A round up from the last few days. Not much to report from 12/02/13 only other than the Green-winged Teal was seen again at Upton CP with 2 Spotted Redshank, 250+ Avocet and 300+ Redshank there too. At Middlebere 400+ Avocet, 300-400 Brent Geese, 300 Lapwing and 4 Grey Plover. Today the Poole RSPB group launched their first mid-week Harbour Tour, which I’m pleased to say was a great success. Passengers were treated to 1 Long-tailed Duck, 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 5 Black-necked grebe, 13 Spoonbill, 2 Med Gull, 30+ Goldeneye, 100+ Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Peregrine Falcon, plus on the Brownsea Lagoon Avocet, Bar and Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Shoveler, Wigeon and Teal. A Sandwich Tern was off Baiter this morning.

This is an update of sightings over the last three days. On the 09/02/13, the Green-winged Teal remained at Upton CP. At Lytchett Bay a Firecrest was in Slough Lane, with 2 Water Pipit on RSPB land. From Soldiers Road looking towards Arne Moors 2 Marsh Harrier went into roost with a Barn Owl out hunting. On Hartland Heath there was 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Short-eared Owl and a Barn Owl. At Swineham 13 Spoonbill flew down river and on the gravel pits there was 1 Goldeneye 18 Pochard and 12 Tufted Duck, also there, 1 Brambling on the lane with Chaffinches. A male Merlin was at East Stoke. Weather on the 10/02/13 was pretty poor all day but some minor coverage produced 52 Black-necked Grebe from Middle Beach car park, also 1 Slavonian Grebe and 11 Great Crested Grebe. South Haven had 1 Great Northern Diver and 5 Sanderling. What a difference a day make with the 11/02/13 being a perfect still day for harbour watching as a school bird boat left the quay. Highlights included a female Scaup and 13 Spoonbill off Arne. Also out in the harbour 3 Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe, 30+ Goldeneye, 150 Red-breasted Merganser and 80+ Great Crested Grebe. The Brownsea lagoon saw good counts of Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Avocet, Shoveler, Oystercatcher and Curlew. Out over Swineham this evening 2 Marsh Harrier, a Hen Harrier and a Barn Owl. At dusk 3 Purple Sandpiper, 3 Sanderling and a Med Gull were on Pilots Point.

A good selection of birds today. The Green-winged Teal was showing well again at Upton CP from the concrete bridge just outside the park boundaries, also there a Barn Owl early morning. 3 Siberian Chiffchaff were present at outflow drain behind PC World, along with 5 ‘Common’ Chiffchaff, 10 Goldcrest, 2 Siskin, Redpoll, 2 Grey Wagtail and a Common Sandpiper. A Bittern was seen in flight a couple of times over towards Swineham and also there 2 Marsh Harrier and 3 Hen Harrier (1 grey male and 2 juvs) and a Barn Owl early morning. The Whopper Swan was visible from East Stoke. Middle Beach produced 14 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Slavonian Grebe. A Green Sandpiper was at East Holme and an ‘Eared’ Owl, presumably a Short-eared Owl was at Soldiers Road. 

Exciting news today when a Green-winged Teal was discovered at Upton CP amongst many Eurasian (Common) Teal. This North American relative of our more familar Teal is a very rare winter visitor with the last Poole Harbour sighting being several years ago. Once discovered they usually stay within the teal flock for several weeks, so well worth heading to the hide at Upton CP to try and pick it out…always good fun! Also at Upton CP today 1 Med Gull, 1 Spotted Redshank and a Pintail. Other news, there were 8 Spoonbill in Holes Bay with 2 Spotted Redshank. At Swineham the Red-throated Diver remains on the Wareham Channel, also there 5 Spoonbill, a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier, 1 Yellow-legged Gull and on the Gravel Pits 10 Pochard, 10 Shoveler and 11 Tufted Duck.

Today, the Poole Harbour WeBS count took place giving the whole harbour good coverage at 9am. Numbers of commoner wildfowl seem to be down such as Teal and Wigeon, but a rise in diving ducks were evident. Highlights included…

1 Red-throated Diver, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 30+ Goldeneye, 24 Bar-tailed Godwit (one in full summer colours) and a Scaup all off Shipstal Point. In Arne Bay 1 Spoonbill, 46 Pintail and a Peregrine Falcon were present. Upton Park saw a good count of 12 Little Grebe under the railway bridge. A female Marsh Harrier flew over the Wareham-Stobourgh Causeway and a male Hen Harrier was present at Swineham with a ringtail Hen Harrier present at Wytch. Lytchett Bay held 4 Spoonbill, 2 Spotted Redshank and 3 Greenshank. An impressive 656 Shelduck were in Brands Bay, also a Red-necked Grebe off Knoll Beach and a Jack Snipe at Holmebridge. The Barn Owl was again hunting early morning around Swineham Farm. 37 Sanderling and 187 Bar-tailed Godwit were at Shore Road. The Wytch Channel held 1 Spoonbill, 566 Avocet and 35 Knot, and at Ower a Long-tailed Duck and 2 Scaup. Off Redhorn 1 Great Northern Diver and a Slavonian Grebe and the Knoll Beach Grebe roost contained 36 Black-necked Grebe. The Hoopoe was showing exceptionally well in Freshawater Drive and Dawkins Road, Hamworthy. 

Today was the ‘BoPH’ launch walk at Arne  with a full account viewable here…http://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/poole-harbour-news. 

Highlights were 16 Spoonbill at Shipstal, a Scaup off Shipstal Viewpoint, 500+ Avocet in the Middlebere Channel, Dartford Warbler up on Coombe Heath plus all the usual Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe out on the water. On Swineham GP 50 Gadwall, 12 Shoveler, 20 Pochard, 16 Tufted Duck and just 1 Teal and at Swineham Point a Water Pipit and 2 Snipe. Also around Swineham just one Marsh Harrier and two Hen Harrier and a male Merlin. Over towards Studland, Middle Beach saw 7 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Red-breasted Merganser and 7 Great Crested Grebe. Holmbridge could only produce a Greenshank and 5 Snipe. The Brownsea Lagoon webcam picked up 6 Greenshank and 3 Spotted Redshank very close in. The Hoopoe was again in/near Dawkins Road Hamworthy.  

First of all a comment regarding the recent occurrence of many seabirds being washed up Dorset beaches. At the moment it seems to be beaches in the west of the county that are experiencing most birds, however it was also stated that they are spreading east with birds also being found at Swanage and Lulworth. If you are out on any of the Poole, Sandbanks or Studland beaches and you do find a bird then please do not touch the birds as they are covered in an unknown substance. Please call the RSPCA and inform them of your find or contact us here and we will seek help. Anyway on to todays sightings…An incredible 3 Siberian Chiffchaff were found at the back of the PC world drain along with at least 20 ‘Common’ Chiffchaff. The Studland area saw Great Northern Diver, Black-necked Grebe and a healthy Razorbill. Creekmoor Ponds hosted a regular Firecrest, with another in Parkstone on Cotes Avenue. Holmebridge and High Tor saw the Whooper Swan and 4 Ruff. There are still large numbers of Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe and Goldeneye out on the water best viewable from Evening Hill or Shipstal Point. There is currently a huge Brent Goose flock of around 250 birds using the Baiter Park area to feed and roost along with 2-3 Med Gulls in amoungst the Black-headed Gulls.The Starling roost put on another good show last night at around 17:15 again. Check out the video taken last night on our videos page. 

Another school bird boat went out this morning with a true spectacle to behold. As we were approaching the Brownsea Lagoon we noticed a flock of about 50-100 Black-tailed Godwit flying in off the sea over Sandbanks heading for the lagoon, and then another 100 and another and another until we had squadrons on Black-tailed Godwit flying over us like Spitfires returning home after a long term away from home. In total around 1000 Black-tailed Godwit, which we presume were the birds arriving back from the Avon Valley, came and landed on the lagoon, only to be instantly disturbed by a Peregrine. Another great spectacle was the Sterte Starling flock at about 17:15pm wheeling and twisting about the town. The flock consisted of several thousand birds, so if your in the area, its well worth a look. Other sightings from today include several Marsh Tit sightings from Rempstone, Little Sea and South Haven. Middle Beach had 1 Great Northern Diver and 8 Black-necked Grebe. A Golden Pheasant was seen on the slipway of Furzey Island. Holmbridge recorded the Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Goose and 3 Goosander at High Tor. 13 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point.

With a howling gale blowing for most of the day many birds were sensibly keeping their heads down. A school bird boat ventured out around the harbour mid morning and was rewarded with 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 10+ Spoonbill, 100+ Red-breasted Merganser, 10+ Goldeneye, as well as all the Brownsea Lagoon usuals, Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Greenshank, Turnstone and Redshank. The Studland area received some coverage with South Haven seeing 4 Great Northern Diver, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 28 Sanderling and 3 Kittiwake and at Middle Beach 7+ Black-necked Grebe, 15+ Gannet, 2 Common Scoter, 1 Peregrine, 5 Kittiwake, 4 Razorbill and 1 Guillemot. Baiter Park was a haven for sheltering/feeding birds with 250+ Brent Geese, 8 Turnstone, 100+ Oystercatcher (including the very pale backed bird reported a week ago), 1 Med Gull plus many Herring, Black-headed and Great Black Backed Gull. Well worth scanning the gull flocks for potential Glaucous or Iceland Gulls this time of year.

The Hoopoe was a bit more obliging today being seen intermittently throughout the day around Dawkins/Galloway Road area of Hamworthy. A report of a Wheatear was submitted at Holes Bay which if confirmed would be the earliest ever ‘spring’ record for Dorset. Bittern have been a bit tough to catch up with this winter at Hatch Pond but this evening at least 1 bird, possibly 2 were seen at various places around reedbed. There was a single Sandwich Tern at Shore Road. Holton Lee received some attention today providing interest with Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Peregrine, 1 Kingfisher and 5 Siskin. Just 8 Chiffchaff in the PC World drain today and the Starling roost at Sterte is providing a truly magnificent spectacle at dusk. A quick stop off at Middle Beach, Studland produced 2 Great Northern Diver, 7 Great Crested Grebe and 2 Black-necked Grebe.