The harbour was at it’s very best today, bar a few exceptions (Red-necked Grebe for example), it provided everything you could possibly hope for from a winter days birding. Yes the calm weather helped, but when conditions like this occur, not only does it deliver new birds, it also allows for great coverage and today pretty much every corner of the harbour was observed returning a great mix of species. We’ll start with our Low-tide Cruise this afternoon which produced an incredible 24 Great Northern Diver spread across the entirety of the harbour. We were then treated to great views of a Black-throated Diver close to the harbour entrance and then 2 Red-throated Diver close to the boat in central harbour. There was a single Goldeneye off Pottery Pier, 1 Black-necked Grebe in Brands Bay, c20 Red-breasted Merganser in central harbour, 2 Kingfisher, the White-tailed Eagle pair were in the Wareham Channel, a ringtail Hen Harrier flew across in front of the boat in the Wareham Channel and there was also an adult male and female Marsh Harrier in the Wareham Channel. We also only logged 1 Spoonbill (also in the Wareham Channel), c200 Avocet off Fitzworth, c400 dark-bellied Brent Geese around the harbour fringes, 1 Great White Egret (in the Wareham Channel), c400 sinensis Cormorant, c300 Black-tailed Godwit and really good numbers of typical winter birds such as Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank. The best bird of the day was a newly arrived Long-tailed Duck in Brands Bay late this afternoon and there were singles of Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s Point and off Middle Beach Studland. Also off Middle Beach were 7 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver and 4 Common Scoter. The male Hen Harrier was doing the rounds being viewed at Swineham, Lytchett Bay and Middlebere, as was the female ringtail Hen Harrier which was also seen at the same locations. This morning 3 Great White Egret settled in Lytchett Bay and 5 Cattle Egret headed up the Frome Valley just after dawn. There was a single Brambling in Arne Village and at Middlebere 1 Merlin, 1 Spotted Redshank and 6 Spoonbill. Fieldfare were moving around in small numbers this morning, there were also 7 Cattle Egret logged over Wareham Common, 1 Spotted Redshank was in Holes Bay and 12 Spoonbill were in Lytchett Bay this afternoon.

Black-throated Diver – South Deep, from Low-tide Cruise – Dorothy Windall

Red-throated Diver – South Deep, from Low-tide Cruise – Dorothy Windall

Great Northern Diver, from Low-tide Cruise – North Channel

Goshawk – RSPB Arne – Mark Wright

Great White Egrets – Lytchett Bay – Alison Copland

Our first Intro to Urban Birding Walk at Holes Bay this afternoon was very successful in the early evening sun. As we looked out onto the rising tide there were huge flocks of waders swirling around including c1600 Black-tailed Godwit, c200 Avocet and c300 Dunlin. A Red Kite slowly soared west over the bay as well as a couple of Common Buzzard. Short views of 1 Kingfisher darting past were well received as well as distant views of c30 Pintail and 500+ Wigeon.

An adult Peregrine was seen on the Brownsea Lagoon feeding on a Wigeon as well as 14 Spoonbill, 211 Avocet, 336 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Bar-tailed Godwit and 9 Greenshank. At Lytchett Fields this morning were 2 Great White Egret and a grey male Hen Harrier as well as 1 Great Northern Diver still in Lytchett Bay. 3 Common Scoter were seen off South Haven, Studland and 2 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach. Middlebere had c300 Avocet, 4 Grey Plover, c200 Dunlin and 2 White-tailed Eagle.

Afternoon Sun at Holes Bay

It properly began to feel like winter today as the wind swung round from the north, delivering us a consistent and chilly breeze all day. The birds didn’t seem to care with various areas offering some top birding despite the cold. Up on Ballard down a small, ringtail harrier sp drifted in along the ridge and headed west. Sadly it couldn’t be confirmed to species, but it’s size and structure suggested that Pallid Harrier was a possibility. It frustratingly drifted out of view pretty quickly, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye out for over the coming days. Also up on Ballard were 2 late Swallow, 2 Brambling, a good count of 363 Chaffinch and best of all a flyover Snow Bunting. Our Winter Safari this morning produced the goods right around the harbour with a great mix of birds. This included a Black-throated Diver at Swineham, in the river just off the public footpath, 8 Great Northern Diver spread around with 3 in central harbour, 3 near the harbour mouth and 2 in the Wareham Channel, 2 distant Slavonian Grebe off Round Island, 1 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, 3 Eider off Brownsea north shore, 5 Marsh Harrier at Swineham including 2 displaying high over Giggers Island, 1 Goshawk hunting over Rempstone, 16 Spoonbill off Fitzworth, 1 Great White Egret over Swineham GP and c10 Bearded Tit at Swineham Point, c300 Avocet, c10 Ringed Plover, 7 Greenshank, c30 Bar-tailed Godwit, c300 Eurasian Teal, c15 Curlew and a mix of Gadwall, Wigeon and Shoveler all on the Brownsea Lagoon. There were also c300 Dunlin in the Wareham Channel and another c500 in Brands Bay where there were also 3 Goldeneye and another Great Northern Diver plus a ringtail Hen Harrier was seen at RSPB Arne.

Black-throated Diver at Swineham from Winter Safari Cruise – Robin Morrison

Eider in Central Harbour from Winter Safari Cruise – Clive Hargrave

Spoonbill and Fisherman off Fitzworth from Winter Safari Cruise – Annabel Sharpe

Goshawk causing havoc over Ower Bay from Winter Safari Cruise – Annabel Sharpe

We had an excellent but blowy Winter Safari Cruise this morning with gusts of up to 45mph! But those who braved it were rewarded throughout the trip with a Kingfisher and Great Northern Diver to start, just close off Poole Quay while we were loading on to the boat. As we then headed up the Wareham Channel 5+ Marsh Harrier were wheeling around over Swineham and Arne Moors as well as the first Black-throated Diver of the season, a juvenile just off the Keysworth shoreline. The action continued with an adult male Hen Harrier heading up the channel and into Arne Moors. We were just about to return to the main harbour when a juvenile Peregrine was seen mobbing a Marsh Harrier off Keysworth and was soon joined by a White-tailed Eagle meaning all three birds of prey could be seen in one view interacting with each other!

2 Eider were still in Central Harbour along with several Red-breasted Merganser and 2 more Great Northern Diver. We finished at the Brownsea Lagoon where thousands of waders were roosting at high tide including c300 Avocet, c400 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, 10 Grey Plover, c200 Dunlin, c20 Ringed Plover and 2 Greenshank.

In Lytchett Bay today was 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Common Scoter and a ringtail Hen Harrier.

Juvenile Black-throated Diver from our Winter Safari Cruise – Andy Ryde

White-tailed Eagle and Marsh Harrier from our Winter Safari – Andy Ryde

A pretty uninspiring day with the wind and rain, although a few folk made it out it seems. Off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Great Northern Diver and off Middle Beach at least 1 Black-necked Grebe. The Common Scoter and Great Northern Diver were still in Lytchett Bay and at Middlebere a flock of c50 Fieldfare were roving around and there were some more late Swallows with 2 at Middlebere and 1 at Hartland. A Short-eared Owl was battling the wind around Middlebere this evening and 4 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham. The White-tailed Eagle pair were around the Wareham Channel area this morning.

Fieldfare – Middlebere – Mark Wright

Excuse the poor photo, but it was good to get a new raptor on one of our Osprey nest cams this evening, when a Short-eared Owl landed on one of our Middlebere Osprey nest cams. Annoyingly the photo was over-exposed when it got transmitted through to us, but hey, it’s still a good record. There must be at least 2-3 ‘shorties’ around at the moment as a couple are regularly being seen around the Arne Moors, Stoborough Heath and Swineham area with sightings in the Frome Valley and Wild Woodbury too. They’re often not becoming active until near total darkness which is a bit of a pain, but there’s a good chance of bumping into one with a dusk walk at Middlebere or Swineham over the coming weeks. This morning was a bit of a right off but the Great Northern Diver and Common Scoter were still in Lytchett Bay and this evening 3 Great White Egret flew into roost on the gravel pit and there were at least 9 Marsh Harrier in the vicinity. Off Redhorn Point there was a single Red-throated Diver and 3 Great Northern Diver were in South Deep.