Despite the constant showers and murkiness today, there was still plenty of good birding to be had. On our school bird boat this morning, we had great views of 1 adult White-tailed Eagle, 1 Marsh Harrier and 16 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon. Also on the lagoon, there were 14 Knot, 1 Lapwing, 21 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Greenshank, 2 Snipe, 471 Avocet, 5 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, and 446 Teal. 3 Black-necked Grebe and 4 Little Gulls were seen off Jerry’s Point this afternoon. Over at Middlebere, there was 1 Male Merlin present and 1 Golden Plover.
Poole Harbour sightings blog
A record of all interesting and notable sightings from around the harbour throughout the year.
Latest Sightings
Harbour Update – 14/11/25
Harbour Update – 13/11/25
It’s still incredibly mild and not feeling like mid-November at all, which seems to be holding up lots of the winter birds. Still good birds to see with 1 Water Pipit and 1 Rock Pipit colour ringed at Lytchett Fields RSPB this morning. 1 Spotted Redshank was also present, commuting between the Bay and the Fields along with 1 Grey Plover and 6 Greenshank. The Glossy Ibis were still at Swineham in the very flooded fields, although only 5 could be picked out, no doubt the other 7 were lurking around somewhere. 1 juvenile White-tailed Eagle was seen flying from Coombe Heath, Arne and the adult female G466 dropped into the Wareham Channel this morning during our School Bird Boat. 1 male Merlin flew North over Carey, a different individual to yesterday’s bird.
Water Pipit having been colour ringed – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson
Rock Pipit having been colour ringed – Lytchett Fields – Shaun Robson
Colour Ring on Water Pipit – make sure to report any colour ring resightings – Shaun Robson
Harbour Update – 12/11/25
A bit of rain first thing but the recent wind and rain seems to have brought in some new arrivals into the harbour. 1 Black-throated Diver and 1 Red-throated Diver were seen flying in through the harbour entrance this morning, along with still large numbers of Shag (127). From our Winter Safari Cruise this morning we also had 2 Great Northern Diver in South Deep, 2 Common Scoter in central harbour and 5 Black-necked Grebe sheltering on the north side of Furzey Island. There were c700 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit and 16 Greenshank. 11 Glossy Ibis were showing well at Swineham, viewed from both the boat and the two rivers walk. There were also 3 Marsh Harrier, c300 Avocet (no doubt overlap with Brownsea birds), 3 Grey Plover and 1 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel on the low tide. 1 Merlin was seen flying over Wareham Common this afternoon. 20 Spoonbill were at Shipstal point, RSPB Arne.
Avocet – Wareham Channel from Winter Safari Cruise – John Thorpe
Harbour Update – 11/11/25
A rather breezy and showery day in the harbour, and a bit quiet on the birding front! This morning 1 Black-throated Diver flew in through the harbour entrance. The usual group of 12 Glossy Ibis were still around, having flown over Swineham Gravel Pits and then settling at Curlew Pools, although being temporarily flushed by 1 Marsh Harrier. On the rising tide this morning at Middlebere, there were 8 Grey Plover, 104 Redshank, 120 Avocet, 157 Dunlin, 351 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Spotted Redshank, and 1 Merlin. In the Lower Piddle Valley, there were 316 Greylag Geese and 1 Red Kite. At Swineham, there were 460 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Firecrest, and 1 male Marsh Harrier. This morning in Holes Bay, there were 220 Dunlin, 186 Shoveler, and 9 Avocet.
Harbour Update – 10/11/25
A cracking boat this morning as we took out teams from Natural England’s south-west strategy launch and saw 3 White-tailed Eagles, including 2 adults and 1 juvenile, just 30 minutes of leaving Poole Quay! A fantastic example of species recovery in action. We also saw 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 Red Kite, 15 Spoonbill, and 6 Cattle Egret. Elsewhere in the harbour, 33 Dunlin, 66 Lapwing, and 3 Grey Plover were at RSPB Lytchett Fields, with 1 adult and 1 juvenile White-tailed Eagle flying over low and heading towards the Bakers Arms as well as 1 Brambling flying over the feeding station. c2500 Gulls roosted on Brownsea Lagoon this evening, mostly made up of Herring Gull, c200 Great Black-backed Gull, and a dozen Lesser-black Backed Gulls.
Harbour Update – 09/11/25
Even though the Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle project only started in 2019, their presence in and around south Dorset has become so ‘standard’ that there’s literally a chance of bumping into one anywhere around Poole Harbour and Purbeck, just like some of our team yesterday who had one fly right over their car at the Bakers Arms roundabout! What isn’t so ‘standard’ are hunting observations, with most sightings of eagles either sat for hours on end, or passing overhead with slow lumbering wing beats. However, this morning an incredible spectacle was observed with 3 individuals hunting off the Purbeck coast, attempting to catch fish in amongst a gull flock. The scene was straight out of a Norwegian fjord or Scottish Loch and quite incredible that it was in fact Purbeck. Then, later this afternoon a different 2 individuals were hunting geese and cormorants in the Lower Piddle Valley. Quite a remarkable change in circumstances. In the Frome Valley near Holmebridge a Swallow was feeding over the floodplain, plus there were 25 Cattle Egret there. A Great White Egret was on Wareham Common, 2 Spotted Redshank and a Ruff were in the Lower Piddle Valley and a Curlew Sandpiper was in Lytchett Bay this morning.
2 of 3 White-tailed Eagles hunting off the Purbeck coast this morning – Garry Hayman
Harbour Update – 08/11/25
It felt like it could have been a good Wood Pigeon morning this morning, with the last big final migration of the year often taking place during this period. Although weather conditions were ‘ok’, it didn’t build up to the massive movement we were hoping for. Still, a grand total of 13,055 were counted from Sea View at Constitution Hill, Poole, along with other highlights being 2 Woodlark, 2 Brambling, 2 Lesser Redpoll and c10 Redwing. At the harbour entrance this morning a Black-throated Diver flew into the harbour along with 1 Common Scoter, 5 Red-breasted Merganser and 133 European Shag. In and around the Wareham Channel there were 3 White-tailed Eagle and 4 Marsh Harrier, plus another White-tailed Eagle flew low over the Bakers Arms this afternoon. The Swineham area was busy with wetland birds including 8 Glossy Ibis over Swineham Point, 4 Great White Egret and 5 Spotted Redshank were in the Lower Piddle Valley, c50 Cattle Egret were around the Bestwall floods. At Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne 15 Spoonbill were roosting. An adult male Hen Harrier flew down the Piddle Valley this morning and was seen at Swineham this afternoon.
Harbour Update – 07/11/25
It was shaping up to possibly be a Wood Pigeon morning with logged 4390 over Upton, but as soon as a few flocks got going, a large blanket of cloud appeared from the west and killed off, meaning mo more decided to leave. However, tomorrow morning looks perfect and could see a strong passage from dawn, with calm, clear sky’s, which make for perfect conditions for large numbers of Wood Pigeon to move. A Brambling also flew over Upton. There were 3 different White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel area and 3 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham. There were 2 Spotted Redshank in the Lower Piddle Valley along with masses of Greylag and Canada Geese, hence why it looks like the eagles are hanging around so much.
Harbour Update – 06/11/25
The Glossy Ibis flock thats resided at Ridge over the last couple of days had moved to the Bestwall floods today just west of Swineham. Incredibly, they were feeding with 74 Cattle Egret in the same field. Now who could have imagined that this would have become a ‘typical’ site in November by 2025. Just incredible……not to mention the records of Great White Egrets from the Wareham bypass (1), Middlebere (1) and the Lower Piddle Valley (2). Also in the Lower Piddle Valley were 1 Ruff and 1 Spotted Redshank. Both adult White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel this morning and seen from our School bird boat with Ocean Academy, a Merlin went into roost at Hartland, a Goshawk was causing trouble over Slepe Heath.
Great White Egret – Bestwall – Trevor Warwick
Harbour Update – 05/11/25
A Black Redstart in Wareham was a nice arrival in a slightly calmer day in the harbour. It was showing at Bells Orchard Lane on the rooves on the north side. The 12 Glossy Ibis were still frequenting the fields around Sunnyside, this time 2 fields over to the West. On the Brownsea Lagoon from our School Bird Boat there were 38 Spoonbill, 10 Grey Plover, 2 Knot, c500 Avocet and c10 Bar-tailed Godwit. 1 Water Pipit was at Lytchett Fields RSPB. A huge number of Black-tailed Godwit were on Pools field at Lytchett with 826 counted, a record count for this field.
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