In the dense thick fog of yesterday morning a 2^nd year Glaucous Gull was released onto the Brownsea Lagoon having spent six weeks in care at ‘Wildlife in Need’ in Bournemouth. It was originally found bruised and battered at Gumwharf Quays in Portsmouth after one of the brutal storms and was handed to the wildlife rescue home by the RSPCA. Wildlife In Need is a small independent rescue centre that operates 365 days a year. For advice, or if you find a seabird in distress along the coast, please call 01202 428129. Along with the released bird, another Glaucous Gull was seen leaving the harbour this morning, this bird being a 1^st year.  At Swineham three Marsh Harrier were seen displaying with two birds calling very near to last years nest site. Also at Swineham a handful singing Chiffchaff, 5 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Bearded Tit, 6 Curlew and 12 Meadow Pipit. At Soldiers Road 3 Fieldfare headed north, 2 Woodlark were singing, also 3 Dartford Warbler, 3 Stonechat and a good number of Greenfinch were all singing. At Middlebere a ringtail Hen Harrier was still present. At Holes Bay a Great White Egret was reported, also there 1 Pochard, 2 Avocet and a Yellow-legged Gull. At Lytchett Bay there was 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 3 Med Gull, 2 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Cetti’s Warbler.  2 Sand Martin were seen over Studland Heath with 3 Sanderling on Studland Beach. There were 14 Sandwich Tern on the Brownsea Lagoon. Finally I want to say a HUGE thank -you to ‘A Focus on Nature’ for their wonderfully put together videos highlighting and talking about our School Birdboat Project. Please watch the videos by clicking HERE

Poole Harbours first Wheatears of the spring arrived yesterday with 2 out on the Baiter playing fields mid morning. There’s been a big dispersal of many of the over-wintering species, and with many of the spring birds yet to arrive a small dip in activity has occurred over the last few days. A small number of Chiffchaff have also arrive with birds singing from various places around the harbour. Sandwich Tern numbers on the Brownsea Lagoon rose to 9. An Iceland Gull was reported at Upton Country Park. At Swineham/Bestwall an adult female Marsh Harrier and a ringtail Hen Harrier were present with a minimum of 15 Cetti’s Warbler whilst a male Hen Harrier was at Middlebere. And finally, the mystery gull at Holes Bay a few days ago was confirmed as a leucistic Herring Gull, but an easy oversight to think it may have been an Iceland Gull at first sighting.

There’s no denying that spring officially arrived today as a warm sun and gentle breeze made it very pleasant to be out and about. Early signs of spring migration are still taking there time, but I’m sure things will start to ‘kick off’ over the next week or so.  Despite the lack of migrants there was still plenty to talk about starting with a mystery gull that was photographed in Holes Bay which initially looked to be an Iceland Gull but on closer inspection the dark primaries and tail seem to actually point to something else, possibly a Kumlien’s Gull or even a leucistic (white pigmented) Herring Gull. We’ll let you know if there are anymore comments on this bird over the next few days. The Yellow-browed Warbler is still at Knoll Beach car park, Studland and off the beach 1 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 2 Great Northern Diver.  At Lytchett Bay a Bittern was present in the reedbeds near Turlin Moor, also there both a male and female Hen Harrier, 2 Spoonbill, 3 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Spotted Redshank, 57 Brent Geese, 6 Rock Pipit, 3 Greenshank and 1 Green Sandpiper. Around the Swineham/Bestwall area there was a male Hen Harrier, 1 Spoonbill, 2 Marsh Harrier, 2 Bearded Tit and a Kingfisher. On Brownsea a Firecrest was singing near the public hide, 3 Sandwich Tern were on the lagoon and a Black Redstart was around the quay buildings. A Lesser-spotted Woodpecker was recorded again on private land near Ower and one was seen in the woods next to Holmebridge. 

There have been two or three Sandwich Tern over-wintering in the harbour this winter, often seen fishing along the shorelines of Baiter, Arne and Sandbanks and are currently still in their winter plumage. However, today 4 summer plumaged birds arrived on the Brownsea Lagoon, found with the webcam. This is a pretty early arrival for migrant Sandwich Tern, so they could potentially be birds that have over-wintered a bit nearer than West Africa. Also in the harbour today seen from a School Birdboat was the Surf Scoter, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Razorbill, 1 Guillemot, 16 Spoonbill (15 Arne, 1 Brownsea), 1 Black-necked Grebe, 100+ Red-breasted Merganser and 20+ Great Crested Grebe whilst on the lagoon 100+ Bar-tailed and 300+ Black-tailed Godwit, 120+ Grey Plover, 300+ Dunlin, 8 Greenshank, 50+ Avocet and 100+ Oystercatcher. The Iceland Gull was reported again from Poole Park (4^th and 5^th) and the Black-necked Grebe, 3 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe, female Goosander and 3 Goldeneye are all still present on the main boating lake. At Lytchett Bay 2 Spotted Redshank were on the pools field and in the bay 30 Brent Geese, 8 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Greenshank and 3 Skylark were singing in the stubble field. Off Baiter a Red-throated Diver was present with a Razorbill. 2 Crossbill were on Arne Hill yesterday

Its about time Poole Harbour had a scarce gull with the Weymouth/Portland area seeing its fair share and Hengistbury/Stanpit also cashing in. Apart from the 5 minute Glaucous Gull that appeared on the Brownsea webcam we’ve not had a sniff, that was until this morning when an Iceland Gull was found sitting on some rocks at Poole Park. March is a great time for gull watching, so it wouldn’t surprise me if a few more appear at various locations around the harbour. Also on Poole Park the Goosander is still present and at least 6 Goldeneye and the Scaup. Elsewhere, off Baiter there was 1 Razorbill, 1 Sandwich Tern, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 11 Ringed Plover and 20+ Med Gulls. Around the Studland area 1 Red-throated Diver off Jerry’s Point with 25 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Avocet, 8+ Grey Plover, 5+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Knot and 2 Sanderling.

The warmth of yesterdays sun really got many birds ‘in the mood’ as apposed to todays wind and rain that just put everyone in a bad mood! At Soldiers Road 3 Woodlark were chasing each other with one bird producing a full repertoire of notes and song. Alongside the Woodlark at least 6 Dartford Warbler were very vocal and 5 Stonechat including 3 males battled for territory. Mistle and Song Thrush have been very vocal for a few weeks now and the odd Chiffchaff can be heard in the early spring sunshine. Other sightings include a Spotted Redshank, Water Pipit, 5 Greenshank at Lytchett Bay. In Studland Bay 1 Eider, 28 Red-breasted Merganser, 6 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Med Gull, 3 Sanderling, 2 Grey Plover and 20 Brent Goose. Still at least 8 Marsh Harrier have been leaving the winter roost. At Shore Road there were 150 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Sanderling, 7 Med Gull and 1 Sandwich Tern. Out in the harbour still at least 3 Great Northern Diver, but there’s also been a mass departure of Merganser and Goldeneye with only around 50% left compared to previous months. There are still 20 Spoonbill at Arne. Elsewhere in the country Wheatear, Garganey, Common Whitethroat and Swallow have all made landfall in single figures so keep your eyes peeled for more spring migrants arrive.

Spring continues to force its self upon us with 3 Sand Martin in off the sea in Weymouth yesterday. Typically Sand Martin, Little Ringed Plover, Garganey and Wheatear are the first to arrive back with Ring Ouzel and Chiffchaff very close behind.  Its worth checking any open body of fresh water like Poole Park Lakes or Swineham GP for feeding Sand Martin and checking open short grassy areas for feeding Wheatear and possibly Ring Ouzel. Other signs of spring include the partially summer plumaged Slavonian Grebe in Studland Bay yesterday and a few of the Black-necked Grebe also starting to show signs of moulting. At a private site in the south west of the harbour 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker were observed along with Marsh Tit, 12 Crossbill and a handful of Lesser Redpoll. At Lytchett Bay the Water Pipit remained on the pools field along with 11 littoralis Rock Pipit, 1 Green Sandpiper, 4 Greenshank and 53 Avocet. At Arne at least 17 Spoonbill are still present, and 2 different Marsh Harrier were seen at there are still at least 4 Hen Harrier in the harbour. 10 Marsh Harrier were again observed leaving the roost but 2 were witnessed flying off high south-east towards Ballard. The 3 Scaup were present again on Swineham GP and over 100 each of both Shoveler and Gadwall and 2 tristis Chiffchaff and 2 colybita Chiffchaff. Off Ower the Surf Scoter was still present along with 3 Great Northern Diver, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 61 Knot and 65 Grey Plover. In Poole Park the redhead Goosander remains along with 7 Goldeneye and 2 Blackcap (one singing). On Brownsea a Firecrest was near the castle and a pair of Yellow-legged Gull were on the lagoon. From Banks Road, Sandbanks yesterday 42 Sanderling, c100 Bar-tailed Godwit and also a Great Northern Diver off one of the groynes. 

It was only yesterday that I was saying it could be worth keeping an eye out for the first Wheatear and Sand Martin of the year when low and behold the UK’s first Sand Martins of the spring turn up today! 3 were seen in Waterford, southern Ireland this afternoon. I understand this is quite some distance from Poole Harbour but it shows that birds are making progress and that within the next three to four weeks we should all be enjoying the various spring migrants. From the harbour, 9 Marsh Harrier came out of the roost this morning with a male Hen Harrier amongst them and a second male Hen Harrier joining them later. At Swineham 3 Scaup (all female) were on the main GP along with 100 Shoveler, also around Swineham 5 singing Chiffchaff, a Siberian Chiffchaff and a Marsh Harrier. Some late news that a Barn Owl has been spotted around the Upton CP area a couple of times this week. At Lytchett Bay 30+ Snipe, 150 Lapwing, 4 Greenshank and 30 Brent Geese. At Middlebere there was 1 Barn Owl, 1 Hen Harrier, 200 Black-tailed Godwit and 100 Avocet. The Barn Owl at Middlebere posed long enough on a branch for me to get some video footage that you can view HERE

It appears from the sporadic sightings of Great White Egret this winter that an individual is over-wintering either in the harbour or somewhere close by. Yesterday afternoon it was seen flying over the flooded fields to the south of Swineham, before disappearing not to be seen again for the rest of the day. This is the sixth sighting of potentially the same bird this winter yet it seems impossible to pin down to one particular spot for everyone to enjoy. This elusive characteristic is an unfortunate but common trait of this species in the harbour with most past records consisting of birds flying over and disappearing into the distance. In other parts of the country GWE will happily sit out in the open, feed in large bodies of water and generally be quite easy to spot, lets hope this bird does make grand entrance one day soon! Elsewhere there were 3 Siberian Chiffchaff together at Swineham, 3 Marsh Harrier over the Wareham Channel, and a Woodlark in full song on Soldiers Road. Dartford Warbler are also starting to get active out on the heathlands and Mistle Thrush are very vocal at the moment too. 9 Spoonbill were seen flying up the Frome Valley yesterday evening, 2 Hen Harrier, 3 Marsh Harrier and 2 Bearded Tit were off Swineham Point along with a Barn Owl. At Knoll Beach Studland at least 1 Firecrest remains and in Brands Bay 2 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver, 7 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Slavonian Grebe. I know I’m being a bit premature but over the next few weeks we should start looking for our first Wheatears and Sand Martins. Normally the first don’t arrive until the beginning of March but there are exceptions to the rules as Portland saw their first Wheatear on Feb 23^th in 2011.

The harbour saw a fantastic range of birds today as a number of areas were covered by local birders and an RSPB bird boat went on a harbour tour this morning. Bird of the day has to go to the first year Glaucous Gull that was discovered at around 4pm on the Brownsea Webcam. There are currently only around 8 previous records for the harbour so it was a welcome find. Chances are it will roost on Brownsea tonight, so if you’re out around the harbour tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled for a large, chunky, pale white-winged gull. There were actually 10 species of Gull in the harbour today as the 2 Little Gull were still present at Baiter, 2 Kittiwake were off Poole Quay, a Yellow-legged Gull at Middlebere, numerous Mediterranean Gull were dotted about plus the usual Common, Black-headed, Herring, Greater and Lesser Black-backed. From the RSPB bird boat 3 Black-throated Diver, 7 Great Northern Diver, 11 Black-necked Grebe, the Surf Scoter, 24 Spoonbill, 11 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Sandwich Tern, many Great Crested Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye, 30 Avocet, 100 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Greenshank. At Swineham 3 Siberian Chiffchaff were seen together and a male Hen Harrier and Jack Snipe were noted. The Goosander was on Poole Park lake again today. 

            Glaucous Gull with Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull – Brownsea Lagoon