there were c500 Wigeon, c500 Avocet and small numbers of Grey Plover, Dunlin and Black-tailed and Godwit. The sight of c500 Avocet flying around what is quite incredible and well worth going to see.

With November starting much like October was, mild and sunkist we are beginning to think is winter ever going to start? For most of the day the harbour was like a mill pond, which made scanning for open water species nice and easy. Out in Bramble Bush by the female Eider was still present and a single Black-necked Grebe was there too and 34 Red-breasted Merganser. There were also seven Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach and two off Shell Bay with 11 Common Scoter off Middle Beach as well. In Lytchett Bay there were 2 redhead Goosander. The Great Grey Shrike was at Morden Bog it looks for another winter. On Holton Pools up to 2 Water Pipit were present and the sandy spit on Long Island (opposite Shipstal Point) had 17 Spoonbills. The Brownsea Lagoon had 500 Avocet and three Spotted Redshank. On Hartland Moor 2 Merlin were dashing about. Our ringing station on Ballard Down saw a surprise Water Rail ringed, which highlights that a whole manner of different species are on the move this autumn on migration. In Whitley Bay, Sandbanks up to 50 Brent Geese were just off the cycle path along with 9 Turnstone (on the pavement)! and 2 Bar-tailed Godwit out on the sand. Simply just being out and around the harbour currently is a joy in itself with flocks of up to 300 curlew out at Shipstal Point and all the Brent Geese now arriving, it looks as if we could have an exciting winter ahead of us.

Female Water Rail – Ringed up on Ballard Down – Olly Slessor

As winter creeps in so do the wintery bird species looking to kick autumn into touch. A female Eider was off the Houseboats at Studland which is a good early winter record with 6 Goldeneye and out in Shell Bay there were 2 Black-necked Grebe and 9 Common Scoter. In Brands Bay there were a few decent wildfowl totals with 359 Wigeon, 40 Pintail and 149 Teal. In the Frome Valley 4 Cattle Egret were found about 300m east of Holmebridge which were tricky to see but had flown to the floodplain near High Tor 20 minutes after being found. At Holton Pools a flock of 31 Lesser Redpoll flew over the hide towards Lytchett Fields, there were 18 Teal and 8 Wigeon on the pools with a Greenshank and Green Sandpiper and later in the day a Marsh and Hen Harrier and Water Pipit were logged too. In Holes Bay NE a single Bar-tailed Godwit was with 300+ Black-tailed Godwit, 800+ Wigeon and 2 Avocet with 2 Rock Pipit along the cycle path. In the warm sunshine a common Chiffchaff was in full song along the PC World drain. At Middlebere 2 Marsh Harrier flew past the hide and there were another 2 near Ridge later in the day which could relate to the same birds.

We’ve also now published our end of season Osprey 2018 blog, which gives an update on the ups and downs our team experienced this year. It offers an honest overview but is filled with the positive aspects we can build on and look forward to next year – FULL BLOG HERE

Bar-tailed Godwit – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam

Is it really November tomorrow? Where the blooming heck did October go??? Well, autumn migration will get wrapped up this month and winter birding can commence for the next four months, which is always an exciting period in a Poole Habour birding context. Today in Holes Bay north-east a very wintery scene was already being created as the rising tide mid-morning pushed plenty of birds close to the cycle path. This included 48 Avocet, 700+ Wigeon, 200+ Black-tailed Godwit, 59 Dunlin, 1 Pintail plus a good covering of Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatcher. At Holton Pools early morning there were 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Marsh Harrier and several Rock Pipit passing overhead with a Water Pipit on the pools later in the day and the Little Owl was near the reception cottage. There was a Great White Egret in Bramble Bush Bay mid-morning and at dawn 50 Shag, 7 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Common Guillemot entered the harbour through the harbour mouth. A dawn raptor watch in Poole Harbour west produced 4 Marsh Harrier leaving the roost, a ringtail Hen Harrier over Keysworth and a single Merlin. The Hen Harrier was also seen at Holton Pools/Lytchett Fields mid-afternoon. In Middlebere there were 5 Spoonbill, c200 Avocet and a fly through Merlin.

With the end of the ‘summer’ now here, we’d like to thank everyone who visited, made use of, and spent money in our Birds of Poole Harbour HQ on Poole Quay this year. Having only opened on March 1^st we’ve now made many new friends and great contacts through our HQ and we can’t wait to see what next year brings. Please note that we’ve changed our opening times to our winter opening hours now, which is…

Monday to Friday – CLOSED

Saturday – Open 10am – 4:30pm

Sunday – Open 10am – 4:00pm.

Summer opening hours will commence on March 1^st 2019.

We’ll be releasing our 2019 event and boat schedule soon which will include our new ID course, weekly Nightjar walks, new boat tours and much more!

Kingfisher – Holton Pools – Paul Morton

Dartford Warbler – Slepe Heath – Paul Morton

There was some good open water coverage today as another school bird boat headed out in the cold NW wind. The highlight being the first 6 Goldeneye of the winter to return with 3 off Goathorn and 3 in central harbour. There was also a marked increase in Red-breasted Merganser with c50 present across South Deep and Central Harbour. There were c150 Brent Geese back with some on the Baiter shoreline and c40 on Studland Beach. On Shipstal, Arne c30 Spoonbill were roosting. In Lytchett Bay 2 Marsh Harrier were over Lytchett Fields. In Studland Bay there were 6 Black-necked Grebe, 12 Common Scoter and 5 Great Crested Grebe. Brands Bay held 65 Pintail, 185 Wigeon, 40 Avocet, 10 Grey Plover, 2 Knot, 144 Black-tailed Godwit and 223 Dunlin. A nice urban record of a Marsh Harrier over Poole Town, near the Lighthouse Art Centre was noteworthy. From Coombe Heath, Arne a Merlin dashed through the Middlebere Channel upsetting and aggravating the c200 Avocet that were roosting when a/the Hen Harrier arrived to chip in with the chaos. A nocturnal lamping session was carried out in the lower Frome Valley in the hope of ringing the first Woodcock of the winter, however it proved fruitless with only 2 Common Snipe seen across the entire area!

Brent Goose – Studland Bay – Phyl England

Despite the good conditions vis-mig was pretty poor, although the conditions also looked perfect for the first big Woodpigeon migration of the late autumn but it didn’t materialise sadly. However if any similar conditions occur over the next 2 weeks then we could see many thousands of Woodpigeon migrate high across Poole Harbour from the east, usually appearing from over the top of Evening Hill. There was evidence of more Fieldfare having arrived with good numbers at Middlebere again and there were 41 Spoonbill on Shipstal and 7 Spotted Redshank in the end of the Middlebere Channel. Hen Harrier were seen at Middlebere, Swineham and Lytchett Fields with one of them being a new arrival in to the harbour in the shape of a young ringtail male bombing around Poole Harbour west.

Fieldfare – Middlebere – Ian Ballam

Hen Harrier – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Another fine but chilly day which seems to only look as if its going to last a few more days before warmer weather from the west arrives later in the week. With these clear sky’s and big bright moonlit nights its no surprise that winter thrush’s such as Redwing and Fieldfare were more conspicuous today, certainly at Arne where good flocks of both were seen in the hedgerows at dawn along with several Brambling and a Firecrest in the car park. There were 41 Spoonbill out on Shipstal and 100+ Brent Geese in Arne Bay along with 300+ roosting Oystercatcher on Shipstal Spit. There was also some thrush passage at Lytchett Bay with 60+ Redwing and 20+ Fieldfare. In the Frome Valley just a single Cattle Egret was feeding in with cattle along Swanage Road which is nice, but considering there’s currently a flock of 50+ over at Abbotsbury we’re sure they wouldn’t mind at the Swannery if we borrowed at least 20 for a week or so! Last night we also witnessed some amazing nocturnal migration using our Pulsar XQ50 Thermal Imaging scope. Although it doesn’t allow you to positively ID each bird flying over it does give you an insight as to how intense migration is on certain nights. We saw on twitter the evening before that a huge number of birds had been seen (via a radar track) leaving the Dutch coast, heading in a SW direction towards the UK. So, we thought we see if we could see any moving last night and we were astonished at just how many birds were on the move, although so high that that there was no chance of being able to hear them, even when using our sensate sound recording equipment. What’s even more amazing is when you consider that we were only looking at one patch of sky and that there must have been thousands more birds passing over other areas too. A true nocturnal spectacle.

Eurasian Spoonbill – Brownsea Lagoon – Nick Gadenne