This winter (in partnership with the Stour Ringing Group) we really upped the amount of Woodcock monitoring and ringing we did around the harbour in comparison to previous years. We finished up ringing c70 new Woodcock, between Oct 16 and Mar 17 and also re-caught over-wintering birds from previous years. Today we received info back from the BTO that a Woodcock ringed by SRG back in 2015 near Middlebere was recently shot 480km north of Moscow in Semenkovo, Russia on 31 March 2017. This is our second Russian shot Woodcock recovery from Poole Harbour, the last one being ringed at Lytchett Bay and shot 500 miles east of Moscow back in 2009. Why they have to shoot them instead of just catching them like us is any ones guess. Seems very sad to fly 2500kn to then only get shot! Map and full details below.

Sightings-wise there was a Lesser Whitethroat along the track at Middlebere, a Grasshopper Warbler at Lytchett Fields, with all 3 Ruff again, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 2 Whimbrel and 40+ Black-tailed Godwit. Cuckoos were at Middlebere, Hartland and Arne. Swift numbers were building slightly with 15 over Swineham GP. At Upton CP 2 Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Whimbrel were out on the mud and a Firecrest was singing in the CP grounds. 

This morning several local birders tried another sea watch from Branksome chine but it just went to show that to produce the goods, you really need that strong SE wind. Totals today included 8 Shelduck, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Gannet, several Common and Sandwich Tern, several Med Gulls and 1 Peregrine. In Poole Harbour mouth the low tide saw a small group of 12 Common Tern feeding around one of the exposed islands. Amazingly the Hartland Great Grey Shrike is still there, this has to be potentially one of the latest Great Grey Shrikes the harbour’s ever had. At Greenlands Farm there were 7 Wheatear, 3 Stonechat, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser-spotted Woodpecker (slightly further west) and several Blackcap singing. At Lytchett Fields a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling near the waterworks, a Cuckoo was calling over towards Holton Lee but later made its way near French’s Farm, on the fields there was a male Ruff, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank, 4 Whimbrel in the bay and a Marsh Harrier over. At Lytchett Heath Bearded Tit were calling from the reedbeds at the end of the heath.

Below are a few recordings we made yesterday whilst trying to sound record the Grasshopper Warbler at Lytchett Bay which annoyingly shut up once we got our gear out. However this Reed Warbler was far more obliging, the Cetti’s Warbler also wanted in on the action whilst this female Bullfinch was producing a range of calls rarely heard unless listened to at close quarters. 

 Reed Warbler – Song of male – Lytchett Bay – 01/05/17 @ 08:42

Bullfinch – Calls of a female – Lytchett Bay – 01/05/17 @ 09:04 

 Cetti’s Warbler – Outburst of song – Lytchett Bay – 01/05/17 @ 08:48

Conditions over night evolved into a perfect opportunity for a dawn sea watch, with a SE wind building and rain forecast for mid morning. Poole Bay is a large area that relies on the SE wind to push migrating sea birds closer to the shore as they migrate their way up through the English Channel. Several local Poole birders were out early this AM monitoring migrating sea birds and from Branksome Chine returned with a great bird log. Totals included 7 Arctic Skua, 1 Pomarine Skua, 1 Great Skua, 1 Black Tern, 3 Arctic Tern, numerous Common and Sandwich Tern, c15 Whimbrel, 5 Dunlin, 1 Great Northern Diver, 4 Common Scoter, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Shelduck, c50 Gannet, 5 Fulmar, a decent passage of Great Black-backed Gulls, several Med Gulls, a single 1^st summer Kittiwake, 1 Hobby and 43 Swallow. A Watch from the top of Ballard Down returned 2 Pomarine Skua, 8 Arctic Skua (5 of which were the same as the Branksome birds), 1 Manx Shearwater, 41 Common Scoter, 3 Brent Geese, 32 Whimbrel, 3 Fulmar and c100 Gannet. And there was more action at the harbour mouth with a single 1^st summer Little Gull, 2 Arctic Tern and 5 Little Tern all logged. At Lytchett Fields there were good numbers of waders with 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Ruff, 12 Dunlin, 4 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper and the pale-headed Egyptian Goose. 

Knot and Ringed Plover – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Today started off still and overcast but a chilly wind picked up as our monthly field trip headed out up to Challow Hill and along towards Nine Barrow Down. The focus was to listen to and find spring migrants which eventually gave themselves up. Along the Challow Hill path there were 6-7 Common Whitethroat territories we also had 1 Yellow Wagtail overhead, 1 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat, several Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer, also Kestrel, Stonechat, Swallow, Raven and Buzzard. At Lytchett Fields the sites first Lesser Whitethroat was singing with 3 Whimbrel, 1 Ruff, 100+ Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 9 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin and a summer plumaged Knot all on the fields. At Arne an Osprey was reported flying and fishing in the mouth of Middlebere and there were 5 Yellow Wagtail in the Arne farm fields and the Redstart was still singing near Shipstal. 

Our Group above Corfe Castle – Barbara Bisset

Whinchat above Corfe Castle – Pauline Miller

Yellowhammer above Corfe Castle – Pauline Miller

Wheatear above Corfe Castle – Pauline Miller

Important Info – Our spring bird boat tour tomorrow morning has been postponed due to the weather forecast. A new date will be announced shortly. Guests booked on to the tour will be entitled to a full refund or may remain booked on to the tour for the new date when announced. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Can you believe it…no rain for a month then a down pour and strong winds on our premier Spring boat trip!!!! Please call 07711370386 for any further enquiries regarding this event. #maybenexttime

Today started off strangely when a male Wood Duck flew through over the Holton Lee reed bed at around 8:15am. Ok, there are several feral populations around the UK but as far as we can recall there haven’t been any Dorset, let alone Poole Harbour records for this species for a number of years. We also did another survey up the Wareham Channel today too, and although a cold westerly blew we still counted 3 Swift and reasonable numbers of Swallow, House and Sand Martin over Bestwall. There were still plenty of singing Reed and Sedge Warbler along the River Frome walk and 3 Common Sandpiper, 8 Whimbrel and 2 Oystercatcher were around the Swineham area. Out in central harbour it seems all over-wintering wildfowl have now moved on with just c20 Great Crested Grebe hanging on. At Arne both singing Wood Warbler and Redstart were seen down near the Shipstal Wood, with 12 Whimbrel in Middlebere. On Brownsea 32 Common Tern and 62 Sandwich Tern were counted with Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover, Greenshank, Dunlin, Knot and 80 Med Gulls also recorded. 

Things seemed much quieter today with a Hobby feeding over the Corfe to Studland road, a good number of Whimbrel in Middlebere, 2 Ruff, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed plover, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank and 120+ Black-tailed Godwit at Lytchett Fields.

The wind eased off a bit today and a good mixture of species were seen. The Osprey was again in the Wareham Channel. A Cattle Egret was in fields just west of the Stoborough causeway. In Middlebere a good spring count of 22 Grey Plover were feeding on the low tide with c 200 summer plumaged Dunlin, 1 Knot, 2 Ringed Plover, 5 Redshank and c70 Black-tailed Godwit. At Challow Hill there were 5 Whitethroat on territory, 3 Yellowhammer, 7 House martin, 4 Blackcap and a female Stonechat feeding newly fledged chicks. On the Brownsea Lagoon 2 Ringed Plover, 24 Sandwich Tern, 10 Dunlin, 6 Avocet, 1 Knot, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Greenshank were counted. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Ruff, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper and 7 Dunlin dropped in. At Arne a Cuckoo was singing late afternoon and a Marsh Harrier went over the Wareham Channel.

Ruff – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

The cold wind blew strong today and through any layers trying to prevent frost bite kicking in! The sun did offer some warmth but precious few migrants made their way into the harbour. An Osprey was seen fishing off Swineham Point mid-morning and the Great Grey Shrike was still in the SE corner of Hartland Moor. At Lytchett Fields the 3 Ruff were still on Sherford Pools with 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank with a Swift over and 1 Garden Warbler, 4 Whitethroat and 3 Willow Warbler in scrub around the site. At Sunnyside Farm there were 5 Wheatear. At Swineham 3 Whimbrel and the Egyptian Goose were on the ‘Curlews’ Cottage paddock with c200 Sand Martin overhead. In more positive news, there was finally some interacting between 2 newly arrived Marsh Harrier in Poole harbour west whilst 2 others watched on. Is it too late for a breeding attempt? We’ll just have to wait and see. 

Little Ringed Plover – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

This evening, something really rare was seen, something we haven’t seen for quite some time…Rain! Along with some building wind from the SW which was just as novel considering northerly winds have dominated since late March/early April. Still, even in a strengthening wind migrants continued to arrive, albeit in smaller numbers. At Arne, where we today started our Dorset Discovery Spring Tour there was Redstart, Hobby, Willow Warbler, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Blackcap and Tree Pipit as well as the standard 7+ Dartford Warbler, 1 Woodlark, Stonechats, Siskins, Meadow Pipits, Mistle Thrush and Green Woodpecker. Up on Hartland the Great Grey Shrike was still happily feeding from wires in the SE corner of the Moor next to Scotland Farm. Another Cattle Egret was found, this time at Bestwall Meadows. At Swineham the Egyptian Goose was still present behind ‘Curlews’ Cottage with 7 Whimbrel and over the main pit c200 Sand Martin, c30 House Martin and Swallow. At Lytchett Bay there were still 3 Ruff, 3 Little Ringed Plover and 2 Whimbrel.

Dartford Warbler – Hartland moor – Chris Snook