The last Monday before Christmas and the weather is looking mighty fine this week. Perfect for harbour watching. If when out and about around the harbour fringes look out for some of the open water species that feed close to the shoreline such as Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe and Great Northern Diver, the latter now seeming here in good numbers, certainly around the Studland Peninsular. Look a bit harder and Black-necked Grebe, Common Scoter and even possible Velvet Scoter and Slavonian Grebe can be found within the inner bays of Studland such as Bramble Bush Bay and off Redhorn. Holes Bay NE and Upton CP have been really busy these last few days with commoner wader and wildfowl species, but regardless of how common they are these areas offer excellent viewing opportunities along the cycle paths boarding each of the sites. Avocet, Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail and Shoveler should be looked for with Spoonbill and Peregrine frequent this week too. At Pilots point this AM, 41 Sanderling and 17 Ringed Plover were on the beach and 7 Sandwich Tern flew by with just a single Black-necked Grebe feeding off shore in Shell Bay. At Arne and along Soldiers Road Dartford Warbler were active in the warm yet crisp afternoon soon and on Poole Park boating lake the Goldeneye are showing exceptionally well. 

Sunrise from Poole Quay and Baiter – Paul Morton

Today we headed out on our first Birds of Poole Harbour Wareham Channel cruise in what were near perfect conditions. Flat calm waters and no wind or rain (initially) made for perfect viewing opportunities. As we headed out a Guillemot, plenty of Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe and Shag were seen in the mouth of the Wareham Channel and as we cruised silently up towards the River Frome a large feeding raft of c200 Cormorant made the water look as if it were bubbling hot. A ringtail Hen Harrier had the courtesy of hunting pipits over the Swineham reedbed as we passed and the main Swineham GP help good numbers of over-winter waterfowl such as Gadwall, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and a couple of Pochard. Lapwing moved up and down the two river valley’s as did Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit just as the tide began to shift and a Kingfisher posed handsomely on top of some metal fencing up near Ridge Wharf boat yard. As we exited the River Frome the tide had dropped  slightly meaning some Avocet, Redshank, Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit had come into feed along with 6 Spoonbill which showed excellently along the Arne shoreline. Out in central harbour c40 Goldeneye were in several flocks, with 4 Black-necked Grebe close to the boat as we headed across Balls Lake along with 1 Common Scoter more ‘Mergs‘ and Great Crested Grebe. Up to 6 Sandwich Tern were feeding flying around the harbour and 2 Great Northern Diver were off the Brownsea shoreline. The Brownsea Lagoon was also busy as we cruised past with 3 Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and more Spoonbill were singled out amongst the good numbers of commoner waders and wildfowl. In total we logged a very respectable 71 species and we’d like to thank everyone who made it on board for making it such an enjoyable and memorable trip.

Elsewhere around the harbour a Velvet Scoter was seen near the harbour mouth with 2 Common Scoter. In Studland bay there were 19 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver and a Sandwich Tern with 5 Black-necked Grebe in Shell Bay. At the PC World drain 2 Siberian Chiffchaff were present including a returing ringed bird from last witer proving winter site fidelity, along with 2 Little Egret, 2 Kingfisher and 2 Cetti’s Warbler. On Brownsea the Stilt Sandpiper was present still, looking as if its now taken up winter residence here no matter what the tide state is. Will we see it stay until the early spring and moult into summer finery like we saw with the Lytchett Fields Lesser Yellowlegs earlier this year? 

Grey Heron hunting rodents in arable field at Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Goldeneye (male) – Poole Park boating lake – Ian Ballam 

Goldeneye (female) – Poole Park boating lake – Ian Ballam

Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon Upton CP – Rene Goad

Kingfisher – Holton Pools – Rene Goad

A ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting successfully in Lytchett Bay as was a Peregrine that was seen to take a Teal. Holes Bay north-east is a wonderful place to get up close and personal to a wide variety of species such as Wigeon, Teal, Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Redshank and Little Egret to name a few and a Spotted Redshank was seen amongst the throng. Today was the day that the Stilt Sandpiper was finally added to the ever expanding “seen via the webcam list”!

Stilt Sandpiper – Brownsea Lagoon via the webcam

4 Spoonbill were seen feeding on Long Island off Arne on the very low tide along with a large group of Avocet. In Lytchett Bay a pair of Bearded Tit showed very well in near perfect conditions. An adult male & ringtail Hen Harrier were again in the west of the harbour along with a female Merlin. 

 Bearded Tit (male) – Lytchett Bay © Ian Ballam

Bearded Tit (female) – Lytchett Bay © Ian Ballam

Studland Bay still held 1 Great Northern Diver although no Black-necked Grebe were seen but Red-breasted Merganser increased in number to 38. Mediterranean Gulls were prevalent in Studland Bay with at least 50 birds present some of which were attaining their black heads of breeding plumage.

The Stilt Sandpiper was seen from the school bird boat in its usual spot near the seawall on Brownsea Lagoon. Squally weather conditions for this morning’s school bird boat made any attempts at sensible counts challenging especially as birds were scattered far and wide around the harbour. That said, birds appeared to be everywhere and Brent Geese in particular seemed to have increased in number over the past week or so to several hundred birds. Thankfully, Spoonbill are nice and obvious to see and there were 7 on Brownsea Lagoon, 2 on Patchins Point and about 15 roosting on Shipstal Point with another 2 on Lytchett Fields. A single Guillemot sought relative sanctuary just outside of Poole Quay.

Having bemoaned the lack of rare grebes yesterday it was good to hear of 21 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach along with 2 Great Northern Diver and 22 Red-breasted Merganser. The latter of these are numbering over 100 within the harbour but the other two are still conspicuous by the absence. Spoonbill are dotted around the harbour with 2 on Lytchett Fields having dropped onto Holton Lee scrape earlier in the day and another 7 were on Brownsea Lagoon. The trio of Great White Egret were reunited in the Middlebere channel viewed from Coombe Heath but more of a surprise was a Bittern which flew along there towards Shipstal. One or two Sandwich Tern were seen from Poole Quay but there are undoubtedly more in the harbour than this. The Stilt Sandpiper remains on Brownsea Lagoon but continues to avoid our webcam for the time being. Grey Plover are still much in evidence on the lagoon with a healthy count of 230. There seems to be lots of Redwing arriving at the moment after the freezing weather elsewhere in the country and there was a nice mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare in the Pools Field at Lytchett. If you want to try and entice these beautiful thrushes into your garden try putting out some overripe apples. Lastly, there was at least 1 Water Pipit on Lytchett Fields.

Once again 2 Great White Egret were feeding in the Middlebere channel best viewed from Coombe Heath as was at least 1 Spoonbill. Another Spoonbill was off the black pipe in Lytchett Bay. The rarer grebes have been exactly that so far this winter so it was pleasing to hear of a Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s Point in the company of a Black-necked Grebe with 3 more of the latter in Studland Bay.

36 Sanderling could be found sheltering in Shell Bay and the dunes there held at least 17 Linnet. Numbers of Ringed Plover in the harbour continue to fall year on year and the Houseboats in Bramble Bush Bay is probably the most reliable site to see them with 6 present today. 75 Bar-tailed Godwit were in their usual feeding spot along Shore Road. In the west of the harbour 3 Hen Harrier were still present including an adult male and at least 5 Marsh Harrier were in the same area.

Sparrowhawk – Poole Harbour © Mark Wright

Goldeneye (drake) – Poole Park © Ian Ballam

Goldeneye (female) – Poole Park © Ian Ballam

2 Great White Egret could still be viewed from the Coombe Heath viewpoint but otherwise there was very little else reported from around the harbour. 28 Pintail were counted amongst the usual throng of birds in Holes Bay from the stone bench in Upton CP and nearby a was in a private Upton garden.

Brambling – Upton garden – Ian Ballam

Bullfinch – Upton garden – Ian Ballam

Today was grim, grim, grim and in amongst it all were the Poole Harbour WEBS counters trying their best to log the harbour’s wader and wildfowl totals. No easy task in 30mph winds and driving rain, but carry on regardless they did and managed to muster a Red-throated Diver into the harbour through the harbour mouth, 200 Brent Geese on Baiter and 5 Goldeneye in Poole Park, with 2 Sandwich Tern in Parkstone Bay. Because much of the harbour failed to drain away on the low tide, wader numbers were fairly spare with c220 Avocet feeding in the Wareham Channel and only a handful in the mouth of Middlebere and Wytch Lake, whereas further up the river valley’s Good numbers of Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew were feeding on flooded areas such as Arne Moors and Bestwall. In Middlebere a Great White Egret was feeding late afternoon and Spoonbills were spread across Arne Bay, Holes Bat NE, Lytchett Bay and the Brownsea Lagoon.  There was some fascinating news from Sunnyside, just next to Ridge where The Stour Ringing Group re-caught a Jack Snipe that was first ringed in November 2013, proving winter site fidelity of this species at this specific site. We’re not sure how often this has been proven of this species anywhere in the UK, plus the bird was an adult when it was first ringed four years ago so it’s a hardy little thing too. 

 Black-tailed Godwits – Holes Bay – Simon Buckell

Today, the harbour was calm enough to get a decent count of open water species logged, which included 1 Great Northern Diver, 15 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Common Scoter, 1 Guillemot, c200 Red-breasted Merganser and 50 Goldeneye, c75 Great Crested Grebe. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Stilt Sandpiper was still present and there were 10 Spotted Redshank. At Arne 8 Spoonbill were on Shipstal, and 7 were in Holes Bay. At Lytchett Bay a Merlin, ringtail Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier were recorded mid-morning. At Middlebere 2 Great White Egret were in with Little Egrets, also c500 Avocet, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier were seen from the Middlebere Hide. There seemed to be a moderate arrival of winter thrush such as Redwing and Fieldfare with more visible than in recent weeks, likely due to the worsening weather further north. 

Brent Geese – Baiter Park – Ian Ballam

Spoonbills – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam