Today we went out on a survey boat to check the Wareham Channel, Brownsea Lagoon, Frome Valley and open areas of the harbour. Despite the cold wind it was extremely productive with 57 species logged with highlights including the ringtail Hen Harrier, 1 adult female Marsh Harrier, 209 Avocet, 46 Spoonbill, 134 Brent Geese, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 21 Greenshank, 650 Oystercatcher, 280 Cormorant, 7 Little Grebe, 12 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Grey Plover, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and smaller totals of expected over-wintering species such as Wigeon, Teal, Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew etc. Great White Egrets were seen at Shipstal, Arne and over Studland heath leaving the Little Sea roost. A Red Kite drifted low over Lytchett Fields. At Lytchett Bay 20 Fieldfare flew over at dawn and in the bay were 34 Avocet and the first Brent Goose of the winter for Lytchett Bay. The ringtail Hen Harrier made several other appearances too and was seen in Middlebere, just below the Coombe Heath viewpoint and also out on Hartland. At dawn a Short-eared Owl, 1 Merlin and 4 Marsh Harrier were in Poole Harbour west near the mouth of the Frome. Also in Middlebere were 100+ Fieldfare, a Peregrine, c500 Black-tailed Godwit, c500 Avocet and 100 Lapwing.

It was more about the totals todays and with the constant run of northerly winds its no surprise that wader and wildfowl numbers are increasing nicely. In Holes Bay NE the Wigeon flock had reached 854 and there were just under 1000 Black-tailed Godwit roosting there too plus a group of 16 Shoveler had arrived too. There were also 200 Lapwing on Lytchett Fields which was an autumn/winter high count this season and also a Marsh Harrier and Water Pipit out on the fields. At Arne it looks as if the over-wintering flock of Spoonbill will be around 40 birds, which was the count on Shipstal today, but there could be other roosting elsewhere the over-wintering flock could be just over 40.

It was another good morning for visible migration along the Ballard ridge near Glebelands. Yet again it was a NNW wind but it still produced some good totals including 19 Brambling and 21 Crossbill along with 1 Woodlark, 204 Chaffinch, 219 Goldfinch, 85 Siskin, 11 Reed Bunting, and smaller numbers of Redwing, Song Thrush and Skylark. The ringtail Hen Harrier was still out over Slepe Heath/Hartland area and 2 Merlin were commuting between Middlebere and Hartland. The Fieldfare flock at Middlebere had reached over 100 and there were c300 Avocet, c1000 Black-tailed Godwit, 150 Lapwing, 5 Grey Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Water Pipit, 1 Marsh Harrier and a fly over Woodlark. On Little Sea, Studland a Goosander was feeding which is the first record of this species here for 10 years and could hopefully be attributed to the cleaning of the lake due to the Carp removal NT have been carrying out over the last 4 years. Also there was the Great White Egret again. In the Arne overflow car park there were 2 Firecrest. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 24 Spoonbill, 7 Greenshank, 24 Grey Plover and c20 Knot.

Brambling – Calls of Autumn Migrants – Glebelands, Ballard – 25/10/18 @ 07:44

Crossbills and wingbeats – Calls of Autumn Migrants – Glebelands, Ballard – 25/10/18 @ 07:54

Firecrest – RSPB Arne

Quieter today but the arrival of an adult male Hen Harrier on Hartland briefly mid morning made things exciting, although sadly it disappeared off towards Corfe Castle after having a wash and wasn’t seen again. Later in the afternoon yesterdays ringtail female Hen Harrier was out on Hartland with 1 Merlin perched up on a stump. Out on Arne Moors (viewed from Slepe Heath) another 2 Merlin were seen with catching a Meadow Pipit supper just before sunset. On Lytchett Fields there were 2 Water Pipit and another on Holton Pools and a late Ruff was also on Lytchett Fields. At Arne a female Brambling was feeding behind the visitors centre in car park with Chaffinch and another was at Sunnyside Farm in a Chaffinch/Linnet flock. In Middlebere there were 3 Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, c400 Black-tailed Godwit, c150 Avocet, 123 Lapwing, 96 Redshank, 10 Dunlin, 293 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, 1 Merlin, 1 Marsh Harrier and 46 Fieldfare.

Water Pipit – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Today was a classic autumn day with a good range of autumn passage migrants and newly arrived winter arrivals. The day began with a visible-migration session up at the Glebelands end of Ballard where quite a bit was on the move despite the strong westerly wind. Highlights included 1 Woodlark, 18 Crossbill, 3 (probably more) Brambling, 102 Siskin, 144 Linnet, 280 Chaffinch and 2 Peregrine causing small groups of Wood Pigeon hassle. Another vis-mig session was carried out at South Haven too where it was slightly quieter with 10 Crossbill the highlights but also a Black-throated Diver entered the harbour at dawn as did 58 Shag and 7 Red-breasted Merganser. On the Wareham to Stoborough causeway the 2 Cattle Egret were on the east side next to the road. On Slepe (and then Hartland) a freshly arrived adult female Hen Harrier was quartering over the heath where a Merlin was logged at dusk along with a Short-eared Owl out near Arne Moors too. On the Brownsea Lagoon there was a Great White Egret, 30 Spoonbill, 1 Peregrine and c400 Avocet. In the Lower Piddle Valley near Wareham train station a flock of 46 Lesser Redpoll were feeding in an Alder Tree which is a good count considering they’ve been non-existent this autumn. In Middlebere the separated over wintering flocks of both Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit have almost reached peak counts with c500 of each this afternoon. At the mouth of the Middlebere track a flock of 56 Fieldfare were moving through the area.

Crossbills – Calls of Autumn Migrants at Dawn – Glebelands, Ballard 23/10/18 @ 08:37

 Woodlark – Call of Autumn Migrant at Dawn – Glebelands, Ballard 23/10/18 @ 08:52

Quick update today with a Yellow-browed Warbler up on Ballard Down, Great White Egrets at Lytchett Fields and Little Sea, Studland.

Another blissful day with the sun beating down (after the fog cleared) which although was beautiful, wasn’t very productive for birding. A/the Great White Egret was on Little Sea, Studland mid-morning. Around Middlebere and Hartland the first decent Fieldfare flock was seen with 46 altogether with Mistle Thrush and Redwing mixed in with them. A vis-mig session at South Haven saw 2 Crossbill, 15 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Skylark, 31 Siskin, 3 Bullfinch, 3 Jay, 1 Greenshank, 1 Common Snipe and 40 Cormorant migrate across and into the harbour mouth. On Brownsea there were 3 Spotted Redshank but just a single Spoonbill with the rest (40+) on Shipstal, Arne.

It seems the days are getting warmer, not colder and with the harbour yet again like a mill pond you could have been mistaken for thinking it was a mid May morning today. However the presence to 2 Whooper Swan that passed of Lytchett Bay and Holton Lee provided the autumnal feel that’s so desperately needed. There was also the first decent return of Red-breasted Merganser with 16 in South Deep off the southern Brownsea shoreline along with 41 Spoonbill and 18 Brent Geese on Shipstal, 23 Great Crested Grebe in central harbour, c400 Avocet, 2 Sanderling and 1 Peregrine on the lagoon and 2 Sandwich Tern in the mouth of Middlebere. At Hatch Pond the Cetti’s Warbler was still calling and there, a Kingfisher was present and there were 4 Great Crested Grebe on the lake. At Middlebere a Marsh Harrier passed over and 4 late Swallow dashed through. There were actually 3 Marsh Harrier in the harbour today (2 immature males and a female) which ridiculously is the best day total for Marsh Harrier since January 26^th this year according to local harrier watcher Peter Hadrill. On Hartland there was a late Wheatear, 20+ Dartford Warbler enjoying the sun and 2 Woodlark. At South Haven a Great White Egret flew over the boardwalk and a vis-mig session provided 1 Woodlark, 1 Brambling, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 96 Siskin, 3 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Bullfinch, 3 Lesser Redpoll and 30 Jackdaw as the highlights.

Well, we thought the vis-mig would pick up and it certainly did. The main area watched/counted this morning was South Haven, Studland which logged 88 Song Thrush, 13 Redwing and 39 Meadow Pipit as well as many hundreds of Chaffinch, Linnet, Siskin and Goldfinch with singles of Yellowhammer and Woodlark too. Amazingly 66 Spoonbill were counted on Shipstal Point, Arne. Where another 11 have turned up from is anyone’s guess but with 75 logged on Oct 19^th last year, will we see a late surge and yet another record-breaking year for Spoonbill? Yet again the 2 Cattle Egret were on the west side of the Wareham to Stoborough causeway. At Lytchett Fields 45 Skylark migrated over the site during the morning and there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 8 Greenshank, 120+ Redshank and c50 Black-tailed Godwit on the fields. At Holton Pools a flock of 11 Crossbill flew low across in front of the hide and a Peregrine and a Marsh Harrier had a bit of a tussle too. At Middlebere the autumns first Fieldfare were seen with 15 along the lane also 11 Mistle Thrush, 6 Bullfinch, 73 Wigeon, 4 Greenshank, 4 Knot, 1 White Wagtail and a Merlin was on Hartland again.

Peregrine – Holton Pools – John Pick