It’s easy to get put off by foul weather and rain, especially when you’re about to head out onto a boat trip. We’re not going to lie, we felt a little deflated when suddenly a big band of un-forecast heavy rain drifted over the harbour this morning just a few hours before we were due to head off on our Winter Safari. Our stunted mood was short lived though with 3 Great Northern Diver pretty much off the quay, soon followed by a small flock of sinensis Cormorant feeding close by for comparison. Although the rain persisted, the water was flat calm, allowing for views of multiple Great Crested Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser. Frustratingly, we were slow off the mark when a White-tailed Eagle was seen flying off away from us from Shipstal, up, up and away over Arne towards the Wareham Channel. That frustration was short lived though when about an hour later, the same White-tailed Eagle, which turned out to be male G463 decided to fly out from the edge of RSPB Arne and catch a fish out in the middle of the Wareham Channel, snatching it off the surface, before then heading off to Shag Looe to feed. The excitement didn’t end there as his catch was only a small one, meaning no sooner had he finished his snack when all of a sudden he started hunting a lone Cormorant off the side of the boat, much to the delight of the soggy crowd. After a minute or two of swooping and diving to try and catch the diving target, he soon gave up when an posse of Black-headed Gulls started hassling him. Also logged from our winter Safari today were c14 Great Northern Diver in total, 1 Black-throated Diver in the North Channel, off Whitley Lake, Sandbanks, 3 Black-necked Grebe in South Deep, 2 Spoonbill and c100 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon, c400 Black-tailed Godwit in the Wareham Channel including some smart newly arrived partial summer plumaged individuals, 3 Marsh Harrier at Swineham, c300 dark-bellied Brent Geese in Ower Bay and 1 Kingfisher on Furzey Island, plus all the usual Wigeon, Shelduck, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, etc. Also logged around the harbour today included a redhead Goosander in Holes Bay north, 1 Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s Point and a good count of 48 Knot in Brands Bay. Just outside our recording area, the Great Grey Shrike was at Sugar Hill, Wareham Forest again.

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 chasing down Cormorant – Wareham Channel, from Winter Safari Cruise – Harry McBride

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 missing Cormorant – Wareham Channel, from Winter Safari Cruise – Harry McBride

Goosander – Holes Bay north – Tony Furnell

Not quite as Spring-like in the harbour today, but hopefully, with conditions looking better later in the week and winds pushing from the right direction, we’ll have some more of our first spring migrants arriving. Plenty of our overwintering birds are still around though with 82 Bar-tailed Godwit at Whitley Lake this morning. 1 White-tailed Eagle was in the Wareham Channel first thing and 9 Crossbill were seen at RSPB Arne. Off Redhorn Quay the 1 Slavonian Grebe was still present. Spotted Redshank are still showing well in certain parts of the harbour with 2 at Lytchett Fields and 2 in the Middlebere Channel.

The Great Grey Shrike was still in Wareham Forest, just north-west of Woolsbarrow Fort. It appears to have a ring on it’s right leg and so is likely to be the bird that was seen back in the Autumn and ringed at Lytchett Fields. It probably never left and has been moving around the Wareham Forest area all winter, but with few people watching and a big area to cover it has only just been re-found.

Great Grey Shrike – Sugar Hill, Wareham Forest @aidanjb118 on Twitter

Stunningly clear and flat calm conditions for our Winter Safari boat this morning helped us pick up plenty of open water species, including a group of 5 Black-necked Grebe and a nearby Slavonian Grebe in South Deep, plus 12 Great Northern Diver spread across the whole harbour! We were also pleased to see the White-tailed Eagle pair active once again around their usual summer territory in the Wareham Channel, before they headed off over Lytchett Bay where they were enjoyed by several other watchers. We were also delighted to see the first two freshly returned Sandwich Terns on the Brownsea Lagoon, one of which flew ahead of our boat as we made our way back to Poole Quay. Watching it darting and diving in the warm sunshine made for a gloriously spring-like atmosphere!

In Lytchett Bay this morning a 1st winter Little Gull was seen briefly before departing towards the Wareham Channel, and in the afternoon there was a ringtail Hen Harrier over Otter Island, as well as another in the Middlebere Channel along with hunting Goshawk. And just north of the harbour there was a Great Grey Shrike in Wareham Forest, in the area south-west of Woolsbarrow Fort, along with a single Corn Bunting and 3 Lesser Redpoll. This afternoon there was a Great White Egret on the Keysworth shoreline in the Wareham Channel and there were some exciting developments when the new Poole Peregrine pair were seen carrying out a brief copulation attempt. It seems they like their new town centre real estate!

Ringtail Hen Harrier – Middlebere – @PlushieTumRs on Twitter

For the most part, today was pretty lovely, as the sun tried it’s best to hold on and provide an element of warmth. The still conditions also helped it feel rather spring like. Looking at the National bird info services, things are now already beginning to hot up with Sand Martin, Little Ringed Plover and Stone Curlew all logged out of county today, and having looked at next weeks forecast, a strong set of southerlies could easily deliver the first Wheatears in the coming days. It was more about White-tailed Eagles today though as the local Poole Harbour pair went for an urban wander, initially favouring an area north of Lytchett Matravers, before tracking south and being clocked over Lytchett Bay, before then providing a whole host of exciting encounters for Poole Town based birders as they proceeded to fly together over Constitution Hill, Ashley Road, Oakdale and then Fleetsbridge, before then later being seen over Wareham Forest and then Morden. These fine, early spring days often see them become really active, and todays large flight was almost certainly a territorial wander, asserting their dominance in the area and checking to see if there were any ‘intruding’ eagles about. Although we talk about them regularly, it still blows us away that folk can be in their gardens in urban Poole and have a chance of seeing wild White-tailed Eagles flying over. A key clue is to listen out for the gulls. If you hear them go bananas, then look up right away! It may just be in response to a Buzzard, or even a Red Kite, but after todays escapades, it could also just be a White-tailed Eagle. Towards the harbour entrance there were 2 Great Northern Diver, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Goldeneye and 23 Red-breasted Merganser off Jerry’s Point and in Brands Bay. There were 2 Spotted Redshank in Middlebere, 4 Spoonbill at Shipstal and 18 Cattle Egret on Wareham Common and a Goshawk was over Middlebere.

White-tailed Eagle G466 over Lytchett Bay before she headed off to ‘Poole’ – Alison Copland

Although Spring officially ‘arrived’ today, it really didn’t feel like it did!! A chilly wind whipped across the area, and the hail shower that arrived at dawn may have well been snow it was so cold! Best from today included 2 Spotted Redshank and a male Goshawk at Middlebere, with another Spotted Redshank in Holes Bay, 1 Black-necked Grebe out in Studland Bay, 3 pale-bellied Brent Geese in Brands Bay and 1 Slavonian Grebe off Redhorn.

Sparrowhawk eating Feral Pigeon – Daniel Nash

A rainy end to February today which is an apt finish for the wet winter we’ve had. Hopefully March will bring some spring weather with it as well as more sightings! At Lytchett Bay 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Greenshank were visible from the Rock Lea View. In Holes Bay c500 Dunlin were present along with 13 Avocet. 1 Slavonian Grebe was off Redhorn Quay, Studland as well as 3 Knot in Brands Bay

The 2023 Holes Bay report is now available to view on our website and is a fantastic overview of all the records from this fantastic site last year. We would highly recommend giving it a read. Well done for putting it together – Steve Smith, Martin Adams, Jackie Hull, Nick Woods and Sally and Tony Grant. It is available to read on our website here.

Holes Bay 2023 Report

February’s almost over, and would be pretty much if it wasn’t a leap year, meaning we’ve got one more day to go until spring officially arrives. This morning actually felt quite pleasant and flat calm waters right around the harbour (and beyond) allowed for a decent scan out across Poole Bay which saw 10 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver, 8 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Razorbill, 1 Fulmar, 1 Common Scoter and 1 Gannet all out in the bay. There was another Black-throated Diver out in the centre of the harbour viewed from Shipstal where there were also 8 Spoonbill. A female Merlin zipped across Studland Bay and entered the harbour through the harbour mouth. There were 2 Spotted Redshank in Middlebere with a ringtail Hen Harrier. There was also a sighting of several large flocks of Brent Geese heading off high NE over the harbour entrance into the murk this evening. These could be either be local over-wintering birds heading off out into/towards Poole Bay/Christchurch Harbour to roost, or could even be some of our over-wintering birds departing?

Ringtail Hen Harrier – Middlebere Channel – John Thorpe

With the wind strength doing a complete u-turn this morning, having been blasting gales yesterday, this mornings calm start was a welcome and pleasant start to the day. With Osprey season fast approaching, we took advantage of the days settled weather and started work on nest and Osprey season prep for the coming year. Whilst scaling the main Osprey nest it was a thrill to have close fly-bys of several Mandarin Duck heading up and down the Piddle Valley, as well as 4 Lesser Redpoll and 3 Crossbill passing over, finished off with an adult male Goshawk hunting Wood Pigeons over the nest!!! As long as he sticks to Wood Pigeons. Elsewhere the White-tailed Eagle pair were doing the rounds with visits to Lytchett Bay, Brands Bay and the Wareham Channel. Lytchett Bay had a good raptor day with 3 Red Kite,  2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier and a Peregrine. Having been missing for several days (rather, hiding just outside our harbour boundary in Corfe Mullen), 8 Waxwing were in trees at Nuffield Industrial Estate this morning. The Peregrine pair in Poole were both roosting on the Asda flats. Both are definitely adults, so it looks as if they’ve shoved the younger bird from last years brood out of the territory. There’s still plenty of time for things to get interesting, but to our knowledge, they haven’t yet visited the new nest box installed by Dorset Raptor Group. There were 8 Spoonbill at Shipstal, RSPB Arne and a Spotted Redshank was still in Middlebere.

Adult Peregrine Falcon – Asda flats, Poole – Daniel Nash

Another wet one today, but it didn’t put off the Marsh Harriers displaying in the Wareham Channel this morning, with interaction and calling observed between individuals. A few other raptors were similarly unperturbed, including 2 Red Kite spotted over Rock Lea View in Lytchett Bay, however the Poole town Peregrines took a different view and could be seen hunkered down tight into the north face of the Asda building! Elsewere, from Jerry’s point at Studland there was 1 Black-necked Grebe, 16 Red-breasted Merganser, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Grey Plover.

Marsh Harrier – Wareham Channel – @PlushieTumRs on Twitter