A fine day today with a typical harbour affair presenting it’s self. The White-tailed Eagle pair were over Middlebere, Brands Bay and in the Wareham Channel for most of the day, and yesterday younger (Christchurch Harbour resident) G818 was also in the Wareham Channel. This evening a Poole Harbour record count of 41 Cattle Egret went into the harbour roost, passing over Swineham, but alas, no Bittern tonight, despite near perfect conditions. There were 2 Spotted Redshank in Middlebere, a Black-necked Grebe was off Jerry’s Point. There was a ringtail Hen Harrier at Middlebere and Swineham, a Merlin at Greenlands Farm and 2 Red Kite over Hartland.

Full moon rising over Swineham – Adam Day

Our website is now back up and running, so we can return to posting sightings on here! Apologies for the technical difficulties over the past couple of days.

Finally some nicer weather in the harbour today allowing for lots of bird of prey activity with Peregrine sightings over Poole Town Centre and Shipstal Point. 2 White-tailed Eagle were seen flying over Arne RSPB, heading towards the Wareham Channel as well as 7 Spoonbill and 1 flyover Crossbill at Shipstal. A pair of Goosander were at Holmebridge this morning. In Lytchett Fields 1 Goshawk was enjoying the warm conditions, seen from the Rock Lea Viewpoint as well as 5 Greenshank and 3 Spotted Redshank on Sherford Pools. 1 Sandwich Tern was seen in Holes Bay sat on one of the marker buoys.

Peregrine Falcon – Poole – Tony Furnell

Slim pickings today but Red Kite are already becoming more visible with another over Coombe Heath today adding to the handful from last week as well. A White-tailed Eagle was over Corfe Castle a Merlin was at Swineham, a Cattle Egret was at Lytchett Bay and 2 Great Northern Diver were off Hamworthy Beach. Amazingly, yesterdays Pintail record from Brands Bay was broken once again with 1004 yesterday and 1111 today!

Great Northern Diver – Hamworthy Beach

Red Kite – Coombe Heath – Alison Copland

Spring continues to spring into action with the years (and countries) first House Martin seen flying over West Morden, just outside our recording area. The harbour Marsh Harrier’s continued to call and court one another this morning and there were Goshawk wars over the Wareham Channel with 2 males and a female all interacting. A Hen Harrier was seen at Swineham, a White-tailed Eagle was over Middlebere and a single Peregrine was on the Asda flats. In Brands Bay the summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe was still there and 2 Spotted Redshank were at Lytchett Fields with 4 Greenshank and a Chiffchaff in full song. There was a distinct drop off in totals of waders and wildfowl in some areas during the Poole Harbour WeBS this morning as some birds are starting to depart on their long migration back to breeding grounds over the next few months. However, there was a phenomenal count of 1004 Pintail in Brands Bay which is a staggering Poole Harbour total and more than double any historical Poole Harbour WeBS total going back to 1975! This almost certainly consists of some new arrivals, perhaps from further south, settling (also known as staging) in Poole Harbour/southern Britain before they continue their journey north. It’s good to see and log these movements and highlight that the harbour is as important for over-wintering birds as it is for passage birds of the same species.

Great Crested Grebe – Baiter – John Thorpe

The mudflats in Wareham Channel were positively bustling with waders on the low tide during this morning’s Winter Safari Cruise, with 300+ Dunlin, 150+ Avocet, 30+ Curlew, 40+ Redshank, 50+ Lapwing and a single Grey Plover. At least 4 Marsh Harrier were active around Swineham, including a courting pair who flew back and forth past the boat and whose incredible high-pitched contact calls carried clearly across the water to us! We were also treated to a beautiful flyby from 4 juvenile Spoonbill, which flew close down either side of the boat simultaneously before regrouping and heading over to Shipstal Bay at Arne to seek shelter. Other highlights from the trip were the 2 Pochard still present at Swineham, along with 8 Great Northern Diver spread across the harbour and 1 Black-necked Grebe just inside the harbour entrance which had begun to enter its breeding plumage. Elsewhere today there 33 Cattle Egret back on Wareham Common, 4 Water Pipit on Sherford Pools at Lytchett Fields, 2 Red Kite were seen over Lytchett Matravers and the 8 Waxing were still present at Dacombe Drive in Upton.

Juvenile Spoonbill (note the dark tips to flight feathers) – Winter Safari Cruise – Alison Copland

Black-necked Grebe (entering breeding plumage) – Winter Safari Cruise – Alison Copland

A really lovely Low-tide cruise this morning with plenty of birds out in the Wareham Channel out on the mud including c300 Avocet, c800 Dunlin, c50 Lapwing, c300 Black-tailed Godwit and 7 Spoonbill. There were 3 Marsh Harrier around Swineham and 5+ Great Northern Diver spread across the harbour. A single Black-necked Grebe was in South Deep and 2 Slavonian Grebe were in Brands Bay.

Dunlin flock and Shelduck – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Low-tide Cruise – Alison Copland

Eurasian Spoonill – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Low-tide Cruise – Alison Copland

Avocet – Wareham Channel from this AM’s Low-tide Cruise – Alison Copland

Great Northern Diver, Central Harbout from this AM’s Low-tide Cruise – Alison Copland

We apologise for no sightings post yesterday, but our team were straight out after work last night to run yesterday evenings Sunnyside Ringing Demo, which despite the rain, drizzle and near by light show ended up being a decent session with 4 Jack Snipe, 3 Woodcock and 3 Common Snipe ringed. Today the harbour was back to being a beautiful scenic treat and not the recent grey, overcast, foggy dank we’ve had recently. The clear weather allowed for the Black-throated Diver to be found out in central harbour along with 8+ Great Northern Diver still spread around various parts. At Swineham there were 4+ Marsh Harrier and a 2nd cal year Goshawk was at Lytchett Fields this morning, where there were also 2 Spotted Redshank. The 8 Waxwing were still commuting between Upton and Canford Heath, and there was what looked to be 36 Cattle Egret out on Wareham Common this afternoon with 1 also in a field at Studland on the way out to Old Harry. In the Wareham Channel there were 9 Spoonbill, the Brownsea Lagoon had a decent count of 3680+ Dunlin but even more amazingly 211 Knot. In Brands Bay there were still 2 Slavonian Grebe. Best news of the day though was that there was a ‘pair’ of Peregrine on the Asda flats this morning. It was definitely a male and female by all accounts and there was some limited interaction, but this bodes well for a new pair to establish in the near future. Maybe this spring? The next few weeks will be really telling as a lot of their courtship and disply is done in late Feb and March.

Jack Snipe – Sunnyside