The Black Brant was seen again for a short period at Middlebere but remains otherwise elusive. In Holes Bay northeast 20+ Pintail were counted amongst the usual throng of birds feeding here. Poole Park is another good place to see birds close up and today 57 Tufted Duck were present as well as 6 Little Grebe. 3 Common Scoter flew west past Branksome Chine in the morning and another 2 were tucked up in Bramble Bush Bay where the female Velvet Scoter joined them. A single Red-throated Diver flew west past Branksome Chine and 4 Great Northern Diver were off Middle Beach with another in the harbour off Goathorn. The rarer grebe species were better represented today with single Slavonian Grebe off Middle Beach and Ower Bay. Black-necked Grebe numbered 15 off Middle Beach, 6 in Bramble Bush Bay and 2 in Ower Bay. Great White Egret were seen from Coombe viewpoint and along the foreshore at Goathorn. 13 Spoonbill were on Brownsea Lagoon with 22 feeding on Long Island later in the day with another bird present in Lytchett Bay. In the west a male Merlin, 2 Hen Harrier and 2 Marsh Harrier were seen in the afternoon and another 2 Marsh Harrier were watched flying west off Branksome Chine presumably fleeing colder weather elsewhere. Single Merlin and Hen Harrier were also seen at Lytchett Bay. The Stilt Sandpiper was still on Brownsea Lagoon where there was also 4 Spotted Redshank and 10 Greenshank. 30 Knot were counted on the lagoon. Just 1 Ring-necked Parakeet was seen in Studland village, have the rest of them decamped to Swanage where a small group has been seen recently? Along the Wytch Causeway 3 or 4 Water Pipit were present whilst nearby there were 27 Fieldfare along Soldiers Road and at least 10 Chiffchaff were at Norden Sewage Farm. Lastly, a female Hawfinch was again around Priory Farm in East Holme.

With the continued pressure on Hen Harrier elsewhere around the country it is good to know that Poole Harbour provides a safe haven for this magnificent creature with a total of 4 currently using the harbour to feed and roost. Middlebere is still the best place to wait patiently for this species to perform an all too brief fly-past – wrap up warm though! 4 Spoonbill were feeding out on Lytchett Fields and the Spotted Redshank was showing well again in Holes Bay northeast. A Merlin continues to appear late in the day in the west of the harbour and winter thrush numbers swelled with birds moving down from further north.

Holes Bay is always a good place to see birds up close and personal and today a Spotted Redshank was performing admirably just off the PC World Drain outflow. Wigeon, Teal, Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Redshank and Dunlin can usually be seen close to the cycle path in the northeast section of the bay as well it being a good spot to see Little Egret and, occasionally in very cold weather, Spoonbill.  At the moment the Spoonbill are a bit spread out around the harbour but haven’t visited Holes Bay much yet this winter, today’s reports were of 9 on Shipstal Point and 2 in the Middlebere Channel. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen again from the Avocet Hide at Middlebere.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and many thanks for all your support in 2017. We’re really looking forward to an exciting and full 2018 and hope you can join us along the way!

All of today’s avian action was at Middlebere where a Black Brant was found amongst 238 (Dark-bellied) Brent Geese. This is presumably last years returning bird which proved quite difficult to track down as most likely its favoured feeding spot is not easily viewable from public areas. The following were also noted in the channel: Teal 248, Yellow-legged Gull 1 1cy (first calendar year), Avocet 488, Spotted Redshank 1, Spoonbill 2, Hen Harrier 1 ringtail and a Peregrine.

Few reports were received today the best of which was 4 Common Scoter off Hamworthy Park as well as a Guillemot in amongst the usual Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe. A lone Spoonbill was feeding out in Lytchett Bay along with 80 Avocet.

Dark and overcast day today, made brighter with the discovery of 4 Hawfinch in East Holme, at Priory Farm. They were in trees right next to the ford that crosses the road. A large Yew Tree is situated there, which is why we assume the birds are present. In Poole Harbour west 3 Hen Harrier were present late afternoon as were 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine and a Kestrel. Spoonbills were on Lytchett Fields (with 1 Spotted Redshank, and 3 Avocet), Shipstal Point, Arne and on Brownsea. 

Today we hosted our annual Christmas ‘Birding for Beginners’ boat trip around the harbour. Yet again with flat calm waters, viewing was made easy and a great selection of birds encountered. Out on the water there were 3-4 Great Northern Diver off the NE end of Brownsea, off Whitely Lake and in the North Channel. Out in central harbour the Velvet Scoter and a Common Scoter were with several Goldeneye with another c40 Goldeneye present around the rest of the harbour along with 3 Guillemot. Also c150 Red-breasted Merganser and c50 Great Crested Grebe were logged. In total 10 Black-necked Grebe were counted with some in central harbour and more off Jerry’s Point. 15 Spoonbill were gathered on Shipstal Point, Arne with another 15 on the Brownsea Lagoon. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Water Pipit and several Chiffchaff were recorded around the Lytchett Bay area. Merlin, Marsh and Hen Harrier were all logged from Middlebere and a decent flock of Fieldfare were hanging around on the top of Hartland. 

It’s all about the open water at the moment. To have such a sustained long period of still weather is pretty rare in December so monitoring the open water bodies of the harbour has been a sheer joy this last week or so. This morning 11 Black-necked Grebe were off Hamworthy Park beach with 13 later counted off Shipstal Point, Arne. Great Northern Divers were off both sites too with another off Baiter. There have been 2 Kingfisher bombing around Poole Quay this last week, often favouring the stone entrance to the marina opposite the Lord Nelson pub. Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser and winter plumaged Great Crested Grebe are all fairly easy to locate now out on the open water, certainly any area west of Brownsea. Spoonbills were roosting on Shipstal, Arne and up to 3 Guillemot have been fishing in between Baiter and the Poole ferry terminal all week. There were even a few signs of spring (yes spring) when a Song Thrush was in full song at Upton CP mid morning, indicating how mild it is.  At least one Siberian Chiffchaff was seen again at the northern end of the PC World drain with 2 Common Chiffchaff and a Firecrest.

Little Egret – PC World drain 

Firecrest – PC World drain 

Yesterday there was some excellent news in that it was just announced that the British Government had agreed to extend the Poole Harbour SPA (Special Protection Area) by around 44%. This means that nearly 50% more of the Poole Harbour area has this statutory designation, meaning stronger and better protection for the areas within the SPA.  Several new species have been included within the designation too including Spoonbill, Sandwich Tern and Little Egret, meaning that Poole Harbour is nationally and internationally important for these species. This extra protection is a huge asset to the harbour and a real accolade to those who work tirelessly to monitor and protect our local area. Well done to all involved. This evening 2 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver and c20 Red-breasted Merganser were off Hamworthy Park Beach. In Holes Bay NE there were 51 Avocet, c2500 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, c50 Redshank and 1 Peregrine overhead. In Poole Harbour west we’re now up to 3 Hen Harrier which is great news and 5 Marsh Harrier now with a Merlin still arriving in at dusk on Hartland Moor. In Brands Bay a Black Brant was found in amongst 185 Brent Geese and off Middle Beach there were 2 Great Northern Diver and 14 Black-necked Grebe. A Woodcock and 12 Lesser Redpoll were seen along the Littlesea nature trail at dusk. The Stilt Sandpiper was on Brownsea again. At Littlesea, Studland it seems last years Starling murmuration is beginning to form again with c5000 coming in at around 16:30 this evening. Last year this spectacle was a huge crowd pleaser and brought so many people together. We’re hoping the same can happen again this winter with even more people getting to enjoy this natural and breathtaking performance. 

New Poole Harbour SPA designation area

Today was another fine day, with a good spread of winter birds around the harbour. At Arne 18 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point and along the Middlebere Channel a ringtail Hen Harrier was present with another present out in the Wareham Channel. A Common Scoter and Great Northern Diver were out in central harbour with 3 Black-necked Grebe and the usual good numbers of Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye. At the Holes Bay NE outflow a Siberian Chiffchaff was feeding in the scrub and out from the channel outflow c40 Avocet, c50 Dunlin, c150 Black-tailed Godwit and c3000 Wigeon were feeding. At Lytchett Fields a Spotted Redshank was present and 2 Spoonbill were out in Lytchett Bay. A Great Northern Diver was off the Brownsea Quay and 2 Guillemot were feeding off Poole Quay.

Black-tailed Godwit – Swineham – Paul Morton

Lapwing – Frome Valley – Paul Morton