It was all about the divers again today, with the Black-throated Diver in Holes Bay again this morning, 2 Red-throated Diver in South Deep and a Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point. A Cattle Egret was in the field next to the car park at Upton CP, and at last night ringing demo at Sunnyside, despite the driving rain we managed to still catch 5 Woodcock, 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Skylark and 1 Meadow Pipit.

Sanderling Studland Beach – David Camp (yesterday)

Black-throated Diver-  Studland Beach – David Camp (yesterday)

It was a proper winter scene across the harbour this morning, not so much with snow or frost, but just the sheer number of birds around. However a late Swallow flying around Studland Beach spoilt the wintery vibe (poor thing). There were potentially 3 Black-throated Diver around with one showing well in Holes Bay this morning, then another was off the Brownsea south shore this afternoon with a third (sickly) individual close in off Middle Beach. There were also 2 Great Northern Diver off the houseboats in Bramble Bush Bay and 2 Red-throated Diver, one in South Deep and another in central harbour. Central harbour also had 6 Black-necked Grebe with 2 in South Deep and off Middle Beach, Studland the Surf Scoter was distant as was the flock of 12 Common Scoter. At Swineham 4 Marsh Harrier were hunting, 25 Spoonbill were roosting off Fitzworth. The Brownsea Lagoon was teeming and held c2000 Dunlin, c300 Avocet, c60 Bar-tailed Godwit, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, c50 Grey Plover, 1 Spoonbill and lots of wildfowl. In Middlebere there were 2 Spotted Redshank with another in Lytchett Bay and 1 in Holes Bay south, 4 more Black-necked Grebe were out in Studland Bay.

Black-throated Diver – Middle Beach, Studland – James Leaver

After yesterdays very brief Velvet Scoter which disappeared almost as fast as it was found off Jerry’s Point, there was an even briefer Long-tailed Duck this evening which also appeared and then disappeared off Jerry’s Point. Maybe this is becoming Poole Harbours equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle, where all good birds just vanish for eternity. It’s a good job the Surf Scoter hasn’t entered the harbour yet then, having remained off Middle Beach, Studland for all of it’s stay so far, where it was still present today along with 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver and 12 Common Scoter and 2 Black-necked Grebe. Off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Great Northern Diver, 40 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Goldeneye, 28 Red-breasted Merganser and 11 Spoonbill were off the Furzey foreshore. It’s been a great winter so far for variety of open water, diving species with all 3 species of diver, 3 species of scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye, Eider and Goosander all logged between Nov 1st and Dec 3rd, plus 4 of the 5 grebe species with Red-necked Grebe being the only absentee for the list. Elsewhere the White-tailed Eagles were seen in Brands Bay and later in the day in the Wareham Channel. A Purple Sandpiper was on a groyne directly off the Sandbanks main beach car park and an over-wintering Common Sandpiper was seen in Lytchett Bay with a Spotted Redshank. 

Avocet – Middlebere 

With another drop in temperature there were two nice hat-tricks in the area today, firstly with Black-throated Diver, Red-throated Diver and Great Northern Diver all feeding out in Studland Bay this morning. Then, there was the ‘scoter hat-trick’ with 1 Surf Scoter and 15 Common Scoter out in Studland Bay and a drake Velvet Scoter which was initially off the Studland houseboats which then seemed to fly towards Brands Bay, but couldn’t be relocated. With the Surf Scoter were 6 Black-necked Grebe and 5 Mediterranean Gull out in Studland Bay too. In Lytchett Bay a Spotted Redshank was still about and 5 Marsh Harrier and 1 Great White Egret were at Swineham.

Reed Buntings – Near Norden sewage works

Reed Buntings – Near Norden sewage works

Sadly there was no sign of the Surf Scoter today, despite much looking from various birders. The Arctic Skua put in another appearance again, this time around the old Lifeboat station on the quay, where again, it was getting harassed by gulls, before moving off towards Baiter. Off Middle Beach, Studland there were 6 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver, 11 Common Scoter and 1 Red-throated Diver. There were also 2 Great Northern Diver off Jerry’s Point. This morning a Short-eared Owl was flying around the east end of Hartland Moor and an adult male Hen Harrier was seen bombing around Middlebere several times today. A Ruff was on the Lower Piddle Floods and a male Goldeneye was in Holes Bay, which is actually a good record these days with Goldeneye having become almost non-existent in the northern bays (Lytchett and Holes) in recent years. There were also 15 Spoonbill reported in Holes Bay this afternoon. Last night we hosted our first Sunnyside ringing demo of the winter in partnership with Stour Ringing Group and the season got off to a great start with 2 Woodcock, 1 Common Snipe and 2 Jack Snipe caught, with one of the ‘Jacks’ being a re-trap of our from the same site but originally ringed in February 2022, proving winter site fidelity again for Jack Snipe at this site.

Jack Snipe – Sunnyside Ringing Demo – Alick Simmons

Common Snipe – Sunnyside Ringing Demo – Alick Simmons

Woodcock – Sunnyside Ringing Demo – Alick Simmons

Even though the weekends storms didn’t produce much either in or out of the harbour, it’s always worth continuing to check several days after as you never know what storm driven waifs may turn up. Thats what happened today when a late afternoon scan of Studland Bay suddenly produced a 1st winter male Surf Scoter which was sat out on it’s own off Middle Beach. This is the 4th record for Poole Harbour and is a really great find. The last one which was found in Nov 2013 actually ended up over-wintering and stayed until early April 2014, so there’s a chance this bird could stick around? Also, this afternoon, it sounded like yesterdays Arctic Skua which was first seen off Poole Quay, had moved to Holes Bay as it was getting beaten up by gulls this afternoon in the southern sector. Also in Holes Bay was a Great Northern Diver and 16 Spoonbill flew over. A vis-mig session up on Ballard produced a decent find of a Cirl Bunting which passed over heading north.

1st winter drake Surf Scoter – Middle Beach, Studland – Mark Wright

dark-bellied Brent Geese waiting for their coffee order – Baiter Park

It was a true bird-fest from this afternoons Winter Safari with a whole range of species encountered around the harbour. Most amazingly was a dark phase Arctic Skua which was sat off the harbour sea wall, close to Poole Quay before we set off. Annoyingly it flew off towards Baiter just as we were departing and couldn’t be relocated, but still a lovely record. In the Wareham Channel there were 5 Spoonbill feeding, 3 of which really close to the boat, a drake Goosander flew over Giggers, 4-5 Marsh Harrier gave great views around Swineham, 2 Great White Egret were on the gravel pit and Arne Moors/Swineham held masses of Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler and a few Pintail. Off Brownsea SW shore a Black-throated Diver casually drifted right past the boat and a Red-throated Diver sat a bit further off the boat. A second Red-throated Diver was off the Brownsea north shore along with a Common Scoter and on the Brownsea Lagoon c500 Avocet were settled before it got dark. A Barnacle Goose with Canada Geese at Swineham and at Holmebridge there were 22 Egyptian Geese whilst a female Pochard was on Holme Lane GP. Out in Studland Bay there were still 13 Common Scoter, 3 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver, and 1 Slavonian Grebe was off Jerry’s Point. This afternoon 4 Spoonbill were in Holes Bay.

Black-throated Diver – Brownsea SW shore – John Thorp

Black-throated Diver – Brownsea SW shore – John Thorp