The harbour is still really producing the goods, despite the blasting cold easterly wind that had set in by the end of the day. Without doubt the best find was a chance encounter between two species that are unlikely to have met too many times before within the harbour, when a Purple Sandpiper joined the Snow Bunting on Hamworthy beach this afternoon. Purple Sandpiper records within the harbour are incredibly unusual, although do occur. The maximum count is 11 in Feb 2008, Nov 2009, Jan 2010 and Jan 2011 all in and around north Haven, Sandbanks. However, interesting past inner-harbour records include 7 at Poole Quay on 8th Jan 1983, 8 at Arne on 8th Nov 1984, 3 at Hamworthy Beach on 17th Mar 1996 and after high winds, one walking along the road towards Swan Lake in Poole Park on 18th Jan 1987!!!

Elsewhere at least 1 Black-throated Diver was still in Parkstone Bay, Baiter, the Long-tailed Duck, 2 Slavoniain Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Great Northern Diver were all off Jerry’s Point and a Red-throated Diver flew into the harbour late this afternoon. The Barnacle Goose was still on the Stilt Pools at Swineham, 3 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe were off Middle Beach. Both White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel this morning

Purple Sandpiper and Snow Bunting – Hamworthy Beach – Clive Hargrave

Turnstones and Purple Sandpiper  – Hamworthy Beach – Clive Hargrave

The harbour was picture perfect today, with a layer of frost last almost lasted the entire duration of the day. The low, bright sun made viewing a bit tricky but once again there was so much to experience right the way around the harbour. This morning was our first bird boat of the year and was a targeted Year List ‘kick-starter’ trip. We couldn’t have got off to a better start to the year with 65 species logged from the trip and consisted of 1 Black-throated Diver off Baiter, 3 Great Northern Diver between Sandbanks and Brands Bay, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Eider and 3 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, 2 Sandwich Tern off Furzey, 1 Guillemot off Poole Quay, 1 Barnacle Goose and 4 Marsh Harrier at Swineham, 23 Spoonbill on Shipstal, RSPB Arne and 2 Goldeneye in the mouth of the Wareham Channel. Also, due to the Brownsea Lagoon being frozen over, all waders and wildfowl were displaced, trying to find suitable alternative roost sites with random Avocet flocks roosting in the Wareham Channel, Ower Bay and Fitzworth. Elsewhere there were 2 drake Pochard on Holme Lane GP, the Snow Bunting continued to please crowds in the bright organge winter sun at Hamworthy Beach, a Short-eared Owl was hunting over Arne Moors this afternoon, 2 Slavonian Grebe were off Jerry’s Point after sunrise and the 2 Purple Sandpiper were still on the Sandbanks groyns. A Great White Egret came into roost at Swineham this evening, a Merlin was at Lytchett Bay and both drake Mandarin Ducks were still in Poole Park.

Kingfisher – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

Not quite sure how it’s managed to go from one extreme to another in less than 24 hours, but yesterdays mild, gale force storm was replaced today by a frosty, still, minus set of temperatures. There were no new arrivals found lurking in the harbour anywhere which had been blown in by the storm, but the Snow Bunting on Hamworty Beach seemed to survive the waves which were battering it yesterday as it was feeding quite happily (and a lot drier) all day along the beach, moving around occasionally moving around.  It was much of the same elsewhere with the Long-tailed Duck, Slavoniain Grebe and Eider all off Jerry’s Point again with the Eider moving out into Shell Bay later, and around the Studland Penninsular there were 2 Black-necked Grebe, 11 Common Scoter and 3 Great Northern Diver off Middle Beach and 3 Great Northern Diver in Shell Bay. The 2 Purple Sandpiper were on the Sandbanks Groynes, in Middlebere 2 Spotted Redshank were roosting on the high tide with a Spoonbill and this afternoon a Black Redstart was feeding in a private Canford Cliffs garden. The Parkstone Bay/Baiter Black-throated Diver was showing at point blank range this morning off the footpath and in the PCW Drain this afternoon c15 Common Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap (1 male and 1 female) and 1 Coot were enjoying the limited warmth of the sun. There were 25 Spoonbill at Shipstal Point, Arne and at Lytchett Fields there was 1 Water Pipit and 1 Spotted Redshank. 

Snow Bunting – Hamworthy Park – Mark Wright

Happy New Year everyone! What a way to start the year, with a near force 10 gale. Thankfully it tracked through fairly quickly, and although the rain persisted until this evening, the wind had largely moved through by mid-afternoon. This meant the Snow Bunting which went into hiding for a period of time this morning, finally came out again for patient birders who were looking to get their year lists off to a good start. Studland and Shell Bay were sheltered enough to check and logged 2 Great Northern Diver, 4 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Kittiwake, 7 Gannet and a moderate stream of Auks were heading west out in Poole Bay. At dawn a good count of 42 Red-breasted Merganser flew into the harbour along with 2 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver and 1 Long-tailed Duck. 

A rather bedraggled Snow Bunting compared to it’s pristine condition yesterday – Hamworthy Park – Peter Moore

A torrid new Year scene this morning – Hamworthy Park – Lucy McRobert

With the final day of the year upon us, it’s good to look back reflect back on whats been an incredible year for the charity. Without doubt this has been the best year in our 11 year history in terms out outreach, education, income/donations and outcomes. We could never have guessed this time last year we would have had four Osprey chicks in CJ7’s and 022’s nest this spring/summer which all survived and migrated safely. We also hosted more bird boats and events than ever before, engaging with around 10,000 guests throughout the year. We also got our Young Birders Club up and running, providing free events across the year for 13-18 year olds and as always, our School Bird Boat program saw us take out c1000 7-12 year olds from local schools around the harbour. We still have a lot left to do, and we promise we’ll always make every effort to keep you updated and involved in all aspects of our work, because after all, if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be the charity we’re always striving to be. So here’s looking forward to an even bigger and better 2025, and we can’t wait to see you all again soon.

Despite the blustery last day of the year, there was plenty to enjoy. Yesterdays Snow Bunting was incredibly confiding all day on Hamworthy Beach, often allowing dogs to pass with 2m of it. It moved around a bit, sometimes flying to the the paddling pool for a break before moving back to the beach. Also this morning there were 3 White-tailed Eagle sat together in Lytchett Bay, both adults G466 and G463 plus a wandering juvenile G644. The 2 Purple Sandpipers were on the groynes at Sandbanks Beach again, there was a male Hen Harrier in Lytchett Bay and a ringtail was in Middlebere. The Long-tailed Duck flew into the harbour again this morning and was off Jerry’s Point mid-morning. There were 4 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay with 10 Common Scoter and 4 Great Northern Diver. Out in Poole Bay a building number of Gannet were congregating, likely due to the building wind, plus 15 Razorbill, 2 Great Northern Diver and 1 Red-throated Diver. 

Snow Bunting – Hamworthy Beach – Peter Moore

Snow Bunting – Hamworthy Beach – Peter Moore

White-tailed Eagles (left to right) G644, G463 and G466 – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

With conditions finally improving this afternoon, there was almost maximum coverage today, and wow, what a list of birds there is from around the harbour. In the gloom this morning a Golden Plover was calling over Ballard, where a Yellowhammer also went over. Out in Studland Bay 10 Common Scoter, 8 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Black-throated Diver and 3 Great Northern Diver were loafing about and way out in Poole Bay there were 5 more Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver and 8 Razorbill. The Jerry’s Point ‘crew’ remained with the 1st winter Eider and 1st winter Long-tailed Duck off Jerry’s Point with 1 Slavoniain Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Great Northern Diver. At Sandbanks there were 2 Purple Sandpiper on the groynes off Sandbanks Beach, a Great White Egret flew in low over the Wareham bypass bridge and 15 Cattle Egret were at Holmebridge. The/a Green-winged Teal was re-found in Brands Bay this evening and today 1 Merlin was on Hartland and a ringtail Hen Harrier was in Middlebere. The Black-throated Diver was off the Whitecliff footpath again and in Middlebere 2 White-tailed Eagles flew over, a Goshawk bombed through and 6 Spoonbill were in the channel. Out in central harbour a small group of 5 Goldeneye were hiding in the fog, there were 4 Common Chiffchaff and 2 Firecrest at Norden sewage works.

Bar-tailed Godwit – Shore Road, Sandbanks – Garry Hayman

Sounds like the fog may be clearing tomorrow which is good news, but it does seem to be dropping some wandering? lost? birds into the harbour currently. Earlier in the week it was a short stopping Velvet Scoter and Golden Plover, and today it was 2 Greater Scaup, also off of Jerry’s Point, Studland. Later in the day the Long-tailed Duck and 1st winter male Eider were also off Jerry’s Point along with 4 Great Northern Diver and 1 Slavonian Grebe. For the first time in while there was a semi-decent roost of 10 Black-necked Grebe out off Knoll Beach this evening plus 9 Common Scoter and 2 Great Northern Diver, with a ‘flock’ of 6 Great Northern Diver off Old Harry earlier in the day. The 2 Black-throated Diver were still off Baiter/Whitecliff cycle path this AM and this evening a redhead Goosander was on Holme Lane GP. This morning a ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting in Lytchett Bay and a Spotted Redshank was out in the bay again

Black-throated Divers – Parkstone Bay, Baiter – Garry Hayman

It would be nice to think that 2025 will be a bit sunnier than the latter part of 2024 has been, with yet another overcast, dull, murky day. Still, the variety in and around Studland warrants the effort heading out with all the recent usuals still about including 4 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 31 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Eider, 1 Long-tailed Duck and 34 Red-breasted Merganser off Jerry’s Point. A Spotted Redshank was in Lytchett Bay again along with a Common Sandpiper, and there was a good count of 21 Knot in Holes Bay in amongst the close to 2000 Wigeon. The 2 Black-throated Diver were still off Baiter/Whitecliff, 8 Spoonbill were at Shipstal and 2 Black-necked Grebe were off Middle Beach, Studland. Finally, 8 Cattle Egret were on floods between Holmebrige and Wareham.

A dank, foggy mist seems to be covering the majority of the country currently, including the harbour area, making viewing a tad tricky. That said, there’s still plenty around to keep everyone entertained, with the diver hat-trick still possible with at least 1 Black-throated Diver still off Baiter park, 1 Red-throated Diver out through the harbour entrance and 3 Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point and 1 in Studland Bay. The 1st winter male Eider was also off Jerry’s Point and the Long-tailed Duck flew in this morning at 08:20. At Holmebridge 33 Cattle Egret were feeding in the fields a Hen Harrier flew past the NT Middlebere Hide and 8 Marsh Harrier were seen around Swineham in the morning. At least 2 Slavonian Grebe were were out in South Deep and 4 Black-necked Grebe were off Middle Beach, Studland. Another mid-winter scarcity showed up today too, in the form of a Golden Plover on Lytchett Fields with the Lapwing.

Golden Plover and Lapwing – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam