Winter is great for high totals and with the weather clearing today it allowed for some proper counting to be done. Lytchett Bay/Fields was brimming with birds with totals of 561 Lapwing on the fields and in the bay 1345 Teal, 521 Wigeon, 255 Black-tailed Godwit, 132 Avocet, 85 Oystercatcher, 80 Redshank, 60 Dunlin, 56 Brent Geese, 55 Curlew, 6 Red-breasted Merganser and 9 Gadwall. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 2000+ Dunlin, 4 Knot, 60+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Spotted Redshank, 500+ Avocet and 14 Greenshank. In Middlebere a single Spoonbill was feeding with 30 on Shipstal Point, Arne and at the top end of Middlebere, its still an Avocet fest with a flock of 500+ still wowing the crowds at Arne. The Cattle Egret flock were mostly along Holme Lane today (15 of them). In Poole Park there were 10 Goldeneye, 3 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Mandarin Duck and there was finally a Great Northern Diver in the harbour with one off Baiter Park. 

The less said about today the better! All the harbour ‘regulars’ would have been out there somewhere but due to the dodgy weather not a lot was reported. For views it seems Poole Park and Upton CP seem favoured spots with birders as some smart winter species such as Goldeneye, Pintail, Red-breasted Merganser, Shoveler and Pochard have all been on show at close quarters. We’re hoping once all this foul weather blows on through then the harbour will have a good mix of open water species such as Great Northern Divers, Scoters and perhaps more Long-tailed Duck or two!

Northern Pintail – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

Eurasian Teal – Holes Bay – Rene Goad

The storm and strong winds continued into today and sadly we weren’t able to conduct a sea watch, which could have been quite productive. The only main highlights from a pretty dire day were 17 Cattle Egret in Nutcrack Lane and then along Holme Lane. On Poole Park boating lake a single (now scarce) Pochard was present with 7 Goldeneye. In the west of the harbour 3 Marsh Harrier were a welcome site around Swineham seeing as they’ve been pretty scarce this autumn/winter so far.

Pochard – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

We love a bit a wind! What a classic day for a sea watch as the strong SE wind blew. We did a watch from Branksome Chine before the really horrid weather front came in mid afternoon. It proved quite successful as saw divers on the move with 6 Great Northern Diver passing west out in Poole Bay and another settled on the water, plus 4 Red-throated Diver including one settled just off the beach too, plus a possible Black-throated Diver. Also logged were 6 Kittiwake (mostly 1^st winters), 3 Med Gulls, 24 Auk sp, 1 Dunlin, 1 Gannet, 2 Red-breasted Merganser and 4 Great Crested Grebe all heading west. Baiter Park is always worth a check in foul weather at this time of year with the added bonus that you can use your car as a bird hide! Out on the playing fields were 112 Brent Geese, 72 Dunlin, 2 Greenshank, 4 Common Redshank, 3 Turnstone, 2 Ringed Plover, 8 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Med Gull, 1 Sandwich Tern and c70 Oystercatcher. At the harbour mouth 2 Sandwich Tern were fishing in Shell Bay. In Middlebere the c500 strong flock of Avocet were still present and good numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, lapwing, Teal and Wigeon.

The calm before the storm! A fairly foul weather system is due to set in tomorrow so it was nice to take advantage of a cold, crisp November day. The Upton CP ‘stone bench’ was offering excellent views of a range of species including c500 Black-tailed Godwit, c20 Dunlin, c20 Redshank, 5 Pintail and plenty of Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and several Shoveler. Its also a good place to stand and familiarise yourself with calls of species that would otherwise be tricky to learn. The inane chattering of Black-tailed Godwit can easily be heard from the bench, as can the excited whistle of Wigeon and gentle ‘pinging’ of Teal. Its well worth learning these sounds at places you can marry the call to the bird visually so that when your next at a location where the visibility isn’t too good, you can still ID species by call…a great way to boost your day list! It was another three-egret day today with 18 Cattle Egret at Nutcrack Lane, 1 Great White Egret in the Little Sea roost and the usual spread of Little Egret dotted around the harbour. Off Jerry’s point there were 3 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Eider (2 females and a 1^st winter). In Lytchett Bay there were 150 Avocet, 57 Brent Geese and a Marsh Harrier quartering over Otter Island. In the PC World drain there was a minimum of 5 collybita (Common) Chiffchaff with one even in full song, however there are currently no signs of any tristis (Siberian) Chiffchaff yet.

Cattle Egret – Holme Lane – Ian Ballam

Today we hosted our first Wareham Channel & Poole Harbour cruise of the winter, which we’re thrilled to say was a belter. The forecast strong winds didn’t pick up until mid-morning which was great as it stayed settled as we made our way up the River Frome. Highlights included a Cattle Egret across the Wareham Channel, a drake Long-tailed Duck off the southern Brownsea shoreline, 30+ Spoonbill on Shipstal, 5+ Sandwich Tern along the Hamworthy shoreline, on the Brownsea Lagoon there were c100 Avocet, c40 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1000+ Dunlin, c30 Grey Plover, 7 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 40+ Shoveler, 10 Brent Geese but weirdly only 2 Black-tailed Godwit. A Peregrine was also on/over the lagoon and a Marsh Harrier quartered the marsh along Keysworth. In the Frome Valley the flooded fields played host to several large Lapwing flocks and c100 feeding Curlew. Out on the open water several small rafts of Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye were seen and in the mouth of Middlebere c300 Brent Geese were feeding on the spartina. Elsewhere there were 19 Cattle Egret along Holme Lane, with 3 in fields along the Stoborough causeway. Plus a Firecrest in holly next to the Cattle Egret field along Holme Lane. On Slepe Heath both a male and female Hen Harrier were seen briefly. At Sunnyside the pools first Water Pipit was logged. Middlebere was looking spectacular with c900 Avocet settled for most of the time and another large Lapwing flock of around 700. In Holes Bay north, there were still plenty of  close views of wildfowl to be had with Shoveler, Pintail, Shelduck, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon and Mallard all glistening in the afternoon sun.

Long -tailed Duck – BoPH Bird Boat – Chrys Mellor

Despite the weather a few birds were logged today. Out in central harbour there were 2 Common Scoter, 3 Black-necked Grebe and a good scattering of Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser. On the Brownsea Lagoon 7 Spoonbill, c300 Avocet and c1000 Dunlin were visible on the lagoon webcam. The Cattle Egret were spread out today across the Frome Valley with birds along Holme Lane, at the Stoborough causeway, Nutcrack Lane and East Holme.  

There haven’t been many Black Redstart around this autumn so it was nice that one turned up on the Sandbanks crazy golf course this morning, feeding in amongst the windmills and helter-skelters of the golf course. The Cattle Egret flock seemed to have swapped their favoured feeding field from Nutcrack Lane to Holme Lane with 17 there this morning, although several did make their way back to Nutcrack Lane later in the afternoon.  And there were 2 Egyptian Geese on the Gravel Pit to the south of Holme Lane. At Lytchett Fields/Bay there were 612 Lapwing, 90 Avocet, 100+ Redshank, 2 Marsh Harrier, 3 Green Sandpiper and 1 Yellow-legged Gull along with good numbers of regular winter species. On the Poole Park boating lake 10 Goldeneye were present again in the SW corner. 

This morning we hosted our first Poole Town Urban Bird Walk initiative which will be taking place most Thursday mornings from now until the end of February (For full list of dates and info click here). The purpose is to highlight the diversity of Poole Town’s bird life during the winter, which is actually far greater than many may realise. Starting at our HQ on Poole quay we took the simple root along Poole Quay and up to Baiter, around the cycle path before then cutting into Poole Park and doing a full loop around the main boating lake. For a first walk we were treated to a whole host of great birds including 3 Kingfisher on the quay, 1 Sandwich Tern and 5 Ringed Plover along the marina sea wall, 10 Goldeneye, 7 Little Grebe, 3 Little Egret, 1 Mandarin, 3 Jay, 2 Goldcrest and 1 Kestrel in Poole Park plus c10 Turnstone, 3 Brent Geese and 5 Red-breasted Merganser at Baiter and we even jammed in on a Peregrine causing mayhem over Poole Park boating lake. Not bad for a two hour stroll in the centre of town. If you can make it to any of these walks over the winter, it would be great to see you. Elsewhere around the harbour the Cattle Egret flock peaked at 19 in the Nutcrack Lane field. At Lytchett Fields there were 2 Water Pipit on the approach pools and in Holes Bay north, large gatherings of Black-tailed Godwit and Avocet were wheeling around on the outskirts of the country park.

Turnstone – Baiter Beach – Alison Copland

Goldeneye – Poole Park – Alison Copland

Pintail – Holes Bay – John Pick

Black-tailed Godwit flock – Holes Bay north – John Pick

Todays forecast was sunshine and showers, and they couldn’t have been more correct! This morning we had another school bird boat, and for some reason there seemed to be far fewer open water species in the South Deep/Harbour mouth area. A nice flock of 26 Goldeneye off Green Island was nice to see and across the open areas of the harbour there were c50 Red-breasted Merganser and at Shipstal c30 Spoonbill, c100 Brent Geese and 2 Sandwich Tern. The Holes Bay and Upton CP area were really productive with 136 Avocet, 7 Lapwing, c290 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Ruff, 34 Dunlin, 9 Pintail, 589 Wigeon, 14 Gadwall and 14 Shoveler. Along Nutcrack Lane 18 Cattle Egret were still present in the first field on the right (to the south). At Lytchett Fields a flock of 44 Avocet were roosting on French’s Pools and 2 Water Pipit were along the field edges.

Goldeneye – flying over central harbour (in the rain) – Paul Morton

Spoonbill – Roosting on Shipstal (in the sun) – Paul Morton