The weather can’t make its mind up at the moment. We all love a cold crisp winters day, but when a cold NW 20mph wind gets going the draw of a warm fire and hot coffee seems to take over. However, we were still out covering much of the harbour today with our Dorset Discovery winter tour group which saw us visit Brownsea Island, followed by a boat tour around the harbour. Brownsea was busy with the Merlin terrorising all the Grey Plover and Dunlin, 9 Spoonbill were on the northern edge of the lagoon and 2 Spotted Redshank and 2 Greenshank were in front of the Lower Hide.  The lagoon was also holding good numbers Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and c100 Bar-tailed Godwit. The strong wind made viewing tricky on our boat tour but 2 Great Northern Diver, 2 Common Scoter and good numbers of Red-breasted Merganser were the highlights. At Holes Bay the Smew was still in Holes Bay SE and at Lytchett Fields the Green-winged Teal and Lesser Yellowlegs were on Sherford and French’s pools.  At Middlebere a ringtail Hen Harrier was photographed by local photographer Simon Kidner which has to be one of the best photos ever taken of this species within the harbour…bravo Simon!! At Holes Bay NW the Ruff was back in the cattle field with c1000 Black-tailed Godwit. Out in the Wareham Channel 2 Marsh Harrier were hunting and the Starling murmuration at South Haven, Studland was still going strong.  

Hen Harrier – Middlebere – Simon Kidner

Smew – Holes Bay – Ian Ballam

Ruff – Holes Bay NW – Ian Ballam

Thankfully the scuzzy weather from yesterday had subsided and a welcome calm had settled across the harbour. What is likely to be the same Smew that was found on Sunday reappeared in Holes Bay south, the same location one has been present the last 3 winters. Off Middle Beach 21 Black-necked Grebe and a Great Northern Diver were feeding just before the roost formed and off Bramble Bush Bay 22 Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Great Northern Diver and 9 Goldeneye were feeding on the low tide. The Starling roost which still consists of roughly 12,000 birds was made even more dramatic when a Merlin penetrated its way through the center of the flock and grabbing a single Starling in amongst the chaos. At Lytchett Fields the Green-winged Teal and Lesser Yellowlegs was still present with Peregrine and Marsh Harrier there too and at Holes Bay a Marsh Harrier passed over the bypass which is quite a rarity in this part of the harbour. We’ve also been getting several calls about a wacky looking wader in Holes Bay hiding in amongst the Black-tailed Godwit flock which was finally photographed and it looks to be a partial albino/leucistic Black-tailed Godwit with a honking great orange bill. Finally, yet another over-wintering Yellow-browed Warbler was found this time in East Holme in the Frome Valley. 

Starling murmuration – South Haven, Studland – Paul Morton

Partial albino Black-tailed Godwit – Holes Bay – Ian Ballam

Smew with Goldeneye – Holes Bay – Ian Ballam

Despite the deluge that kicked in around 2pm some decent birds were seen around the Arne area with a ringtail Hen Harrier and 3 Marsh Harrier over Middlebere, a male Merlin off Shipstal, 7 Spoonbill feeding off Long Island, 400-500 Avocet feeding in the Wytch Channel and good numbers of common waders and wildfowl in the Middlebere Channel. At Lytchett Fields the Lesser Yellowlegs and Green-winged Teal were still present and out over Swineham 2 Marsh Harrier were hunting. A male and female Scaup were seen up off the north shore of Arne. 

Sometimes, perhaps just once maybe twice if you’re lucky you hit on a birding day that’s so good it defies belief. Today a team of us from BoPH went out and surveyed the entire harbour trying to get a grip on where birds are roosting, feeding and as well as seeing what we could find along the way. The day started at 5am where we were trying out a new piece of thermal imaging equipment which allowed us to spot Woodcock in almost every field we checked along the southern shores. We amazing also managed to find the 2 Purple Sandpiper at North Haven and a Black Redstart at Baiter too using this gear. A boat survey took us straight past a redhead Smew which was tucked in with the now good numbers of Goldeneye out in central harbour with the Black Brant also found in amongst the Brent Geese, with 2 Common Scoter, 2 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe near the harbour entrance. Spoonbills were on the Brownsea Lagoon and Shipstal, Arne. There were 2 Blackcap in a private garden in Poole too. At Poole Park boating lake a Jack Snipe passed over and a Pochard was on the main lake with 6 Goldeneye. Lytchett Fields produced the Lesser Yellowlegs and Green-winged Teal as well as a Water Pipit and Spotted Redshank. At Lytchett Heath a Yellow-browed Warbler was found with 2 Firecrest. At the PC World Drain 5 Common Chiffchaff were seen along with a Siberian Chiffchaff. A single Marsh Tit was at Holton Lee. Up near the Worgret Manor Hotel a flock of 9 Woodlark were found in a stubble field with 10+ Fieldfare (currently pretty scarce). Above Slepe Heath a stunning adult male Hen Harrier was seen dashing by and the Great Grey Shrike was on Hartland. Out on the moors just a single Barnacle Goose was feeding with Canada Geese. At Glebelands Farm a large flock of 20 Yellowhammer were sat in the tops of the trees and at Littlesea, Studland the Great White Egret was present. Off Middle beach 12 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver and 15 Red-breasted Merganser were in the roost. At Bramble Bush Bay Sanderling and Ringed Plover were present and to top the day off we watched the phenomenal Starling murmuration at Shell Bay Studland. In total we logged 122 (including the sibe Chiffchaff and Black Brant) and we missed some pretty easy things too such as Skylark, Linnet, Gannet! Additional birds seen not by our team included 2 ringtail Hen Harrier over Swineham Point, 1 Bittern over Arne Moors, 1 Slavonian Grebe off Middle Beach, 1 Scaup at Gold Point, 41 Sanderling at Blue Lagoon near Sandbanks, 2 Bearded Tits at Lytchett Heath, 1 Merlin at Lytchett Fields, 1 Whimbrel in Newton Bay and 3 Water Pipit on the Wytch Causeway.

Today we hosted our monthly field trip, which today took us along the northern fringes of the Holes Bay Nature Park. The site is owned and managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust and can be one of the most productive sites in the whole harbour during winter. Through Upton CP Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Redwing and Goldcrest were all present and in the NW section of Holes Bay Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pintail and Shelduck were all close to the stone bench, unfortunately there was no sign of yesterdays reported American Wigeon. The Ruff was back in the field with Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit on the SW perimeter of Upton CP. In the NE section of Holes Bay Knot, Spotted Redshank, Avocet, Dunlin, Common Redshank, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Pochard and good numbers of commoner wildfowl were seen from the cycle path next to the outflow. Out on Arne Moors a Bittern was seen flying over and the Great Grey Shrike on the Slepe Heath/Hartland Boarder with 2 Hen Harrier hunting in Poole Harbour west mid-afternoon. At Lytchett Fields the Lesser Yellowlegs and Green-winged Teal were still present and at Studland 11 Black-necked Grebe were in the evening roost off Middle Beach with 17 Red-breasted Merganser. Finally, yesterdays reported Starling murmuration over South Haven, Studland was in full flow with 10-12,000 birds present putting on one hell of a show. The best place to park is in the Shell Beach car park and just stand and watch from 4pm onwards. The noise is one thing but the visuals were out of this world!!!

Despite the cold, some people were out and that resulted in the exciting report of an American Wigeon hidden in amongst the Eurasian Wigeon off Upton CP. This would only constitute the second ever Poole Harbour record, but despite a mass search it couldn’t be re-found. The Lesser Yellowlegs was on Lytchett Fields, 18 Spoonbill were on Shipstal and 2 Great Northern Diver were off the house boats, Studland. Finally a large Starling murmuration has been forming over South Haven, Studland over the last few nights with around 5-7000 performing magically over the Shell Beach car park around 4pm. 

Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Bay – Shaun Robson

Another day and another ‘goodie’ is reported, this time a Yellow-browed Warbler at Greenland’s Farm, Studland. With literally thousands across the UK this autumn and Poole Harbour seeing its best ever autumn for this species in 2016 its no surprise one or two over-winter birds are being discovered. We received some worrying news of a photographer set up out in the open way too close to a well know Hen Harrier roost in Poole Harbour this evening. Can photographers and all wildlife watchers please consider the birds welfare when watching and enjoying the harbours rare and important birdlife, especially during the winter when energy levels and reserves are vital to birds survival.

Pintail, Wigeon, Shoveler off ‘the stone bench’ – Upton CP – Peter Moore

Todays School Bird Boat was a belter with 2 Common Scoter off Goathorn, 2 Great Northern Diver in South Deep, 2 Spoonbill on Brownsea and 20 on Shipstal, 2 Purple Sandpiper on the North Haven slipway, 5 Black-necked Grebe in central harbour, 50+ Goldeneye and the usual spread of Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe. At Swineham the 14 Barnacle Geese at Swineham were still present. There was a report of a Great White Egret over Lytchett Fields where the Lesser Yellowlegs and Green-winged Teal were still present.

Common Seals – Shipstal, Arne

Goldeneye – central harbour 

Common Scoter – Goathorn

Wow, what a morning! No, it hadn’t quite snowed, but it certainly looked like it with everything tinged and sketched white. Early doors saw 12 Barnacle Geese fly from Swineham out on to Arne Moors which could be viewed from Slepe Heath, with a Marsh Harrier also passing over there. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen passing Middlebere. At Lytchett Fields the Lesser Yellowlegs and Green-winged Teal were seen and 8 Crossbill passed overhead with a male Merlin and ringtail Hen Harrier also seen. At Littlesea, Studland the Great White Egret was present and in Bramble Bush Bay 45 Sanderling were feeding. At the PC World Drain there were 4 Chiffchaff and a Firecrest. Finally there were 11 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay.

Colour-ringed Sanderling (awaiting details) – Sandbanks – Peter Moore

Colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit – Upton CP – Peter Moore

Originally ringed 18/01/15 on the Axe Estuary

The scuzzy weather that hit hard over night passed through quickly and gave way to a clear crisp, if not slightly chilly morning. A new year survey boat went out and covered most of the harbour with highlights being 3 Great Northern Diver near the harbour entrance, 16 Black-necked Grebe off Goathorn, 8 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon with another 15 on Shipstal, Arne, 2 Razorbill one off North Haven and another off Brownsea as well as plenty of Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe. On the Brownsea Lagoon the water level was higher than usual but Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal Wigeon, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, a handful of Spotted Redshank, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot and Avocet were all recorded and a Peregrine passed over. At Lytchett Bay the Lesser Yellowlegs was out in the Bay and later found on French’s Pool with a Spotted Redshank there too. An amazing sight of 6 Red Kite drifting low over Upton CP mid-morning, not only is this note worthy due to the time of year (normally seen during spring passage) but rarely do we ever see more than 2 together, suggesting they may have roosted locally somewhere? Also noteworthy was the find of 2 Pochard at Hatch Pond. This may not seem significant in a wider context, but so far this winter Poole Harbour has only seen one individual, which was at Swineham in mid December. Also at Hatch Pond a roost of 102 Magpie went in to trees around the edge of the pond. It seems gone are the days where stable wintering flocks occurred at places like Poole Park, Littlesea and Swineham. In Poole Harbour west 3 Hen Harrier were seen with a possible fourth and in the Wareham Channel 4 Marsh Harrier were counted. At the PC World drain up to 4 Chiffchaff were feeding in the scrub and tide-line. 

Chiffchaff – PC World Drain