Good weather to be out, but not much reported from across the harbour today, other than 11 Glossy Ibis which were seen flying over Swineham this morning, plus 2 Brambling were feeding around the feeders at RSPB Arne plus another flew over the Lower Piddle Valley this AM. At Lytchett Fields a Spotted Redshank was on Sherford Pools, c50 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon 1 Great White Egret was in Middlebere and the adult White-tailed Eagles were seen briefly in the Wareham Channel. With Whopper Swan, Common Crane and Hawfinch logged elsewhere in Dorset today, it will be worth being out tomorrow with more decent weather forecast.
Poole Harbour sightings blog
A record of all interesting and notable sightings from around the harbour throughout the year.
Latest Sightings
Harbour Update – 25/10/25
Harbour Update – 24/10/25
Pretty high tide today and as a result there was a lot on the Brownsea Lagoon including 2 Spotted Redshank, c700 Avocet, c53 Spoonbill, 25 Bar-tailed Godwit and by mid-day, a whopping 1083 sinensis Cormorant. There was a high count of 1196 in Poole Harbour in October 2023, but with what seemed like other roving flocks present today at other sites including c400 later in the day at Holes Bay, suggested there could be another record total spread across the harbour currently. This morning a 2024 White-tailed Eagle ‘G633’, flew up the Middlebere Channel and was later seen from our Autumn Safari Cruise in Brands Bay having a pop at a Mute Swan! Also from our Autumn Safari this morning there were 4 Marsh Harrier at Swineham and the first 2 Goldeneye of the winter landed briefly off Keysworth and this afternoon 9 Glossy Ibis headed towards the Wareham Channel to go and feed. There were also 2 late Swallow over Swineham this morning, 3 Kingfisher were on Poole Quay and a Spotted Redshank was at Lytchett Fields.
White-tailed Eagle ‘G633’ – RSPB Arne – Mark Wright
Harbour Update – 23/10/25
An icy end to the day today with wintery bird vibes. This evening a Bittern flew across Swineham GP towards the SW corner and yesterdays 3 Scaup were still in the Wareham Channel, but were seen to fly off west. This afternoon a whopping 897 sinensis Cormorant settled on the Brownsea Lagoon to rest up after a busy morning fishing. This is a huge number and well on teh way to building up to the magic 1000?! The White-tailed Eagle family were seen briefly in the Wareham Channel with the juvenile seen heading off high west along the River Frome. A single Black-necked Grebe was off Middle Beach, Studland.
Harbour Update – 22/10/25
What a perfect morning. Sadly it doesn’t seem to have lasted too long, with driving rain now beating on the window, but with this mornings calm start there were new arrivals. In the Wareham Channel 3 Greater Scaup were feeding in unison with c10 Great Crested Grebe. There was some reasonable vis-mig which saw 1 Woodlark and c10 Lesser Redpoll over Lytchett Bay and 2 Brambling, c30 Lesser Redpoll and c200 Siskin passed over Greenlands Farm. Lytchett Bay also had 2 Spotted Redshank. Brownsea Lagoon was busy this morning and hosted 56 Spoonbill, 320 Avocet and 14 Greenshank. At Swineham 6 Marsh Harrier came into roost tonight and a Merlin flew over Swineham Point. The White-tailed Eagle pair were on RSPB Arne Hill, viewable from the Ham Common viewpoint.
Harbour Update – 21/10/25
A much brighter day today, with autumn colours vibrant and gleaming once again. The first Great Northern Diver of the ‘winter’ almost made it into the harbour this afternoon with one bobbing around just outside the harbour entrance late this afternoon. Even more intriguingly was Black Tern reported off the Brownsea Quay this afternoon. Also on Brownsea were 68 Spoonbill.
Harbour Update – 20/10/25
Another pretty dire day today weather wise, but perhaps once this weather goes through it may have delivered the first Great Northern Diver into the harbour? Or perhaps even a Little Auk? Neither were found today, rather a White-tailed Eagle over the Brownsea Lagoon this morning was as good as it gets. Well, c70 Spoonbill still on Brownsea wasn’t too shabby. Last night a first night ringing session of the season was carried out by Stour Ringing Group and an amazing 9 Jack Snipe were ringed, highlighting we’re currently in peak passage for these northern arrivals. Two of the 9 were re-traps, one first ringed in Nov 2023 and the other Feb 2025, once again highlighting winter site fidelity for this species at Sunnyside. Unfortunately, the weather was so dire yesterday that it was impossible to read the ring number of the ringed Glossy Ibis seen in the Wareham Channel by the surveying WeBS counter, however it’s incredibly likely to have been the same individual that was recently seen at Lodmoor a few weeks ago and captured perfectly by photographer Graham Jaggard. The bird was traced back to the Doñana National Park, Spain where it was ringed as a chick in August 2025.
Glossy Ibis – Lodmoor (Oct 2025) – X social media post by Graham Jaggard
First Jack Snipe of the autumn – Ringed at Sunnyside – Ed Betteridge
Harbour Update – 19/10/25
It was a kind of ‘less said about today the better’ kind of a day, however late this afternoon during the Poole Harbour WeBS counts we heard of 11 Glossy Ibis in the Wareham Channel, one of which was colour-ringed. We haven’t received the full code/colour combo yet, but it will be fascinating to learn the origin of these newly arrived Glossy Ibis. Once we’ve received any form or response/info we’ll be sure to update you. Elsewhere male White-tailed Eagle G463 was hunting along Middlebere this afternoon, a Great White Egret flew over Poole Quay this morning and a Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields.
Harbour Update – 18/10/25
Although things started settled, the wind built pretty rapidly during the course of the early morning. A few small groups of Redwing were moving with 3 ringed in the Lower Piddle Valley. At dawn 4 Eider were in Shell Bay but soon moved off east. Also off Studland was a Black-throated Diver off South Beach with 2 Common Scoter and a dozen Brent Geese. The Dorset White-tailed Eagle chick was seen for the first time in the harbour where it briefly settled in fields close to Middlebere this morning. In the Carey housing estate 2 Black Redstart we’re on house roofs.
Juv White-tailed Eagle G834 – Middlebere – Sam Ryde
Harbour Update – 17/10/25
Once again, the harbour was at it’s late autumn best this afternoon, with the mud flats fast filling with the sound of wetland birds as they moved to and from various feeding areas. From our Autumn Safari this afternoon female White-tailed Eagle G466 caught a fish fairly close to our boat, although frustratingly did so just behind a spit of salt marsh, however it didn’t stop us from experiencing the absolute ease these birds are able to catch a fish as she twisted effortlessly a few meters above the water before simply ‘plonking’ down into the water to retrieve her prize which looked to be either a Mullet or a Bass. Even more interestingly was the fact we later saw her flying low across the mud from the north side of the Wareham Channel to the south side, directly over hundreds of waterfowl and waders, and other than 10 Avocet that decided to have ‘a pop’ at her, not a single bird flinched, seemingly carrying on with their feeding routine as if there was no danger. Also in the Wareham Channel were 4 Glossy Ibis, 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Merlin, c500 Black-tailed Godwit, c500 Dunlin, 3 Greenshank, 1 Kingfisher, c10 Grey Plover, 24 dark-bellied Brent Geese and plenty of Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall. Round the back of Green Island a small raft of 6 Red-breasted Merganser were settled and the Brownsea Lagoon had c60 Spoonbill, 9 Greenshank, c100 Avocet and 19 Bar-tailed Godwit. Another Red-breasted Merganser was close to the harbour mouth this AM too. This morning, a small goose sp with Graylags flew over the Lower Piddle Valley and was assumed to be a Pink-footed Goose.
Female White-tailed Eagle G466 from this afternoons Autumn Safari – Mike Gaston
Female White-tailed Eagle G466 from this afternoons Autumn Safari – Mike Gaston
Glossy Ibis from this afternoons Autumn Safari – Mike Gaston
Harbour Update – 16/10/25
1 Bittern came in to roost at Swineham Gravel Pit at 6:30pm landing in the reeds on the NE shore, along with 2 Great White Egret, 35+ Cattle Egret and 8 Glossy Ibis all coming in to roost. 4 Green Sandpiper were spread out across the scrapes at Swineham. An increasingly rare Poole Harbour bird, sadly, but 2 Pochard were on Holme Lane Gravel Pit and 1 male has been frequenting Swineham in recent weeks. 1 Great White Egret flew over Creekmoor. In the Middlebere Channel on the falling tide there were c300 Avocet, 10 Knot and 1 Grey Plover. In Holes Bay there were 5 Pintail and 1 Knot among the growing numbers of Black-tailed Godwit.
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