Today I led an RSPB public bird boat, which despite the forecast was a huge success. With a bright winter sun bearing down and a brisk westerly wind whipping in we headed out from Poole Quay at 10:30. We headed straight for Arne and Shipstal Beach where we were treated to 35+ Spoonbill on Shipstal Point and 2 Common Seal right next to the boat. The salt marsh was full on Teal, Wigeon, Curlew the odd Little Egret and Brent Goose. We then went round the back of all this islands and encountered the usual Cormorant and Shag as well as good numbers of Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe and Canada Geese. Kingfishers were seen on both the Brownsea and Furzey Island Quays but surprise of the morning had to go to a Swallow that flew around the Brownsea Quay and our boat for a short period. The Lagoon looked wonderful with Avocet, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Knot, Greenshank, Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon and Grey Heron all present and a Great Northern Diver just off the sea wall. Add 2 Common Scoter and a Black Redstart on the roof of my office when I returned and I have to say the trip was a big success. Poole Park is still looking good with feeding Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and Little Egret right next to the wall and a large Greenfinch roost in Poole Park of around 150-200 birds.

With the extremely popular response to our BoPH/RSPB Dorset Discovery Winter tour we have decided to start advertising our up and coming Spring Tour too. You can find details of it HERE

Finally please take a minute to look at and sign this Marine Conservation Zone Plan which includes protecting both Studland Bay and areas of Poole Bay.

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/mcz

The Lesser Yellowlegs was looked for again yesterday, but unfortunately didn’t materialise. One place that was checked was Poole Park boating lake, which has currently been drained, offering a feeding habitat not just for a Yellowlegs but many other species of bird too. I was stunning to see that around 10 Little Egret, 10 Turnstone, several Black-tailed Godwit, numerous Oystercatcher and a good variety of Duck were just meters from the lake wall, not fussed one bit by the many runners, dog walkers and prams that were whizzing on by. The harbour was flat calm early morning, which made counting the open water species easier. From the harbour mouth there as 1 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Common Scoter, 50+ Red-breasted Merganser, 20+ Great Crested Grebe, 15 Sanderling on the rocks and a handful of Goldeneye. The Spoonbill are commuting between Brownsea and Shipstal on the high tides, and still out feeding in Holes Bay and Middlebere on the low tides. I have kindly been sent 2 photos of the Brownsea Lesser Yellowlegs by Brian Hill, one of the lucky DWT volunteers on the island that day carrying out a winter work party. Thanks Jol Mitchell for also sending in a photo of the Bean Geese from Monday 8^th December.

The two Bean Geese were again at Swineham first thing yesterday, and then moved on over to Arne Moors which made them only visible from Slepe Heath. I forgot to mention yesterday they are the Tundra race of Bean Goose and not the much rarer Taiga race. There are currently 10 different Marsh Harrier going into roost in the west of the harbour, which seems to be a December Poole Harbour record. Spoonbills seem to be feeding in a number of places on a low tide with 14 in Holes Bay NE and 7 in Lytchett Bay, with a Water Pipit and the latter site. Also at Holes Bay a Common Sandpiper, 46 Avocet and 8 Pintail. 

Yesterday morning I went for a walk up on to Slepe Heath in the hope that I would I would be able to find the 7 Egyptian Geese that had been seen flying into the harbour. Slepe Heath gives a great view across to the wet fields of Swineham and Arne Moors where many geese and waders have been feeding and roosting on the flooded fields. I couldn’t see any geese and was about to leave when I found a small flock of Canada Geese tucked away on the same pools that the Black-winged Stilts were found earlier this year. Straight away I noticed two smaller geese in amongst them, which is always a good sign of something different. I watched them for a good ten minutes looking for features of both Pink-footed Goose and Bean Goose, the former being a scarce visitor to the harbour, the latter being an exceptionally rare visitor to the harbour. I was watching from about a mile away but was pretty sure they were Pink-footed Goose and more likely to be too. However, on closer inspection by some local birders who visited Swineham upon hearing my news I then received a phone call to say they were in fact Bean Geese, the first Poole Harbour record since 2004. Also out at Swineham/Wareham Channel area 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 200 Lapwing, 120 Curlew and 1 Kingfisher. There were 3 Purple Sandpiper at the harbour mouth, in front of the Haven Hotel.  At Lytchett Bay there was 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Water Pipit and 1 Spoonbill. At Studland 23 Black-necked Grebe were still off Middle beach.

Apologise for the lack of updates, I’ve been up in Norfolk for a few day with no internet access, so will do a bit of a round up for you now. Today saw a really productive school bird boat with 5 Common Scoter, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver, 32 Spoonbill, a marked increase in Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe totals, 500+ Avocet on Brownsea and 2 Sandwich Tern near the harbour mouth. A likely Siberian Chiffchaff was at Boarder Road, Lytchett Bay and 2 Red Kite were over the stubble field there.  In Brands Bay there were Red-breasted Merganser – 31,
Wigeon 272,
Brent Goose 66,
Redshank 80+,
Curlew 110+,
Teal 24, Pintail 61, Turnstone 11,
Lapwing 30+,
Grey Plover 2. A new male Hen Harrier arrived in the harbour today making this the 7^th different Hen Harrier to have appeared in the harbour this autumn/winter period so far. There are currently three in the harbour and still 8 Marsh Harrier. 

There were a lot of areas covered around the harbour today with nice birds being found. Highlight of the day has to go to the adult Ring-billed Gull that was found off Swineham Point in amongst a group of Common Gulls. Also at Swineham 1 redhead Goosander over the GP, 2 Golden Plover over, 1 Firecrest on the path down to ‘Curlews’ and an increase of Shoveler, Gadwall and Tufted Duck on the GP. Scarce gulls are often quite difficult to catch up with in the harbour due to the sheer size of the area and the many nooks and crannies they can choose to feed, roost, wash etc. Another Grebe count was conducted from Middle Beach where the total of Black-necked Grebes went up by one to 27, also 61 Red-breasted Merganser and 7 Great Crested Grebe. A Red-necked Grebe was found drifting into Shell Bay whilst a dawn watch was being conducted at the harbour mouth where 57 Shag, 35 Red-breasted Merganser and 3 Common Scoter all entered the harbour at dawn and 24 Grey Plover were flushed off the Shell Beach. At Lytchett Bay 2 Firecrest, 1 Marsh Harrier and a Water Pipit were present.  At Hatch Pond there is still no sign of any Bittern but 25+ pairs of Teal and 30+ Snipe were counted. 

It was a fine, pleasant and mild day yesterday, which seemed to get a few birds singing. Up on Slepe Heath 2 Woodlark were in full song, along with plenty of active Dartford Warbler. Admittedly, Woodlark are early songsters often beginning to sing for territory as early as February, but late November is a bit of a coo! I also saw in the news this week that down on The Lizard in Cornwall they saw Frogspawn in some of their ponds…in November! At Swineham GP 2 redhead Goosander were present yesterday afternoon. A total of 34 Black-necked Grebe were counted around the Studland Peninsular with 26 off Middle Beach and 8 off Redhorn Quay. Also present off Redhorn 34 Great Crested Grebe, c60 Red-breasted Merganser and 12 Goldeneye. In Holes Bay there was 1 Spotted Redshank in the NW corner and 2 Sandwich Tern in NE corner. At Lytchett Bay 1 Spoonbill, 379 Lapwing, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Marsh Harrier and Peregrine were present.  Out in the Wareham Channel 2 Marsh Harrier were hunting, along with a ringtail Hen Harrier.

The Short-eared Owl that was spotted on Hartland last week was seen again yesterday morning in roughly the same place, elsewhere add that to the 3 Hen Harrier, 8 Marsh Harrier, 2 Merlin and numerous Peregrine, Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk and you could you’ve got yourself a pretty fine raptor list. From a school bird boat today 2 Common Scoter and 1 Great Northern Diver were out in central harbour, also plenty of Red-breasted Merganser, and Great Crested Grebe There were 9 Spoonbill on Brownsea and another 30+ on Shipstal. Brent Geese were feeding in good numbers in the fields around Middlebere and Wytch Lake. On Baiter Beach this morning there were 21 Ringed Plover feeding. A Great Grey Shrike was reported on Coombe Heath, Arne briefly which if we’re lucky should hang around…they normally do! Firecrests were in Stoborough, Arne and Knoll Beach, Studland. At Sandbanks 32 Sanderling were on the beach and 2 Purple Sandpiper on the groynes near the Haven Hotel. Lytchett Bay saw 4 Marsh Harrier and a Hen Harrier along with good totals of the usual waders out in the bay on a low tide. 

The Frome Valley is an under-watched area within the Poole Harbour boundary, mainly down to the fact that most of it consists of private land. However, having hosted plenty of good birds over the years…Woodchat Shrike, White Stork, Whooper and Bewick’s Swan and even Great Bustard, a good search around the public areas could come up trumps, as did yesterday when a pretty dull looking stubble field was found to contain no less than 17 Woodlark, 9 Yellowhammer, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Stock Dove and 10 Chaffinch, with a neighbouring field holding 3+ more Woodlark and 35 Chaffinch. In Lytchett Bay this morning an adult male Hen and Marsh Harrier were present with a Peregrine, also 15 Red–breasted Merganser out in the Bay and 2 Black Swan.

Last year it was decided that the money raised from our monthly field trips would go towards a new Barn Owl box and webcam that would be streamed live on our website. The webcam was a huge success, and the Barn Owls raised 4 healthy chicks within their first year. This was a big boost for the areas struggling Barn Owl population, made possible only by the kind donations that were given to us over the year. You can watch the webcam HERE with the owls present in the box most of the day. Well, we’ve been thinking long and hard about the next conservation project we’d like to focus on, using money raised from this year’s field trips and events and we’ve finally made a decision. We’re still ironing out the plan, so can’t tell you too much just yet, but it’s a project that will definitely benefit birdwatchers and provide you with one more ‘stop off’ point during your bird watching tour of the harbour.  Watch this space…

Having been away for three days, it’s nice to catch up and hear what’s been seen over the weekend. Well it seems the Long-tailed Duck has been quite a crowd pleaser, showing off just a few meters off the groynes, to the left as you head out of the harbour mouth. From various reports it seems like it may enter the harbour on a low tide, and then head out to feed off the groynes on the higher tides. Either way, a good search between the harbour mouth and a few hundred meters along the beach should help you locate it. Highlights from the first RSPB Family Bird Boat of the winter produced 36 (43 later counted) Spoonbill on Shipstal Point , 2 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Common Scoter, 10 Goldeneye, 100 Avocet on Brownsea, 1 Sandwich Tern , 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Black Redstart on the Sunseeker buildings on Poole Quay. Near Swineham 5 Marsh Harrier were active at dusk, a ringtail Hen Harrier and a new grey male Hen Harrier and a Merlin were also present. Last night the Great White Egret came into roost on Littlesea with 51 Little Egret, most of which arrived in near darkness.