Apparently it’s going to get cold, cold, cold next week, so with today being another blissfully rich spring day, full of birds who knows what next week will have in store for us? Again, today was great for spring migrants, coming in from a whole range of areas. Highlight of the day must go to the Wood Warbler which turned up in a very urban area of Poole north where it happily sang and fed in a line of Oak Trees for 20 minuets before disappearing off. Up on Old Harry totals included 1 Redstart, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat, 5 Wheatear, 7 Willow Warbler, 2 Swallow, 6+ Yellowhammer, 3 Fulmar, 2 Gannet and 7 Guillemot/Razorbill. At Challow Hill several Common Whitethroat are back on territory along with 4+ Blackcap. There were more Cuckoo at Arne (2), Sunnyside (1) and Swineham (1). Over Swineham a herd of 27 Mute Swan flew low east which included the Lodmoor Swan Goose! Between Wareham and Swineham another great count of warblers was made with 34 Reed Warbler, 17 Cetti’s Warbler, 7 Sedge Warbler, 6 Blackcap and 6 Chiffchaff all noted along with 4 Wheatear and 4 Whimbrel out on the grazed floods behind ‘Curlews’ cottage. Up On Hartland a few Wheatear were dotted about with a few more on Hartland Stud. On Arne Moors there was a single Little Ringed Plover. At Arne 2 Yellow Wagtail were in the farm fields. At Lytchett Fields there were 3 Ruff today with 3 Whimbrel, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Sedge Warbler, 6 Reed Warbler all present and a drake Red-breasted Merganser was in the bay. At South Haven, Studland there were 7 Wheatear, 2 Swift, 35 House Martin and 1 Sand Martin with 2 Dunlin, 1 Greenshank and 6 Whimbrel in Brands Bay. 

Wheatear – Hartland Moor – Paul Morton

Reed Bunting – Swineham – Paul Morton

Again it seemed like migrants were on the move today, or had at least arrived with really good numbers Reed and Sedge Warbler at Swineham/Bestwall. In total 19 Reed Warbler and 17 Sedge Warbler were logged with 14 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Whitethroat, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Common Sandpiper, c10 Swallow and 1 Egyptian Goose. In Poole Town a Pied Flycatcher was singing in a suburban garden at dawn. Up On Ballard 3 Grasshopper Warbler were reeling, also present were 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 20+ Willow Warbler, 5 Common Whitethroat, 5 Wheatear and 2 Yellow Wagtail over. At Lytchett Bay there were 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Greenshank and 2 Ruff. We continued with our night monitoring from our Listening Station in Poole and again had a decent list of birds with a fly over Ring Ouzel at 2:53am the highlight, also 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit flocks, 1 Water Rail and 1 Moorhen.

 Ring Ouzel – Call of spring night migrant – Old Town Poole Listening Station 22/04/17/ @ 02:53

Common Whitethroat – Old Harry – Paul Morton

Wheatear – Old Harry – Paul Morton

Spring migrant totals are picking up a bit now with numerous arrivals around the harbour. On Hartland Moor a Lesser Whitethroat was singing and Common Whitethroat are now back on territory at Challow Hill. At Lytchett Fields there were 4 Wheatear and Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff numbers continue to increase at many sites around the harbour. Lytchett Bays first Cuckoo of the spring and the bay also saw a decent run of waders in the morning with 23 Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Whimbrel and 9 Greenshank on the rising tide along with the 2 Ruff out on the fields. The Great Grey Shrike was again in the SE corner of Hartland Moor. On all the heaths Stonechat and Dartford Warbler are in full breeding mode, however when will we hear/see our first Nightjar of the summer? A night recording session from our Listening Station in Old Town Poole produced a good flow of birds during the latter part of the night with 4 flocks of Bar-tailed Godwit, several Common Sandpiper, 3 Dunlin, 3 Grey Plover, 1 Moorhen, 1 Tree Pipit and 5 Song Thrush.

LYTCHETT BAY NOTICE – Please can we remind ALL visitors to Lytchett Fields that there is strictly no access beyond the viewpoints looking over the fields. The new hide structure you can see as you look south is not part of the Lytchett Fields reserve, but is in fact part of the Holton Lee estate. This is an exciting new project we’ve been working on in partnership with Liveability – Holton Lee and we’ll hopefully have more info on that project for you in the near future. We thank-you for your continued support cooperation. 

 Bar-tailed Godwit – Night migrating flock – Old Town Poole Listening Station 21/04/17 @ 02: 12

Meadow Pipit – Hartland Moor

Stonechat – Hartland Moor – Colin Moyes

Surprise of the day today was re-finding the Hartland Great Grey Shrike sat on wires at the south-eastern end of Hartland Moor. It looked quite settled and was happily feeding on beetles and ants.  This is quite a late date for this species, although one did hang around in Dorset in 2013 until April 30^th so we’ll wait and see if it too remains as a long stayer. We also received late news of a Fieldfare in fields down the road from Arne on Wednesday evening which too seems quite late. Migrants were again a bit thin on the ground but Wheatears were still up on Hartland Stud (2) and in the Hartland Sheep/Cattle fields (6). On pools in the Lower Frome Valley 3 Little Ringed Plover were feeding, along Arne Moors and around Swineham/Bestwall good numbers of Reed and Sedge Warbler were still singing. At Hatch Pond a Reed Warbler was singing too. The Great White Egret was again recorded near East Holme Bridge. At Challow Hill the springs first Whitethroat arrived back on territory but still just Blackcap and Chiffchaff the only other migrants. At Lytchett Bay the 2 Ruff were still on the fields and House Martin were gathering mud from the field edges. 

Great Grey Shrike – Hartland Moor

Summer migrants were still coming through around the county and our feature species seemed to be Wheatear with good numbers about. There were 2 on Hartland Stud, 7 on top of Hartland Moor, 4 on Studland golf course and 16 at Greenlands Farm. Willow Warbler were again conspicuous around the harbour and Blackcap numbers seem to be increasing too. Again Swallow with the odd House Martin thrown in for good measure came through for most of the morning, and at Sunnyside Farm a male Ring Ouzel was feeding in the fields whilst Lapwing displayed and Willow Warblers sang. A Great White Egret was reported from East Holme and a Hobby was hunting over a boggy area of Upton Heath. We carried out our first night recording session for a while from our listening station in Old Town Poole, and despite WNW winds dominating some passage was picked up with Common Sandpiper, Dunlin, Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel and likely Bar-tailed Godwit all recorded during the hours of darkness. 

Whimbrel – Calls of a night migrating flock – Old Town Poole Listening Station 19/04/17 @ 02: 39 

Sandwich Terns – Poole Harbour

Displaying Sparrowhawk – Corfe Castle

Other areas of the county saw big falls of birds today and we had our fair share trickling through to inner parts of the harbour. Ring Ouzels were seen up on Hartland Moor and along Soldiers Road. At Arne Redstart and an early Spotted Flycatcher were reported. There seemed to have been a mini influx of Willow Warbler too with many singing in mixed woodland around the harbour. At Lytchett Fields the 2 Ruff were still present with a single Little Ringed Plover, 2 Wheatear and a new Reed Warbler. On the Brownsea Lagoon a smart summer plumaged Spotted Redshank was feeding in front of the Lower Hide and 23 Knot, 6 Avocet and 6 Greenshank were also present. On Hartland Stud 2 Wheatear were feeding and a small pulse of Swallow were moving through out the day. In Holes Bay north a late(ish) Wigeon was hanging out with some Mallard and a Common Sandpiper was near the outflow.

Chiffchaff – Hartland Moor – Paul Morton

Wigeon – Holesa Bay north 

Common Sandpiper – Holes Bay north 

As April progresses more and more migrants will continue to arrive, but this NW wind will be keeping things at bay. It still doesn’t seem like a huge amount has turned up, so here’s hoping the last 2 weeks of April and early May see’s a big rush of birds. Today was still pretty decent though with a good mix of migrants around Swineham with 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 10 Sedge Warbler on the River Frome walk, 9 Reed Warbler, 6 Wheatear in the field behind the house aptly named ‘Curlews’ where in fact it was 3 Whimbrel which joined the Wheatear. 2 Common Sandpiper were on the low tide mark near Swineham Point and over the main pit several Swallow and Sand Martin were feeding. At Lytchett Bay, Sedge Warbler made its first appearance of the spring too. At South Haven 7 Wheatear were dotted around with a singing Firecrest near by (most likely a migrant), a Cuckoo, a few Reed Warbler near the boardwalk and a decent passage of Swallow all heading north. In Brands Bay a Brent Goose remained with 2 Pintail, 25 Teal, 1 Ringed Plover, 8 Whimbrel, 50+ Swallow, 3 House Martin, 2 Sand Martin, 2 Wheatear and a single Whitethroat.

Sedge Warbler – Swineham 

Whimbrel – Swineham 

Swallow – Bestwall

Today most of the focus was on Lytchett Fields/Bay where a reeling Grasshopper Warbler was found at dawn in scrub on the northern edge of the bay where 3 Yellow Wagtail also went over, with both Ruff also still on the fields and 3 House Martin hawking over the approach field. An Osprey flew in over Durlston heading towards the harbour but wasn’t relocated. At Slepe Heath 4 Tree Pipit were buzzing around but not really singing or seeming very settled and a Little Ringed Plover was in the Lower Frome Valley near Swineham. On Hartland Moor early returning migrants and resident breeders were all busy gathering nesting material and singing with Blackcap and Dartford Warbler very prominent. Swallows were passing through the harbour for most of the day on a fairly broad front. The 3 Whimbrel were still on fields at Bestwall. 

Grasshopper Warbler – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Today was fairly quiet with the highlight being a Great White Egret flying north over central Poole. On Lytchett Fields there was a single Little ringed Plover, 2 Ruff, the Lesser Yellowlegs and in the bay was 1 Whimbrel, 5 Ringed Plover and 17 summer plumaged Dunlin. 

Dartford Warbler – Hartland Moor – Keith Rawling

Reports and sightings are few and far between at the moment so if you’re out in the field anywhere within our Poole Harbour recording area then please email us in your sightings or Tweet (@harbourbirds) us or Facebook (Birds of Poole Harbour) us, we’re really keen to about any sightings, especially of any spring/summer migrants. Today the 2 Ruff were still on Lytchett Fields with the Lesser Yellowlegs. At Swineham there were 2 Common Sandpiper and the eastern end of the pit with 4 Swallow, 2 Willow Warbler and 3 Reed Warbler in the area and at Bestwall 3 Whimbrel.