The long-staying Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Lytchett Fields for its ninth day and was joined by 4 Knot, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Ringed Plover, c80 Dunlin, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Wheatear, 5 Chiffchaff and 2 Blackcap. On the Brownsea Lagoon the Spoonbill total remained at 37 and there were still a handful of Curlew Sandpiper around. At Arne there were 3 Firecrest, 4 Blackcap, and 2 Chiffchaff in the car park. There was also late news of a great Poole Harbour record when a Little Owl was seen along Soldiers Road on Sept 19^th. This is likely to be a dispersing juvenile from somewhere, but we have no idea where as Little Owl has been absent from Poole Harbour as a breeding bird for many years.  

Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Today was a busy day for sightings as it was the first Poole Harbour WeBS count of the winter. Highlights included a Great White Egret in Brands Bay with another (or the same) feeding off Long Island, opposite Arne and 18 Sandwich Tern roosting on the Long Island sand spit. At Lytchett Bay/Fields the Lesser Yellowlegs was a nice addition to the WeBS list also 1 Ruff, 8 Green Sandpiper, 7 Greenshank, Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit were recorded. On Brownsea the Spoonbill total reach 37 and there were also 12 Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Ruff, 1 Knot, 4 Grey Plover, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 176 Black-tailed Godwit, 23 Curlew, 13 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 183 Redshank, 1 Sanderling, 138 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone, 13 Ringed Plover, 22 Avocet, 2 Snipe, 73 Wigeon, 16 Shoveler, 6 Sandwich Tern , 1 Common Tern, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Wheatear and a Peregrine. From the Coombe Heath hide at Arne there were 36 Knot, 250 Dunlin, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 7 Grey Plover and an Osprey in the dead trees. Up on Stoborough Heath there were still a few passerines around with 3 Whinchat, 2 Whitethroat, 6 Chiffchaff and 11 Stonechat with another c30 Stonechat and 6 Whinchat in the lower Frome Valley. 

Whinchat – Bestwall – Paul Morton

Great White Egret – Long Island (viewable from Arne) – Paul Morton

Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

Reports from around the harbour were pretty limited today with a Great White Egret and Osprey in Middlebere the highlights. At Lytchett Fields there was just a Ruff, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Curlew Sandpiper and c80 Dunlin. 

After a bit of a wait for several birders the Lesser Yellowlegs finally arrived onto Frenche’s Pools at Lytchett Fields today and was seen on and off throughout the day. Also present was a single Curlew Sandpiper, c80 Dunlin, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Ruff, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Firecrest and a single Kingfisher. At Arne an Osprey was on the nesting platform with a fish, there were 2 Firecrest and a Spotted Flycatcher in the car park and 19 Black-tailed Godwit and 6 Bar-tailed Godwit from the Shipstal Hide. On the Brownsea Lagoon Spoonbill totals were at around 35 and there were 6 Curlew Sandpiper a Spotted Redshank and 4 Greenshank. 

After disappearing yesterday the Lesser Yellowlegs reappeared on Lytchett Fields again. Chances are it was around somewhere but just wasn’t located, it was also in the company of 100+ Dunlin, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper and 6 Greenshank. In the Upton CP/Holes Bay area there was a single Wheatear near McDonalds, 2 Sandwich Tern fishing in Holes Bay south, 2 Spotted Flycatcher near the stone bench, 1 Firecrest in the Grove, a Peregrine went over and in Holes Bay, there were several hundred Black-tailed Godwit with a Knot mixed in with them and there were over 200 Wigeon. 

Today saw our first school bird boat of the autumn/winter season and although many birds still haven’t arrived back yet, there was still a great selection on show for the children. Highlights included a Great White Egret sat on the sea wall of the Brownsea Lagoon which it seems relocated to Middlebere about an hour later. On the lagoon there were 33 Spoonbill, 2 Ruff, 30 Avocet, 2 Spotted Redshank, several Greenshank, 2 Sanderling and 4 Ringed Plover on the shingle beach. Out in the harbour there were 6 Brent Geese back in Ower Bay. There was no sign of the Lesser Yellowlegs at Lytchett Fields today but a Curlew Sandpiper, 11 Grey Plover and 112+ Dunlin were the highlights and a Little Gull was out in the bay late evening. Night recording from our listening station in Old Town Poole over he last week has been really tough going with minimal numbers of birds going over but last night was a good night with plenty on the move. Totals included 8 Common Sandpiper, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Golden Plover, small flock of Ringed Plover at 03:30, 1 Dunlin, 1 Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit flock at 21:25, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Tree Pipit, 4 Meadow Pipit plus a decent passage at 04:20 for ten minutes, 20 Song Thrush calls and 1 Robin.

Bar-tailed Godwit & Golden Plover 20/09/16 @ 21: 25 Calls of night time migrants, Old Town Poole

The Lesser Yellowlegs was again at Lytchett Fields for its third day, arriving at around 8am then disappearing on the high tide and then returning about 4pm. Also there a Curlew Sandpiper and a Ruff. At Arne the Wryneck was again on Coombe Heath and the Great White Egret and Osprey were in Middlebere mid morning. On Brownsea the 33 Spoonbill stayed on the lagoon for most of the day and there were still 2 Ruff and several Curlew Sandpiper. 

Osprey – Middlebere – Simon Kidner 

Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Fields – Paul Morton

Green Woodpecker – Middlebere – Simon Kidner 

Things just seem to be getting better for Lytchett Fields with a true red-letter day today. It began when a Great White Egret passed low over the fields around 9am and then news that the Lesser Yellowlegs was again present on the fields and stayed until around 11am. Then whilst watching the Yellowlegs a Spotted Crake was found at the back of the fields preening and having a wash. Plus, when you include a Wood Sandpiper, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 6 Ruff, 4 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper and all the Teal, Redshank, Dunlin, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit and Snipe then it made for pretty impressive viewing! The Brownsea Lagoon was also looking just incredible with zero winds, flat calm water and BIG numbers of birds. The lagoon saw 33 Spoonbill, 9 Curlew Sandpiper, 5 Spotted Redshank, 12 Greenshank, c40 Ringed Plover, c120 Dunlin, 142 Avocet, 21 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Knot, 6 Turnstone, 2 Ruff, c150 Redshank and building numbers of Shoveler and Wigeon with 2 Firecrest and a Whitethroat in the woods behind the lagoon. In Middlebere an Osprey was still fishing regularly in the channel and the Great White Egret was again present. Finally, what better way to end a day that a member of the public finding a Wryneck on Coombe Heath, Arne.

Osprey – Middlebere – Simon Kidner

Avocet – Brownsea Lagoon – Paul Morton

Shoveler – Brownsea Lagoon – Paul Morton

Spoonbill – Brownsea Lagoon – Paul Morton

Sparrowhawk – Brownsea Lagoon – Paul Morton

Well, what started off as a pretty productive day with a busy ringing session at Lytchett Bay (more of on that a bit later), things really were turned up a notch when local patch watcher Ian Ballam found Poole Harbours second only ever Lesser Yellowlegs on Lytchett Fields. The harbours first was a frustratingly anti-social bird that was found by a DWT member on Brownsea Island in December (when the island is closed) 2014. Luckily today’s bird played ball and showed for the lucky birders that ventured down. As the fields flooded with the large high-tide the Redshanks that the Lesser-legs was associating with disappeared around midday as did the lesser-legs and wasn’t seen for the rest of the day. Also on the fields were a single Ruff and a Barn Owl was out hunting early evening. The ringing session at Lytchett Bay was exciting for other reasons in that numbers of birds ringed were well up on previous visits with 126 birds ringed including 3 Grasshopper Warbler, 79 Chiffchaff, 18 Meadow Pipit as well as Cetti’s Warbler, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Stonechat, Kingfisher and commoner birds. In Middlebere the Great White Egret was again photographed and 2 Osprey commuted between the dead trees and the nesting platform. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 30 Spoonbill, 2 Ruff, 6 Curlew Sandpiper, 6 Spotted Redshank, 9 Greenshank, 3 Knot, 6 Sanderling and good numbers of Avocet, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Dunlin.

Lesser Yellowlegs – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson

Ruff – Brownsea Lagoon – Peter Moore

Dunlin (left) Curlew Sandpiper (right) – Brownsea Lagoon – Peter Moore

Grasshopper Warbler – Lytchett Bay – Paul Morton

Kingfisher – Lytchett Bay – Paul Morton

The wind made things tough today but the Brownsea Lagoon was looking incredible again with 4 Ruff, 7 Curlew Sandpiper, 6 Sanderling, 6 Spotted Redshank, 11 Knot, 29 Spoonbill 40+ Ringed Plover plus Avocets, Black and Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot, Dunlin, Curlew and a handful of returning Wigeon, Shoveler and Gadwall. In Middlebere still at least 2 Osprey performing well along with a visit from the Great White Egret. In Brands Bay there were c130 Teal, 7 Wigeon, 6 Pintail, 1 Shoveler, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 8 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshank, 1 Wheatear and a Marsh Harrier. At Lytchett Fields the rare occurrence of a Turnstone made a quiet day a bit brighter along with the usual Redshank, Snipe, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwits.

Great White Egret – Middlebere – Simon Kidner

Osprey – Middlebere – Simon Kidner

Spoonbills – Middlebere – Simon Kidner (actually taken on 26/08/16 but is one of our fave photos of the year)!