After going missing for a day the Green-winged Teal reappeared on Lytchett Fields showing really well on Sherford Pools mid-morning and the Lesser Yellowlegs was again feeding out in Lytchett Bay on the low tide with 2 Spoonbill and a Marsh Harrier there. At Middlebere a ringtail Hen Harrier past the hide several times where it was superbly photographed by local photographer Simon Kidner. At Arne 2 Merlin were seen dashing about in Middlebere and a male Marsh Harrier was also present. At the mouth end the Middlebere Chanel up to 1000 Avocet were feeding in a single flock with Grey Plover, Black-tailed godwit, Dunlin and Curlew also feeding. Off Middlebere 11 Black-necked Grebe were in a single flock. 

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Hen Harrier – Middlbere – Simon Kidner

The Green-winged Teal couldn’t be relocated today but efforts to find it were rewarded when a Great White Egret passed over-head going north and a high count of 7 Water Pipit on the fields. The Lesser Yellowlegs was again off the Black Pipe in Lytchett Bay and a Jack Snipe was flushed from the path. A Marsh Harrier and ringtail Hen Harrier flew by the Middlebere hide mid-morning but there was no sign of the Black Brant that was reported yesterday. There was a (re)sighting of the Great Grey Shrike on Canford Heath again on Saturday and the below map shows the area its been favoring since its stay. Thanks Terry Elborn for the map. At Arne, Firecrests can still be found (with a bit of searching) in the car park and there seem to be good numbers of Dartford Warbler visible around the paths on Coombe Heath.

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Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam 

Map of favored Great Grey Shrike area on Canford Heath just NW of Tower Park

For a drab, foggy Monday morning, the harbour was bustling with birds today. You could be mistaken for thinking Lytchett Fields was in fact some marshy wetland in North America when not one but two North American visitors were on site with the long staying Lesser Yellowlegs and a new find of a Green-winged Teal, a close relative of our Teal. Hidden in amongst the resident flock of Teal on Sherford Pools it could have been present for quite some time but it wasn’t until sharp-eyed patch watcher Ian Ballam picked out the cream vertical lines that run either side from the Teals shoulder down its flank that it could be picked out and separated from the rest of the flock. There was also a report of another North American visitor toady when a Black Brant was seen at Middlebere, this being a very close relative of our dark-bellied Brent Goose. Our school bird boat trip was busy too with a redhead Goosander off Hamworthy beach, 3 Great Northern Diver in central harbour, 2 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, 4 Common Scoter in South Deep (near Brands Bay), 8 Spoonbill on Shipstal and 1 on the Brownsea Lagoon, c30 Goldeneye in central harbour and roughly equal numbers Great Crested Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser of c100 of each. Out in Shell Bay a Slavonian Grebe was feeding and there were 17 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach. As to be expected in early December, Holes Bay on this mornings rising tide provided great views of a whole range of species including Avocet, Curlew, Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Pintail and 2 Tufted Duck all just meters away from the cycle path in the NE corner. 

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Green-winged Teal – Lytchett Fields – Nick Hull

Red-breasted Merganser – Central Harbour – Paul Morton

Common Scoter – South Deep (near Brands Bay) – Paul Morton

It’s been a quiet Short-eared Owl autumn/winter this year compared to last year but finally one was seen out from Shipstal Hide today at Arne. In Holes Bay 4 Spoonbill were feeding by the out flow along with a single Spotted Redshank with another 20 Spoonbill at Arne. Looking out across the Wareham Channel from Slepe Heath 4 Marsh Harrier were counted.

Spoonbill – Holes Bay – Ian Ballam

Winter has a nice habit of throwing up the odd oddity here and there and this morning 2 Common Crane seen heading west up the Frome Valley near Wareham was a good start to the day. A (the) flock of 22 Barnacle Geese ended up on Swineham GP again mid afternoon with 3 Marsh Harrier seen in the general area there too. At Middlebere 2 Woodcock were seen heading out at dusk with a Firecrest calling outside the hide and out in the channel c350 Avocet were sat hunkered down out of the wind on the rising tide. At Arne, apart from the 2500 people there for their now famous ‘Pull a Pine’ event a male Merlin, 3 Spoonbill and a Firecrest were seen. Off Jerry’s Point there were 16 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Goldeneye, 16 Grey Plover along with several Turnstone and Sanderling. Out in Lytchett Bay the Lesser Yellowlegs was off the black pipe and there were 199 Avocet out in the bay. Out in Brands Bay there were 4 Common Scoter and a Peregrine whilst out from Middle Beach a minimum of 5 Black-necked Grebe were noted, although choppy sea made counting difficult. 

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Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Today was a perfect winter day. Cold, still, overcast then bright, biting, icy and with loads of good birds. Our school bird boat began with a bit of drama when an ‘unexploded ordinate’ was found near Poole Quay which almost prevent us boarding our school bird boat, but we boarded quickly and were off. Only to find out the bomb was in fact a piece of scrap metal. Anyway, the trip produced the goods with 1 Eider, 5 Common Scoter, 2 Great Northern Diver, c50 Goldeneye, c100 Red-breasted Merganser, c100 Great Crested Grebe, 23 Spoonbill, 1 Kingfisher, c75 Bar-tailed Godwit and 1 Sandwich Tern. There was a Great White Egret in Bramble Bush Bay and the same or another at Arne and 3 Great Northern Diver off Pilots Point. The Lesser Yellowlegs was again on Lytchett Fields. There was also some late news of a Great Grey Shrike on Coombe heath, Arne on Nov 30^th. Finally a night survey at Holton Lee resulted in 5 Woodcock, 4 Snipe, c50 Lapwing and a Barn Owl.

Today it was foggy and most reports we received were of thick fog from everywhere around the harbour. The only real news was of 20+ Spoonbill at Arne and 1 in Holes Bay. 

Today ended with one of those true magical winter sunsets that sets a scene so perfect you just wish it could last forever. A cold stillness froze over the harbour as the tide began to drop just after lunch time and as the sun sunk lower and lower, illuminating all that was blue to pink and orange, the southern shores became a scene of true beauty. Not to mention full of good birds. Off Middle Beach there were 3 Black-necked Grebe with another 9 off Jerry’s Point and 1 in Shell Bay. There were 5 Great Northern Diver, 1 in Brands Bay, 2 off Jerry’s point, 1 in Shell Bay and 1 on the Brownsea south shore. There were also 5 Common Scoter off Jerry’s Point along with 1 Slavonian Grebe, 25 Sanderling and 11 Ringed Plover just round the corner in Bramble bush Bay. Brands Bay was full on commoner species including great views of Pintail, Grey Plover, Avocet and both Black and Bar-tailed Godwit. In Holes Bay NE 12 Spoonbill were roosting on the high tide with 300+ Dunlin flying on the low tide. At Lytchett Fields the Lesser Yellowlegs was playing hide and seek but eventually showed with a few Snipe and Redshank. Finally there were 4 Goldeneye back on Poole Park Lake.

The cold NE wind persisted making birding conditions tricky but a Spoonbill was seen briefly in Holes Bay SE and there were 8 Great Crested Grebe there too. Bird totals of commoner wader and wildfowl species are on the up with around 20,000 in total now comprising mostly of Wigeon (3805), Teal (3368), Black-tailed Godwit (1703) and Dunlin (1691) according to the last WeBS count. The next is on Dec 11^th and we’re hoping for a full count and looking forward seeing whether this cold snap has drawn in (or forced out) many more birds? At Lytchett Pools 2 Woodcock and a Barn Owl were seen just after dark.