We’ve been treated to two glorious days compared to recent weeks, which in turn presented some nice birds. Starting with….

Wednesday 13^th where a glorious sunrise over Swineham saw a Short-eared Owl and male Hen Harrier and not too far away at Lytchett Bay 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 5 Water Rail, 1 Greenshank and the first migrant Chiffchaff arrival.  2 Spoonbill arrived back on the Brownsea Lagoon with at least 100 Avocet still loitering around.  2 Sandwich Terns were feeding along Baiter at around 8:30am.

On to Thursday 14^th, which saw a day of almost unbroken sunshine. A decent list from Lytchett Bay was received where there was 1 female Merlin, 2 Chiffchaff (one singing), 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Water Rail, 1 Stonechat and a White Wagtail.  At Baiter just 1 Sandwich Tern but also 2 female Goldeneye and 2 Meadow Pipit. 2 Spoonbill were again on the Brownsea Lagoon and the most interesting sighting of the day was a ringtail Hen Harrier that flew into a reedbed at Hatch Pond this evening.

What a difference a few days make. On Saturday I was in a t-shirt watching Dartford Warblers singing in the blissful sunshine. By Monday I was back to thermals and not able to feel my fingers… and oh yeah, it snowed!

Lets start with Saturday.  There were still 3 Brambling at Church Lane in Wareham (along with Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly) also in and around Swineham 6 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 4 Cetti’s Warbler and 2 Reed Bunting, 150 lapwing a Peregrine Falcon, 400 Blackwits, 30 Grey Plover, 10 Redshank, 30 Curlew and 4 Red-breasted Merganser.  The Studland area saw 5 Slavonian Grebe, 34 Black-necked Grebe 5 Great Crested Grebe and a Sandwich Tern from Knoll Beach.

The weather started to change on Sunday but the first summer migrant appeared in the shape of a Sand Martin over Poole Park lake. The Hoopoe was re-found in Upton on Blandford Road. Still 3 Hen Harrier and a Merlin around Middlebere/Arne Moors area. There were 2 but possibly 4 Firecrest in Slepe Copse with 2 Spoonbill and a Yellow-legged Gull at Middlebere.

Mondays weather was bitter, hence not many sightings however there were 2 Spotted Redshank in Holes Bay along with good numbers of Redshank, Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit. Also a Stonechat in Upton CP was a notable sighting.

Still a biting wind today keeping the birds low, but up to 15 Mediterranean Gulls were at Baiter with 1 Goldeneye and 7 Ringed Plover. At Lytchett Bay a Stonechat and Snipe were the best finds. 

With a slight change in the wind direction it began to feel slightly warmer for a few days, however the weather forecast for next week apparently sees the return of sub-zero temperatures and snow!

Waterfowl numbers seem to be dropping of as Wigeon numbers around the harbour have started to see a dip, most noticeably in Holes Bay. Also in Holes Bay,  near the PC World outflow Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher, Firecrest and Grey Wagtail and a Siberian Chiffchaff was further up the channel. Today Lytchett Bay saw 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Brambling, 2 Gadwall, 200 Lapwing, 150 Dunlin and a Sparrowhawk. Out in the harbour Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe are still fairly prolific although numbers do seem to have dropped in the last week. A late update from last week, a dead Bittern was found at Swineham GP, cause of death unknown. Finally two Waxwing were showing well in the car park of the Acorn Pub / Co-Op in Creekmoor today around 15:45pm

A fine warm sunny day drew in a few more spring migrants in to the UK with Wheatears in Devon, Wales and Suffolk but unfortunately none in Dorset yet. Despite the nice weather not much coverage today. A foggy dawn walk where birds were only identifiable by sound produced 1 Greenshank, 4 Water Rail, 1 Med Gull and 10+ Teal. The PC World outflow had a Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Firecrest. On the Brownsea Lagoon at least 4 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 8 Turnstone, some summer plumage Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Avocet and many Black-headed Gulls beginning to court. Over the Wareham Channel 2 Marsh Harrier were seen high migrating over the harbour with the over wintering female also putting in an appearance along with a Peregrine Falcon. At South Haven 6 Black-necked Grebe and 13 Sanderling. 

With the cold northeasterly still gently pushing down, there is still no sign of any early spring migrants although, a few Sand Martin elsewhere in the UK is an encouraging sign. Highlights from the last few days include the Green-winged Teal being re-found at Middlebere. The Hoopoe was spotted leaving Hamworthy and heading towards Upton CP. Firecrests were at Hatch Pond and the outflow of the PC World drain. Finches seem to be on the move with a marked increase of Siskins in people’s gardens. Med Gulls can be heard leaving the harbour in the morning and arriving back just before dusk in the north of the harbour, around Lytchett and Holes Bay, even over Poole high street. The Common Rosefinch is still visiting a private garden in Poole. 

A lot of areas covered today. Starting with the Studland area where 5 Black-necked Grebe were off Knoll Beach with 2 Med Gulls and 46 Brent Geese, whilst off Middle Beach a Slavonian Grebe showed well. In and around Jerry’s Point there were 11 Goldeneye, 11 Black-necked Grebe, 20 Red-breasted Merganser, 12 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Reed Bunting and a Grey Plover. Some impressive totals on Brownsea saw 5 Spotted Redshank, 133 Bar-tailed Godwit, 121 Grey Plover, 17 Knot, 800 Dunlin, 4 Greenshank and 169 Black-tailed Godwit. Merlin were at Arne and Middlebere. Spoonbill were at Arne, Middlebere and Lytchett Bay, with a Water Pipit at the latter. A Long-tailed duck was off Shipstal Beach. The Green-winged Teal showed well at Middlebere. 

Good selection of sightings today from various areas around the harbour. Firstly at Lytchett Bay where a Water Pipit and 3 Water Rail were on RSPB land with 1 Firecrest, 1 Brambling and 35 Black-tailed Godwit. Holes Bay saw 1 Firecrest at the PC World drain, also Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail and 4 Goldcrest there whilst out in the Bay 21 Black-tailed Godwit, 118 Avocet, 50+ Dunlin and 100+ Redshank. Knoll Beach, Studland counted 8 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 3 Great Crested Grebe and 2 Red-breasted Merganser. A Green-winged Teal was found at Middlebere, possibly the same bird from Upton CP a few weeks ago. A Red Kite flew over Arne moors late afternoon.

Another cold and grey couple of days but birds seemed to be plentiful. Yesterday a Firecrest was showing well at the entrance of the PC World outflow drain. Baiter saw thousands of gulls on the big low tide with only a small percentage of Med Gulls found with a count of 30+ birds in total along with a decent sized flock of 28 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin. This morning a Merlin was at Lytchett Bay along with 2 Water Rail and 6 Little Egret. An RSPB School Bird Boat went out from Poole Quay with the highlights being a female Merlin Hunting out over the Lagoon, 1 Long-tailed Duck off Brownsea, 8 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver, 10 Spoonbill, 250+ Red-breasted Merganser, 15+ Goldeneye, 50+ Great Crested Grebe, 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Greenshank on the Brownsea Lagoon. This evening about 20 Med Gull were again off Baiter also there, 23 Ringed Plover. Off Redhorn tonight 18 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Knot and 1 Black-tailed Godwit, with anoth 12 on the Brownsea Lagoon late afternoon.

Still very cloudy and cold, but the wind seems to be easing, making birding a bit easier. Starting with Monday a flock of 42 Bar-tailed Godwit at Lytchett was a good site record, also there, 2 Red-breasted Merganser and 5 Little Grebe. In the evening there was a huge low tide exposing large amounts of mud and beach at Baiter, which in turn attracted many thousands of Gulls. A quick count produced no less than 30 Mediterranean Gulls but if a full count had been conducted it would be no surprise to have found 100+ birds. On Tuesday an RSPB school bird boat went out around the harbour, and despite the icy wind a good selection of bird were spotted…highlights included 1 Merlin on the Brownsea Lagoon, 1 Great Northern Diver, 4 Black-necked grebe, 1 Marsh Harrier, 180-200 Red-breasted Merganser, 15+ Goldeneye, 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Ringed plover and 1 Knot. A Barn Owl was again spotted at Upton CP early morning. Holes Bay saw a few Black-tailed Godwit start to arrive back to Poole Harbour, also there, 126 Avocet, 2 Spoonbill, 1 Grey Plover (rare for this site), 1 Common Sandpiper and a Spotted Redshank. Lytchett Bay had 1 Water Pipit, 65 Snipe, 1 female Marsh Harrier and 23 Lapwing.

A slow weekend to begin with but eventually sightings started coming in thick and fast. So a round up from the last three days include…

Lytchett Bay where 2 Spoonbill, 1 female Merlin, 1 female Marsh Harrier, 1-2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 4 Water Rail, 4 Snipe, 1 Grey Wagtail and 9 Little Egret. Holes Bay saw 5 Spoonbill, 1 Firecrest at the PC World Drain and a Spotted Redshank. Shore Road produced an incredible 238 Bar-tailed Godwit and 28 Sanderling. The Swineham Barn Owl is putting on a great show at the moment also a different female Marsh Harrier, 1 pale morph Buzzard, Water Rail and Cetti’s Warbler. There was a female Merlin on Hartland with a ringtail Hen Harrier and Spoonbill at Middlebere, also 14 Ringed Plover at Baiter. Mediterranean Gull numbers continue to rise with birds popping all over the harbour like Baiter, Lytchett Bay, Middle Beach, Arne and Shore Road. Finally the Hamworthy Hoopoe has re-appeared in Lulworth Crescent, Hamworthy.