Yet another 50mph storm blew through today with enough rain to last us into next winter, when will it ever stop? The strong winds did get a few sea-watchers out at Branksome this morning, which produced an interesting sighting. After a few Kittiwake had passed east to west two Greater Black-backed Gull were spotted picking at small Auk off the surface of the water. Initially it was considered to be a Little Auk but when one of the gulls plucked the dead auk right out of the water a triangular beak was noted showing the bird to actually be a Puffin! This has to be one of the rarest ‘local breeders’ to occur in Poole Harbour with only two other historic dead records and an unconfirmed report of one on Brownsea back in the 70’s. It’s been a sad state of affairs as many Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin have been washed up on beaches right across the south coast from Cornwall to Hampshire. Lets just hope things settle down in the next few weeks and these birds get reported alive rather than dead. Also on the sea-watch 2 adult Little Gull, 33 Kittiwake and 1 Black-throated Diver. The Goosander, Scaup and Goldeneye have all been present at Poole Park lakes this week. At Baiter the Pale-bellied Brent was still present, 20+ Turnstone, 387 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Gull and 500+ Dunlin and both the Slavonian Grebe and Black-throated Diver just off shore. Spoonbills have been present at Lytchett Bay, Middlebere and Arne. The Poole Harbour Marsh Harriers have dropped down to 8 and there are still 4 Hen Harrier around. 

Apologise for the lack of updates this week. With the strong winds and heavy rain its made birding difficult but a few hardy birders have been out and reported some nice birds. Starting off with Baiter Park where two 1^st winter Little Gull were reported out on the playing fields along with a Pale-bellied Brent Goose, 460 Dark-bellied Brent Goose and a Merlin. Off shore there was the Slavonian Grebe and Black-throated Diver and at Poole Park the redhead Goosander remained. The Poole Harbour Marsh Harrier roost contained 11 birds this morning and male Hen Harriers were seen at Middlebere and Hartland. In the sunshine today Dartford Warbler were displaying despite the chilly wind and out in the harbour Great Northern Diver, Black-necked Grebe and 150 Red-breasted Merganser were present.

Two events over the past two days saw quite a bit of coverage from around the harbour. The first was our ‘Birds of Poole Harbour’ field trip to Brownsea Island and the second was an RSPB bird boat tour around the harbour…both were a huge success. Despite the choppy seas and strong wind the field trip to Brownsea yesterday saw the lagoon filled with birds. This is great news as Brownsea opens again to the public next weekend. Avocet, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Greenshank, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Shoveler, 2 Spoonbill, Gadwall, 1 Peregrine Falcon and numerous Turnstone all looked immaculate in the stormy winter sun. The RSPB bird boat trip today saw an almost identical list to yesterday on the lagoon as well as 1 Black-throated and 7 Great Northern Diver, a further 18 Spoonbill, 2 Sandwich Tern, 2 Razorbill, 1 Guillemot, 7 Black-necked Grebe, 150+ Red-breasted Merganser, 50+ Great Crested Grebe, Surf Scoter, 1 Marsh Harrier and 2 Common Seal elsewhere in the harbour. An incredible 11-15 Marsh Harrier have been seen to leave their roost site over the last couple of days and 3 Hen Harrier are still present. At Swineham 3 Cetti’s Warbler were singing, 1 Chiffchaff, 6 Water Rail and good numbers of winter duck were present on the GP.

We will be liaising with the Brownsea team tomorrow to discuss Saturdays trip to the island. The forecast of strong winds may prevent us from visiting. We will keep you updated over the next 24 hours.

Many thanks

‘Birds of Poole Harbour’

For me birds have the ability to turn a whole day on it’s head. Take this morning for example, I was scanning the water off Baiter car park and discovered a Slavonian Grebe bobbing along just meters from the beach. Now, I’ve seen ‘Slav Grebes’ many, many times but recently they’ve become increasingly difficult to find in the harbour with only about two records all winter. This is a stark comparison of the 6 -12 birds that could usually be found out in the bays around Studland in past years. Watch a video of today’s bird HERE. Also present with the Slavonian Grebe was a lovely sleek Black-throated Diver, 39 Red-breasted Merganser and 14 Great Crested Grebe. At Holes Bay over the last few days a redhead Goosander has been present near the railway bridge, along with a Peregrine devouring a Wigeon on a bare patch of grass. Also in Holes Bay (north) 112 Redshank, 104 Avocet, 62 Dunlin, 27 Curlew and 1 Spotted Redshank. At Lytchett Bay a female and 1^st year Marsh Harrier were recorded, 300+ Lapwing, 6 Greenshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank and 15 Snipe. At Swineham the Smew was still present and the Marsh Harriers continue to impress with between 6 and 9 birds often present. 

On Sunday it was the Poole Harbour WeBS count. The forecast mentioned that the horrid low-pressure system that hit us in the morning would pass by early afternoon. Our Poole Harbour WeBS team kept their fingers crossed hoping the wind and rain would pass through by the time the survey started. It didn’t! The weather also had an affect on the tide meaning that what should have been a pretty standard low-tide was actually a very high tide, therefore producing little or no waders at sites that should have contained hundreds, if not thousands. Luckily about an hour after the survey started the sky cleared in an instant allowing a certain amount of surveying to take place. Highlights included 24 Spoonbill, 1 female Scaup and 3 Great Northern Diver off Shipstal, Arne. The redhead Smew was again at Swineham GP along with 166 Shoveler, 153 Teal, 70 Gadwall, 128 Coot, 36 Pochard and 27 Greylag Geese. It’s almost certain that there are currently 5 Hen Harrier in the harbour at the moment with 3 male and 2 female. Amazingly, I’ve just received news too that 9 Marsh Harrier left their roost site this morning, which must be a recent record. There are numerous large Lapwing flocks around the Frome Valley with a flock of almost 700 counted along Arne Moors. Out in the harbour the usual Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe could be seen in good numbers and the 2 Black Swan were still out on the Stoborough flood.

19 of the 24 Spoonbill at Arne

You’ll have to excuse the awful title pun but the Bestwall/Swineham area received quite a bit of coverage yesterday as Mistle and Song Thrush were both in full voice, and the hedges jumping with tits and finches feeding and fighting. The GP were packed with ducks mainly Shoveler but also 3 drake Pintail, an increase in Pochard, Teal, Gadwall, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Coot all in good numbers. 2 Bearded Tit were calling near Swineham Point and 4 Chiffchaff fed together in the early morning warmth from the sun. A hansom Kingfisher fed from one of the submerged gate posts and the flooded fields of Bestwall were packed with Lapwing, Curlew, Canada Geese and Black-headed Gull also a small flock of 8 Snipe and 2 Spotted Redshank feeding in amongst them was a bit different. Cetti’s Warbler were everywhere and a female Sparrowhawk was flushed with a prey item. A redhead Smew was located on the pits too plus flyover Siskin, Skylark, Grey Wagtail, Raven, Reed Bunting and Rock Pipit All added to the bounty. Lytchett Bay was quiet with just a Green Sandpiper and Hen Harrier being the highlight. The Poole Harbour Harrier count consisted of 6 Marsh and 4 Hen Harrier, 1 female and 3 male, one of which is a new individual.

Amazingly a Chiffchaff was heard singing at Lytchett Bay on Wednesday afternoon in the glorious sunshine. Now look at it! More rain and gloom. Not much else to report unfortunately other than the Poole Park Scaup has relocated to Hatch Pond. At Lytchett Bay the Smew was still present yesterday, also there 1 Jack Snipe, 2 Skylark, 4 Red-breasted Merganser and 2 Little Grebe. I also received some great counts from a birder who was visiting from Gillingham whom reported at Middlebere 1030 Avocets, 468 Black tailed Godwits, 825 Brent Geese (rose to 1000+ in the afternoon), 4 Ravens, 851 Lapwings, 250+ Teal, 4 Dartford Warblers (Coombe Heath) and at Shipstal 27 Spoonbills, 1 Great White Egret (roosting with the Spoonbills), 57 Red Breasted Mergansers, 4 Goldeneye, 8 Great Crested Grebes, 613 Oystercatchers. 2 Black Swan were on the Wareham/Stoborough flood and a Golden Plover was seen in amongst a Lapwing flock near Swineham.

Back in December last year we reported that the funds raised from our monthly field trips had been spent on trying to boost the harbour population of Barn Owl. The donations raised from our walks allowed us to buy two Barn Owl boxes and a Kestrel to be put up at Lakeside B&B at Swineham, Wareham. There are currently only two, possibly three pairs of Barn Owl in the harbour so trying to encourage them to nest at new locations is of great importance for the species.

Today, January 22^nd 2014 we went and checked the boxes to make sure they were still in place and not leaking and were thrilled to find that two Barn Owl have already moved in. This is an exceptional result considering the boxes were only put up a few weeks before Christmas.

This is also a great example of how people power can help frontline conservation, as we would never have been able to get this project up and running without the public kindly attending our walks and donating towards our cause. A huge thank-you goes out to everyone who has attended and contributed towards this project, the Barn Owls very much appreciate it.

Our next plan is to try and bring you live footage of our new tenants, but again this will need money! If you’ve never attended one of our walks before, why not check out our EVENTS PAGE and book onto one of our monthly trips. Or simply donate by texting the number at the top of the screen.

In the meantime CLICK HERE to watch the short piece of footage Wildlife Windows filmed for us today of the new couple. Lets hope they stay to breed.

A school boat trip around the harbour yesterday was treated to another Merlin spectacle as a female chased and harassed the 800+ Dunlin back and forth across the lagoon, twice splitting a single bird away from the main flock but failing to see the kill through. Brownsea opens to the public again for weekends only on Saturday the 8^th of February, so if you get the chance get over there then I can’t encourage it enough. Also present on the lagoon yesterday 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 150 Avocet, 30+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 500+ Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Greenshank plus the usual Redshank, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Shelduck and Great Black-backed Gull. A single flock of 12 Woodlark in a field on the Frome Valley was a great winter record. The Smew was at Lytchett Bay again, also there 5 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Red-breasted Merganser and 3 Little Grebe. Off Baiter 3 Razorbill, 1 Guillemot and 1 Great Northern Diver. At Sandbanks there was just 1 Purple Sandpiper and 4 Sanderling on the Groynes and 4 Eider still in Shell Bay. Off Hamworthy Beach this morning 2 Great Northern Diver, 92 Red-breasted Merganser, 28 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Goldeneye, 21 Spoonbill off Shipstal and 4 Turnstone on the beach.