We’re now at the very beginnings of spring migration so we’ll be doing as much night recording as possible. March nights are often busy with thrush’s heading back north and are often joined by a few waders and duck too. Last night we set up our gear at a site 3 miles NW of Poole Harbour and were amazed at the strength of Redwing passage with totals similar to what you’d expect in late October. Between 8pm and 5am we logged 1059 Redwing calls, 109 Blackbird calls, 1 Fieldfare, 1 Skylark and 3 Curlew all presumably heading north. Also, at dusk another Bittern left Swineham GP. In Studland Bay the Velvet Scoter was still with a single Common Scoter and in central harbour there were 3 Black-necked Grebe. In St Mary’s churchyard, Wareham Hawfinch totals had risen to 3. The Brownsea Lagoon saw some incredible totals considering the time of year including 285 Bar-tailed Godwit, 325 Grey Plover, 8 Greenshank, 28 Knot, 2300 Dunlin, 247 Avocet, 2 Spotted Redshank, 180 Oystercatcher, 315 Med Gulls, 1 Little Gull, 110 Shelduck, 110 Teal and 1 Firecrest, plus good totals of commoner waders and wildfowl. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen in Middlebere.

 Curlew – 07/03/18 @ 00:35 Lytchett Matravers – Nocturnal calls of an early spring migrant

Curlew and Redwing 07/03/18 @ 00: 30 – Lytchett Matravers – Nocturnal calls of early spring migrants

There was a really nice mix of birds around today mostly out in the harbour area. We’re still yet to see any signs of spring migration but give it a week and the first Wheatears and Sand Martins will be appearing. Today out in central harbour there was a Red-throated Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Slavonian Grebe. At Holmebridge 4 Spoonbill were resting with another 3 at Shipstal Point, Arne. At Lytchett Fields there were singles of Merlin, Green Sandpiper and Greenshank with 21 Avocet back on the fields. At Sandbanks there were 34 Sanderling with a single Purple Sandpiper at North Haven. At St Mary’s churchyard, Wareham a single Hawfinch was still present. And finally, just outside our Poole Harbour recording area, along Holme Lane a Corn Bunting was seen to fly east which if entered through Poole Harbour airspace would be an absolute local mega!

Spring is getting springier, well, until this afternoon that was. The lower Frome Valley is completely flooded currently and walk around the Bestwall/Swineham River walk would be a good call before all the water drains away. Today c800 Lapwing were feeding between Bestwall and Arne Moors as were 3 Ruff, c200 Black-tailed Godwit, c100 Curlew, 1 Golden Plover, c20 Pintail, c50 Teal and still good numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare. At Holme Bridge a Marsh Harrier was quartering over the floodplain west of the river and both Peregrine and Raven were circling over Corfe Castle. At Studland Beach, an almighty gull feeding frenzy consisted of c200 Med Gulls, c200 Herring Gull plus lots of Common and Black-headed Gull. Out in Studland Bay the Velvet Scoter was still present with a single Common Scoter and 2 Black-necked Grebe. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Golden Plover, 4 Shoveler, 1 Spoonbill, 21 Avocet and 3 Greenshank. At St Mary’s churchyard 2 Hawfinch were again in the graveyard. 

Did it really snow a couple of days ago? By the end of today you’d be fooled into thinking it was all some kind of weird dream. The only evidence that the freakish weather event actually took place was due to the fact some odd birds were still about in odd places. Golden Plovers were still about with 3 out on Baiter, 1 on the Brownsea Lagoon and 1 on Arne Moors. Lapwing were still moving about in reasonable numbers with small flocks passing Poole Quay, Holes Bay and Lytchett Fields. On Poole Park boating lake there were 14 Goldeneye, 7 Red-breasted Merganser and a drake Pintail still. In the Wareham Channel area there were 3 Hen Harrier briefly (2 males and a ringtail) and a Bittern was seen on the northern side of the Piddle and another was seen leaving Swineham at dusk…the first departure of the spring. In St Mary’s churchyard, Wareham 2 Hawfinch were feeding on the ground and along Holme Lane at dawn another Hawfinch flew east over ‘the egret field’ as did 4 Woodlark and 3 Reed Bunting. Decent sized Fieldfare and Redwing flocks were noted around the harbour with 200 in East Holme, 200 in fields along the A35 Upton dual carriage way and good numbers still at Arne. For early March Holes Bay NE was packed on the falling tide late afternoon with 1 Spotted Redshank in its usual spot by the out flow but also c400 Wigeon, c100 Avocet, c50 Teal, c40 Pintail and a good spread of Redshank, Curlew and black-tailed Godwit. Like else where around the county there were a few reports of dead birds that had suffered due to the cold with a dead Shelduck in Holes Bay and a dead Lapwing near Bestwall. 

Hawfinch – St Mary’s churchyard, Wareham – Peter Moore

Hawfinch – St Mary’s churchyard, Wareham – Peter Moore

Lapwing – Holes Bay NE – Rene Goad (02/03/18)

Blackcap – Poole garden – Rene Goad (02/03/18)

Greenshank – Holes Bay NE – Rene Goad (02/03/18)

Shag – Poole Harbour – Keith Rawling

Sadly due to the weather we weren’t able to open he new HQ today and unless you could see birds from your kitchen/living room window then there wasn’t much opportunity to ‘getting out’ with snow and ice gripping the entire county. We’re sure there were some incredibly beautifully scenes to be had and that many of you have photos you’ll be able to treasure for a long time. Not us though…we were stuck! We did however receive a huge number of emails and correspondence from people overjoyed at the fact they had Fieldfares and Redwings in their garden…and quite rightly too. These hard weather movements provide unique birding opportunities and to see such stunning birds (like Fieldfare and Redwing) turn up in your garden can provide hours of entertainment, no matter how many apples you ended up throwing out on to the lawn. We even received a photo of a Common Snipe that turned up in a Shore Road garden early morning! The next few days will continue to be interesting as the snow thaws so keep an eye out for more cold souls and wandering treasures. 

Common Snipe – Shore Road garden

Well, what a fascinating day. Firstly, we’d like to say a huge thanks to all those that braved the conditions and made it to the opening of the new Birds of Poole Harbour HQ. At midday a clan of about 60 eager people from local businesses, project partners, NGO’s and members of the public gathered in the snow for the ribbon to be cut by our guest Ruth Peacey. Despite the weather we received a warm reception and kind words from our guests and we can’t wait for many more of you to drop in over the coming weeks to see and learn about the work we do as a charity and to get you all hooked on the Birds of Poole Harbour. Sadly, due to the conditions that set in mid-afternoon we had to close early and even then some of our staff got caught out on the way home and had to abandon their cars a few miles from home! Its predicted that this cold spell won’t last long and we’ll be back up and running before you know it.

Now, the other main feature of the day was of course the weather. Hard weather conditions like this always play havoc with the birds and it wasn’t long before we began seeing effects of the cold weather taking shape. Out the front of the BoPH HQ, a few Fieldfare, Redwing and c30 Lapwing were moving west above the Quay, moving ahead of the front that was coming up from the south west. Most amazingly though was when a drake Garganey was found sheltering in the mouth of the PC World drain at dawn, a true sign that spring really had arrived. It was looked for later in the day on the low tide but couldn’t be relocated, however 5 Golden Plover and c30 Lapwing were out on the mud (very rare in Holes Bay) and 2 Jack Snipe were feeding right out in the open, trying to find patches of un-frozen mud. There was also 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Spoonbill, 4 Tufted Duck, 40 Pintail, 100 Avocet, 300 Wigeon, 5 Shoveler, 4 Gadwall and 5 Rock Pipit. At Lytchett Fields there were 2 Spoonbill, c30 Lapwing, 60+ Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing and 2 Water Pipit.  A Woodcock flew across the road at Wessex Gate retail park in the peak of the blizzard mid afternoon with another Woodcock seen at South Haven and a Lapwing on the chain ferry slip way. In Parkstone Bay, near Whitecliff there were a further 2 Golden Plover and 2 Lapwing on the mud (very rare here too) and a Hawfinch pitched down in a Stoborough garden briefly with several more Golden Plover overhead there too. Only a single Hen Harrier was seen to come out of the roost this AM despite 4 going in the night before. Obviously didn’t fancy getting up and we can’t say we don’t blame them. Around the harbour people were also reporting Fieldfare, Redwing and Blackcaps in their gardens which is always a joy, just make sure you keep feeders topped up and bits of fruit on the ground as it looks as if they’ll certainly need it over the coming days. 

OPEN DAY 

OPEN DAY – Ribbon being cut for new BoPH HQ

Record shot of drake Garganey – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam

Fieldfare – Poole Garden – Colin Moyes

Today we spent all day getting ready for tomorrows big opening so no time was had for birding sadly. It was absolutely Baltic anyway and the cold wind kept everyone and everything low it seemed. Best was just a small showing of cold weather movements beginning with Lapwing, Redwing, Fieldfare and a few Black-tailed Godwit seen on the move. I think everyone and everything is just getting prepared for the coming days weather forecast. 

Yep, its certainly getting colder and with just one more day to go until our new Birds of Poole Harbour visitor HQ opens, will we see a total white out before the big day? Who knows, but regardless of sun, snow or storms we’ll be opening at midday on March 1^st, to celebrate the unofficial start of spring…and we really mean ‘unofficial’!

Despite the cold today a nice list of birds emerged including 2 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe in Shell Bay, with another Black-necked Grebe flying through the harbour mouth early evening. In Bramble Bush Bay were 4 Ringed Plover, 32 Sanderling, 1 Greenshank and a Lesser Redpoll. At Littlesea the Great White Egret was seen (also seen from Coombe Heath) and there were 60+ Grey Plover in Brands Bay. At Whitley Lake on the low tide c120 Med Gulls gathered and there were 40 Sanderling and a single Sandwich Tern. At Norden sewage works there was a single Firecrest 3 Chiffchaff and 2 Hawfinch at Norden park and ride. 3 Crossbill flew over Poole Town and Blackcaps seem to be visiting more gardens than normal In Holes bay NE c10 Pintail, 2 Spotted Redshank and c20 Avocet were present. From Lytchett Bay view this AM, 5 Spoonbill were on Otter island and a female Merlin zipped over the marsh. There were 3 Hen Harrier still in the west of the harbour late afternoon and 2 Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel with c50 Bar-tailed Godwit which is unusual. On Lytchett Fields a single Spoonbill was feeding and there were 3 Water Pipit.

As we mentioned, our new engagement HQ opens on March 1^st, but if you can’t make it then, we’ll be open over the weekend too. For a full overview of the project you can read our recent press release HERE. 

Cold bleak scene at Poole Park – Paul Morton

Snow descending on Old Harry and Ballard Down – Paul Morton

At Lytchett Bay late afternoon a decent-ish gull roost formed in the bay on the rising tide, consisting mostly of Black-headed and Common Gull. 6 Med Gulls also dropped in but despite constant scanning in minus 1 degree nothing ‘juicer’ could be found. It seems Weymouth is currently hogging all the good gulls. 76 Avocet were feeding in the bay and just 3 Red-breasted Merganser could be seen. In Holes Bay NE another c50 Avocet were feeding in the channel, 11 Pintail were in amongst the Wigeon and Teal, the Spotted Redshank was in its usual place by the outflow and a Peregrine was on Pergins Island briefly. A quick scan off Baiter couldn’t relocate yesterdays reported Red-necked Grebe but 8 Great Crested Grebe, 11 Red-breasted Merganser and 5 Med Gulls were just off the beach. In Lytchett Minster, 2 Hawfinch were settled in trees by the church briefly. There were also 3 Spoonbill in Lytchett Bay, 2 on Holton Pools with a Water Pipit there too. In Poole Park Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye were showing superbly down to a few meters, allowing close study of plumage detail and features. 

Red-breasted Merganser – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

The beast from the east is building slowly but the clear sky is allowing the sun to generate some minor warmth in sheltered areas and you can see birds taking advantage of this by sheltering on the leeward side of Spartina banks and muddy fringes. The cold wind is stall making viewing difficult but a Red-necked Grebe was reported off Baiter/Parkstone Bay and a Golden Plover was seen heading west over Holmebridge, indicating the possible beginnings of a cold weather movement. Also in the frome Valley near Holmebridge were 2 Egyptian Geese, 1 Spoonbill and 4 Little Egret. There was also a report of a possible Common Crane see flying over Organford late afternoon.