Sighting of the day has to go to a Great White Egret on the main Poole Park boating lake this morning. Admittedly they’ve become a regular species across the county in the last couple of years, but for them now to just be ‘turning up’ in the centre of Poole is quite incredible. It didn’t stay too long and soon flew up and off towards Holes Bay. At Holton Lee there was a Marsh Harrier and on Holton Pools 1 Green Sandpiper and 4 Black-tailed Godwit. Off Poole Quay a Common Guillemot was bobbing around on the water and in Bramble Bush Bay there was 5 Eider, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 28 Red-breasted Merganser, 10 Ringed Plover and a Peregrine. There was a report of a Long-eared Owl flying around at twilight on top of Hartland which if confirmed would be the first for the harbour since April 2013! In Lytchett Bay there were 100+ Avocet along with good numbers of Teal and Wigeon with a Green Sandpiper and 40+ Lapwing on Lytchett Fields.

Common Guillemot – Poole Quay – P Brown

Great White Egret – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

Another grey blustery day, but the discovery of a Yellow-browed Warbler in Broadstone in Twin Oakes Close was a surprise. They weren’t as conspicuous this autumn as they have been in recent years, but it’s still no surprise that the odd one or two still choose to over winter here on the south coast. In Bramble Bush Bay 5 Eider were just off the beach and there were 11 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach, Studland. There were 10 Cattle Egret down towards Holmebridge which we think is the furthest west they’ve been noted and there were another 5 in the field with cattle at the top end of Holme Lane. At Lytchett Fields there were c100 Lapwing and a Marsh Harrier, in Poole Park 7 Goldeneye, 6 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Sandwich Tern and 7 Redwing and along Baiter 4 Ringed Plover, 5 Turnstone, 1 Kingfisher, 68 Brent Geese, 14 Dunlin and 2 Great Crested Grebe. Holes Bay north was still rammed with mainly Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwit.

Common Buzzard – Holes Bay – John Pick

Today was another wash out, but with all this wind surely its blown plenty into the harbour? After the constant winds and storms of 2013/14 we ended up with a harbour maximum count of 16 Great Northern Diver around the harbour. Ok, it hasn’t quite been that bad, and it is only December 1^st but its well worth getting out checking every nook and cranny of the harbour for a sheltering Red-necked Grebe, a secretive Surf Scoter or perhaps a mis-placed Murrelet!! In our dreams. Through the wind and the rain the 15 Cattle Egret at Holme Lane were still present, there were 2 Egyptian Geese at Sunnyside Farm. Poole Park still held 7 Goldeneye and 2 Red-breasted Merganser.

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.