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

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