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.

Not much coverage from the last couple of days with a cold northeasterly blasting most places around the harbour. This morning Lytchett Bay had a decent sized finch flock in the large arable filed to the north of the bay which contained Brambling, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Also out on the water 9 Little Grebe, 7 Red-breasted Merganser, 28 Brent Geese and 32 Shelduck. Med Gull numbers are rising in the harbour with birds obvious at Baiter Park most mornings. Also there the over-wintering Sandwich Tern keeps putting in an appearance. Hen Harriers continue to be seen at Middlebere and Swineham. Arne Moors saw Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl and Peregrine all hunting at the same time on Tuesday evening. Two Woodcock and a Tawny Owl were seen early morning at Soldiers Road, with a Woodlark in full song there too. 6 Spoonbill were in Middlebere with a Merlin dashing across the path there.

A fine but chilly day with a stiff breeze from the northeast. Highlights today were an over-wintering Sandwich Tern off Baiter Park in the morning. An evening watch at Lytchett Bay saw a Bittern flying from Holton Lee, out over the bay towards the Wareham Channel, also there 7 Red-breasted Merganser, 43 Shelduck, a Sparrowhawk and a Water Rail. 14 Spoonbill were again off Shipstal Point, Arne. 

A busy weekend with some glorious weather, finally! Starting with Friday 15th, there was very little coverage of the harbour with only a Hen Harrier at the Wytch Causeway, 3 Waxwing in Poole and a male Manderine Duck and 3 Snipe at Holmebridge reported. Interestingly a Smooth Snake was seen on Upton Heath, which is an exceptionally early record for this species. Saturday the 16th saw much more coverage with Brownsea holding 4 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 200 Avocet, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and 17 Black-necked Grebe off the southern shore was a great record. An evening watch at Lytchett Bay produced 14 Little Egret, 19 Snipe, 50+ Avocet, 1 Med Gull and 4 Water Rail. Best at Middlebere was a Hen Harrier and 2 Barn Owls. Finally, Sunday the 17th was a glorious day with Swineham seeing most attention with 2 Marsh Harrier, a Bittern, 2 Firecrest, 11 Spoonbill, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, Water Pipit, 4 Spotted Redshank, a Peregrine and 2 Med Gulls being the highlights. Another great record was a flock of 20 Barnacle Geese flew northeast over Lytchett Bay, also there a Tawny Owl and 2 Woodcock. Middlebere saw 9 Spoonbill (same flock recorded at Swineham in the morning), 4 Knot, 17 Grey Plover and 13 Black-tailed Godwit.

Today a school birdboat went out around the harbour. Highlights included 3 Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe, 14 Spoonbill, 100+ Red-breasted Merganser, 20+ Goldeneye, 50+ Great Crested Grebe, 100+ Avocet, 40+ Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover and Dunlin. Black-necked Grebe were off Redhorn, Middle Beach and South Haven with 2 Common Scoter also off Middle Beach.