Today wasn’t about the Birds off Poole Harbour, but in fact about the birds of the whole of the UK. Today a Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife was launched which provides 200 ideas; covering 17 topics in ways we can improve our impoverished environment. Sadly, the UK is in a sorry state of affairs when it comes to how we look after our landscapes and its inhabitants. Declines are rife and dramatic and drastic action is needed to help change not only these declines but our total mind set on what we really believe protection to be. Please read the manifesto HERE as it also provides many ideas as to how you as individuals can make small (and not so small) changes too. To launch the manifesto a walk for wildlife was held in London where c10,000 people gathered in Hyde Park before marching to Downing Street to hand over a large Peace Treaty that had been created as a symbol for change. Despite the rain the event felt like the beginning of a movement, one we were thrilled to be a part of.

Sadly, being in London did mean we missed a Grey Phalarope on the Brownsea Lagoon but I think we can handle that…just about. The rain pretty much stopped play by mid morning however the Sunnyside Scrape attracted 6 Ringed Plover and on Lytchett Fields 121 Black-tailed Godwit appeared with 1 Spotted Redshank, 6 Greenshank, 30+ Snipe and 3 Yellow Wagtail. On Lytchett Heath, before the rain set in 29 Blackcap, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 19 Chiffchaff, 3 Reed Warbler and 2 Sedge Warbler were ringed. At South Haven a strong passage of Meadow Pipitconsisted of  337 birds in 90 minutes. At Shipstal, Spoonbill numbers are now beginning to build with 30 present today, which is a bit more like it. At Baiter Park 8 Turnstone, 9 Ringed Plover and 8 Dunlin were along the shoreline.

The masses gathering before the Walk for Wildlife – Hyde Park

Still a bit blowy today with limited sightings reported but did include 1 Spotted Redshank, 11 Greenshank, 8 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Yellow Wagtail and a Marsh Harrier at Lytchett Fields. At the Sunnyside scrape there were still a few Yellow Wagtail around and at Holton Pools 3 Greenshank, 1 Kingfisher and a fly by Peregrine.

This wind isn’t going anywhere fast. Well, technically it is…about 30-40mph fast, but you know what we mean. These low-pressure systems are stuck in place until early next week. Most stuff was again keeping low today with highlights being now 30 Spoonbill at Shipstal, Arne. At Holton Pools there was 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Greenshank. At Lytchett Fileds a juvenile Arctic Tern was hawking over the fields, a Cattle Egret was on Otter Island, a Marsh Harrier flew through as did a Hobby and a Spotted Redshank was on the fields. In Middlebere there were 5 Knot, 2 Greenshank, 10 Grey Plover, 1 Little Stint and c100 Black-tailed Godwit. Spurn up on the north east coast saw the first large vis-mig movement of the autumn and with conditions looking near perfect next week, it looks as if Dorset could see its first big push of mid-late autumn migrants begin passing over our coastal areas too.

Highlights from today included a Cattle Egret at Lytchett Fields again with 12 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Dunlin fields on the fields. At Sunnyside an Osprey flew over towards Hartland, struggling into the wind with a fish, with a Whinchat and Kingfisher also at Sunnyside.

Windy? Errr…yep! There’s literally no chance of finding much ‘small stuff’ over the next few days unless you fancy doing some sea watching and you happen to come across a Grey Phalarope or two. Sadly a strong SW wind isn’t very productive for Poole Bay bird watching but species like Gannet, Fulmar and Kittiwake have all been blown into the harbour in conditions like this with some even ending up of Wareham town centre! Holton Pools, Lytchett Bay, Brownsea Lagoon and Sunnyside will all be worth checking as species look to take shelter and by scanning through gull flocks you never know when you’re going to come across a Little Gull, Black Tern or something rarer. On Brownsea there was still 1 Curlew Sandpiper present and 111 Avocet. In Middlebere there were 8 Spotted Redshank and 10 Greenshank with another Spotted Redshank on Lytchett Fields with 1 Knot, 7 Greenshank, 40+ Curlew, 10 Dunlin, 30 Redshank and first 3 Little Grebe of the winter in Lytchett Bay. Peregrine flew over Holes Bay, Middlebere and Brands Bay. At Holton Pools Greenshank were feeding close to the hide and the Kingfisher was seen again.

Today was the first Poole Harbour WeBS count of the 2018/19 autumn/winter season which saw a good number of waders logged but not very many over-wintering duck have returned yet, but seeing as its only mid-September that’s not very surprising. Highlights included 2 Great White Egret in Holes Bay NW (Upton CP), 20 Spoonbill at Arne, 1 Common Sandpiper in Holes Bay SE and still good number of Sandwich Tern hanging around. Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Curlew and Dunlin were well represented for so early on in the season. At Sunnyside 10+ Yellow Wagtail were on the scrape, and Lytchett Fields there were 7 Green Sandpiper and 1 Marsh Harrier.

This morning the Stour Ringing Group hosted a ringing demo for the Dorset Wildlife trust in which we supported and a nice selection of common migrants were ringed with Reed and Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Blackcap all logged. Sadly, yet again low numbers of Chiffchaff were caught with just 2 netted and even more frustratingly the best bird of the morning was caught as we were packing up and everyone had left…an adult male Bearded Tit! Near by at Lytchett Fields it was all about the waders with 1 Ringed Plover, 10 Greenshank, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, c30 Redshank, 2 Common Sandpiper and 4 Greenshank plus 7 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Peregrine. Out in Lytchett Bay a flock of 100+ sinensis Cormorant were feeding. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 3 Curlew Sandpiper still and 3 Spoonbill. In Poole Park a Kingfisher is back (and will now stay for the winter so keep an eye out) plus out on Baiter 9 Turnstone, 11 Oystercatcher and 2 Little Egret. Marsh Harrier are appearing at a few sites now and its thought 3-4 have been present this last week with a new female in this AM and others sighted today in Middlebere and Holton Pools.

Curlew Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon – Clare Slade

Spoonbills – Brownsea Lagoon – Clare Slade

Sedge Warbler – Lytchett Heath 

Bearded Tit – Lytchett Heath 

Today was fairly quiet with a few ‘odds and sods’ reported including 7 Yellow Wagtail and a Whinchat at Lytchett Fields, an Osprey in Middlebere, 2 Kingfisher in the mouth of the PC World outflow in Holes Bay NE, a reasonable pulse of hirundines, mainly House Martins pushing through, a Wheatear at Holes Bay (they’ve been very scarce this autumn), 2 juvenile Hobby at Morden Bog and on Baiter beach the small Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Dunlin flock were feeding along the tideline at low-tide. Up on Ballard there was an obvious movement of Blackcap with 73 ringed along with 1 Garden Warbler, 3 Grasshopper Warbler, 19 Chiffchaff, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Reed Warbler and 3 Sedge Warbler.

Ringed Plover – Baiter Beach – John Pick

We were planning on placing our night sound recording gear out last night as it looked as if a blanket of cloud cover would produce the goods and get birds moving. However, at dusk the clouds disappeared and a crystal clear (and very cold) night followed so we didn’t bother placing our gear out as these conditions in the past have been useless for recording night migrants. We made a mistake. As it transpired the drop in temperature further north prompted a large movement of birds and this morning good numbers of migrants were recorded at many sites. At the PC World drain there were singles of Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, c20 Chiffchaff, 6 Blackcap, 2 Kingfisher and 2 Jay. At Lytchett Heath an impressive 54 Blackcap, 24 Chiffchaff, 12 Sedge Warbler, 7 Reed Warbler and 2 Common Whitethroat moved through the site. On the Brownsea Lagoon a Great White Egret was present for a while and another (or the same) flew across the Studland Road towards Littlesea. In Middlebere there was Marsh Harrier, 1 Spoonbill, 5 Grey Plover and 16 Knot. On Lytchett Fields a Sanderling was a nice surprise.

Pied Flycatcher – PC World Drain (Fleets Corner) – Paul Morton

Pied Flycatcher – PC World Drain (Fleets Corner) – Paul Morton

Here’s a quick round up of today. In Lytchett Bay there were 4 Yellow-legged Gull, 87 Wigeon, and 300+ Black-tailed Godwit and a Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 87 Dunlin, 9 Greenshank, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit and 85 Avocet. At Arne there were 19 Spoonbill. Osprey’s were in Middlebere and at Lytchett Bay.