Was out on a school bird boat yesterday morning and didn’t fail to impress (as usual). The Spoonbill flock was split between Brownsea and Arne. The lagoon on Brownsea was teaming with Avocet, along with Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Teal, Wigeon the odd Greenshank, Turnstone and Spotted Redshank. A Great White Egret was off the Ower shoreline and a handful of Great Crested Grebe were in Brands Bay. This morning a Firecrest was along the lane leading down to the waterworks at Lytchett Bay. 

Well the wind blew, blew again and then blew some more until finally by around 9pm last night it had run out of puff! The dreams of Sabine’s Gulls and Little Auks undoubtedly didn’t come to fruition but it was still exciting nonetheless. A sea-watch from Poole Quay (never usually a focus area during strong wind) came up trumps with 1 Arctic Tern, 1 Common Tern, 8 Sandwich Tern, 1 Great Northern Diver, 18 Ringed Plover, 230 Dunlin, 1 Peregrine, 1 Kingfisher, and a handful of Pied Wagtails heading west. Off Shipsatl Point this morning an Arctic Tern (probably the same as yesterdays bird) was hawking over a feeding raft of around 200 Cormorant in central harbour, along side several Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe. Also on Shipstal 3 Dartford Warbler and a large Long-tailed Tit flock. The whole flock of 49 Spoonbill were on Brownsea this morning which was good news as Chris Packham and the AutumnWatch team were over there filming for the coming series of  AutumnWatch which starts next week. At South Haven a Golden Plover went over and 2 Firecrest were grounded.

This Saturday also sees the Arne Forage Festival takes place for its 5^th Year. Birds of Poole Harbour will have a marquee there telling people about our work, plus we’ll be hosting a ringing demo with the Stour Ringing Group from 11am to 2pm. Come and say hello!

I’ve been trying to record the Ringed Plover flock down on Baiter for a few weeks now, but boats, road works and very loud Herring Gulls have prevented me from doing so so far. However I managed to nip down there on my lunch break today with the falling tide and managed to locate a small flock of 8 birds feeding with 5 Dunlin. Typically they were mostly silent, but as they flew I managed to get a flight call type from 2-3 of the Plover and a from one of the Dunlin highlighting the rise in pitch of the Plover call…‘rising inflection’

Is this the calm before the storm? Strong winds are predicted for tomorrow, coming in off the Atlantic and thoughts of all sorts of goodies are being conjured up in my mind…Sabine’s Gull, Grey Phalarope, Little Auk, Leach’s Storm Petrel…hmmmmm, and now back to reality. Highlights from the last few days included another Ring Ouzel, this time at Arne Farm. One of the Great White Egrets was again out in front of the Brands Bay hide along with a Marsh Harrier, 11 Red-breasted Merganser, 28 Great Crested Grebe and a Peregrine. Off Middle Beach, Studland 2 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Razorbill and 10 Med Gulls were present. The whole Poole Harbour Spoonbill flock was on Brownsea which consisted of 49 birds…where is number 50? A Firecrest was in North Bestwall Wood, near Swineham. Around the Hartland/Middlebere area there were 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier and an adult male, 1 Merlin, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 6 Greenshank also plenty of Dartford Warbler and Stonechat. At Holton Lee a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier and adult female Hen Harrier were present along with 18 Bearded Tit and 2 Swallow.

Today was a classic autumnal day, which wasn’t as much of a right off as predicted. The day started off with our monthly ‘BoPH’ field trip, which this month was focused around the Studland area. Heavy rain was forecast all day, yet the minute I arrived at Greenland’s Farm at 7:45am, the rain stopped and it didn’t start again all day. For the brave souls that did brave it first thing this morning we were treated to a great variety of birds. Starting at Brands Bay where one of the Great White Egret showed perfectly for us, along with plenty of Great Crested Grebe, the first 2 Red-breasted Merganser of the winter, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and fly over Redwing, Skylark, Grey Wagtail and Meadow Pipit. A Merlin showed very briefly over Greenland’s Farm and a few Dartford Warbler stayed low in the gorse. On to Middle Beach, Studland where out in the Bay 2 Black-necked Grebe (and another 2 later) were present also 1 Common Scoter, 2 Gannet, several Med Gull, 10+ Brent Geese, 1 Common Tern and 1 Sandwich Tern. A check along the woodland in-between Middle Beach and Knoll Beach found us a nice mixed-tit flock with plenty of Chiffchaff and Goldcrest, and then just as I was explaining that if we were really lucky we may find a Yellow-browed Warbler, group member Liz said “do they have an obvious wing bar?” to which I replied…’yes‘, to which Liz replied ”is that one there?”. And low and behold, there in the holly was a stunning Yellow-browed Warbler which had the courtesy to come and land in the bush right next to us giving great views, if only for ten seconds or so. Unfortunately, one of the target species of the day was Ring Ouzel which I did manage to find, but not until after the walk and on my way home! It was feeding in the field below the main viewpoint along the Studland Road, luckily a walk attendee drove past and I managed to flag him down, getting him on to the bird before it flew off. Phew! Elsewhere in the harbour, Brownsea saw ONLY 41 Spoonbill, a whopping 27 Greenshank, 17 Spotted Redshank and 1 Firecrest. Harbour raptors now consist of 7 Marsh Harrier, 2 ringtail Hen Harrier and 4 Merlin (2 Hartland, 1 Arne moors, 1 Greenlands).

Continuing with the sound theme. Although the ‘vis-mig’ wasn’t as productive this morning as I was hoping it was going to be, birds were still on the move, and I want to provide you with two recordings I made only this week of species you may not think to listen out for, but well worth it.

Bullfinch – Social calls – flock of 9 birds migrating over Glebelands

Bullfinch aren’t perhaps a species you would think move around that much, but right the way through October and in to November flocks of Bullfinch, varying in size pass overhead, giving their presence away by the soft piping ‘fuu‘ they produce. This recording is of a flock of 9 Bullfinch passing over Glebelands.

Raven – Familiar ‘cronk’ of several birds. Flock contained 15 individuals flying over Glebeland’s

The status of Raven in Dorset over the last decade has increased dramatically. When I heard one ‘cronking‘ over Glebelands the other morning I wasn’t quite expecting to see flock of 15 birds passing overhead….quite a sight. This recording is of a few of the birds contact calling with their iconic ‘cronk’

This morning the 47 Spoonbills location of choice was Brownsea having spent all day yesterday roosting on Shipstal Point at Arne. I’d like to get my head around what forces them to make their choice between Arne and Brownsea, could it be disturbance, state of the tide, wind direction (shelter) or quite simply scenery!  Also on Brownsea the 2 Great White Egret made an appearance mid afternoon and joined the 7 Knot, 51 Dunlin, 13 Greenshank, 18 Bar-tailed Godwit, numerous Spotted Redshank as well as increased numbers of Avocet and Teal.  Out off Middle Beach there are now 5 Black-necked Grebe along with 1 Razorbill, also at Studland 2 Firecrest at Middle Beach and 1 at South Beach.  Up on Hartland 1 ringtail Hen Harrier was present along with 8 Woodlark, 6 Dartford Warbler, 4 Raven and plenty of Meadow Pipit. Lytchett Bay had 2 Woodcock and a Woodlark.

Two species that are most definitely on the move at the moment are Skylark and Woodlark, and both can be identified by call as they fly over. Although Woodlark is a scarcer migrant, October is a great time to listen for one out on the heaths around Hartland and Soldiers Road and even Ballard. Skylark is far more prominent and can be heard passing overhead in twos and threes around the harbour. Below are two recordings I made recently of Skylark and Woodlark passing overhead.

Skylark – Ballard Down – Two birds passing overhead

Skylark calls can be interpreted as a trilling ‘chirrup‘ ranging slightly in pitch and quite dry sounding. 

Woodlark – Hartland Moor – One bird passing overhead.

Woodlark calls are far more musical and tuneful. Smoother sounding, they always remind me of someone saying ‘too-da-loo‘ as they fly off!

Not many sightings from today other than an Arctic Tern at Lytchett Bay, 42 Spoonbill at Arne and 2 Hen Harrier again out over Hartland.  To make up for a lack of sightings then here are a few sound recordings I’ve made from recent outings from around the harbour.

European Golden Plover

This recording was of two birds flying over Glebelands early yesterday morning having alighted from a recently ploughed field. 

Yellowhammer

This is an interesting recording as it’s of a call I’m quite un-familiar with. It’s of two Yellowhammer flying up the south side of Ballard having just crossed Swanage Bay, one of them omitting short rapid bursts of notes with a higher pitched  ‘p-lick’ every half a second or so.

Today saw big movements of birds right across the country, from thousands off Goldcrests arriving at various coastal sites to a whopping 550 Ring Ouzel at Dungeness in one morning! Well, my dawn watch on top of Glebelands and Ballard managed just 1 Ring Ouzel, which was enough to satisfy me, along with 2 Golden Plover, 1 Merlin, along with flocks of Bullfinch (9, 2, 2, 4) Yellowhammer (2, 1, 2) Siskin (2) Skylark (2, 2, 1) as well as regular flocks of Meadow Pipit, Alba Wagtails, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Linnet all in regular loose flocks of 5-10 birds. At Arne the record Spoonbill flock of 47 were all hanging out on Shipstal point which is quite a sight if you can make it down there. Both Great White Egrets were out in Brands Bay for a short time, with one venturing over to Brownsea in the afternoon. Also on Brownsea 10 Spotted Redshank, 1 Turnstone, 1 Lapwing (scarce on Brownsea) 2 Spoonbill, 8 Greenshank, 20 Curlew, 20 Brent Geese and Goldcrest everywhere! In Middlebere a Red Kite drifted over early morning. 

Today saw the Poole Harbour Spoonbill flock total rise to 49 with 45 at Arne and 4 on Brownsea, will the big 50 be reached by the end of the week or we will start to see numbers drop off as birds move further south west? Interestingly we have had some information back about four of the six colour-ringed Spoonbill, with data showing that two were ringed in the Netherlands as chicks, one in 2013 and the other in 2006. The other two were ringed in Germany and Denmark but no further information was given. Also out in the harbour today was the winters first Goldeneye, which flew from Arne Bay towards central harbour, also 30+ Great Crested Grebe dotted about and 7 Sandwich Tern. On Baiter Beach 12 Ringed Plover and 11 Turnstone were feeding. Out on Hartland another Merlin was spotted and the now regular ringtail male Hen Harrier was active between Hartland Middlebere. There are also at least 5 different Marsh Harrier in the harbour at the moment. 

October is a great time of year for listening to birds as well as looking for them so below are a selection of recordings made recently up on Glebelands, near Ballard by local birder Nick Hopper, highlighting some of the sounds made by some of our less common migrants. 

Ring Ouzel – Flight Call – Glebelands 12/10/14

Ring Ouzel Call – Glebelands 21/09/14

Today saw a classic mid autumn arrival of Yellow-browed Warblers with no less than 3 dotted around various places. The first was located up on top of Ballard whilst a ‘vis-mig’ watch was being carried out, the second was later found by the restaurant next to the chain ferry at South Haven, and the third was found at Swineham by the entrance of the B&B. You would never believe that this bird was once a national rarity with only a handful of records across the whole country each autumn, but now Poole Harbour can rock up three in a day! The vis-mig’ watch up on Ballard also produced 5 Ring Ouzel, as well as small numbers of Linnet, Goldfinch, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Swallow and Chaffinch. Out in the Wareham Channel there were 3 different Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine.  Along the footpath leading from South Beach to Old Harry a decent sized Chiffchaff and Goldcrest flock were in a row of Sycamores, which I can’t believe didn’t have a Yellow-browed Warbler in it, but hey, you can’t find them all!

Quite a bit of birding went on in the harbour today. Starting with Brownsea where you could have been mistaken for being in another country when all 47 Spoonbill and 2 Great White Egret were quite happily feeding/snoozing just left of the Mac Hide, and in one special moment on the webcam we had Spoonbill, Great White Egret, Little Egret and Grey Heron all in one view.  Also on Brownsea 400+ Avocet, 5 Knot, 31 Curlew, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 15 Greenshank and a Kingfisher.  At Studland another/the same Yellow-browed Warbler was present, this time down the beach side of the nature trail at Knoll Beach, leading to Littlesea in a Long-tailed Tit flock, also present a few Chiffchaff and a Firecrest. A concentrated effort was made at Lytchett Bay where a Jack Snipe, a late Spotted flycatcher, 2 Firecrest, 2 Barnacle Goose, 2 Rock Pipit, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Ruff were all recorded. Up around Soldiers Road/Hartland a Wheatear was still hopping around in search of food, 1 Woodlark in sub-song, 9 Dartford Warbler, 12 Stonechat, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine and 6 Snipe.