The strong southerly wind that built up from the early hours looked good for a Branksome sea-watch, and after a combined effort from a handful of people there was a good four hours coverage spent watching from the beach huts. Over this time period a nice range of species were recorded in reasonable numbers, baring in mind this site is most definitely not a Dorset premier sea-watching spot, but can be quite productive in the right conditions. Totals included 4 Pomarine Skua, 1 Arctic Skua, 5 Little Gull, 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Shearwater sp (likely Balearic), 7 Red-breasted Merganser, 18 Brent Geese, 11 Common Scoter, 5 Dunlin, 5 Shelduck, 2 Razorbill, 5 Auk sp, 11 Gannet, large numbers of Kittiwake, 2 Oystercatcher and 2 Curlew.  Out on Baiter there were 2 Sandwich Tern and 65 Brent Geese. At Arne, the Firecrest were active in the car park with at least 2 present, along with a Marsh Tit (rare here now) and a Brambling. Out in Studland Bay just 1 Common Scoter, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Med Gulls, and a few Brent Geese. Out in Brands Bay 1 Great White Egret, 5 Goldeneye, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Sandwich Tern, a late Swallow, 3 Pintail, 10 Black-necked Grebe and 13 Great Crested Grebe.

Not much to report on today other than having recently changed the design of our Barn Owl box and put in a new camera one of our Barn Owls has suddenly re-appeared after a 3-month absence. Hopefully this is the beginning of a re-colonisation of the box and its mate will soon follow after.

http://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/barn-owl-webcam

Other than that, 3 Spotted Redshank, 4 Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and 2 Marsh Harrier at Lytchett Bay were the only other birds of note. 

Yesterday morning saw 21500 Wood Pigeon move across the harbour but a sudden blanket of cloud soon put a stop to the spectacle. Elsewhere in the country Portskewett, Gwent  saw 200,000 move yesterday. The Great White Egret was again in Brands Bay, 3 Black-necked Grebe were off Middle Beach and 10+ Chiffchaff were along the woodland trail. Shipstal saw 46 Spoonbill and there were 2 Firecrest in the scrub next to the toilets at Arne. A small piece of Thrush movement occurred at Lytchett Bay with 43 Fieldfare and 38 Redwing, with 2 Spoonbill in the bay and a Jack Snipe over. A quick sea-watch took place off Branksome Chine after news arrived that Portland was seeing good numbers of Pomarine Skua off the bill. The sea-watch from Branksome produced 1 Pomarine Skua, 1 Arctic Skua, 7 Little Gull, 2 Common Scoter, 9 Gannet, 14 Wigeon, 15+ Kittiwake and 1 Razorbill. A school bird boat today saw an increase in Red-breasted Mergansers appearing, but still not much else in the way of Divers or Goldeneye, lets hope the full moon tomorrow night sees an arrival of birds.  

This morning looked like a possible Wood Pigeon morning but after ‘only’ 4000 birds having passed over the harbour the movement petered out very quickly. When you look at the Netherlands and Belgium for comparison today who counted 3 million on the move south you can see why our 4000 was slightly underwhelming. From the same watch point, 2 Skylark, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Fieldfare, 11 Redwing and a Firecrest. A stunning male Hen Harrier arrived yesterday and is now roosting with the two ringtails along with 6 Marsh Harrier still nearby. The Hen Harrier are still commuting between Middlebere, Swineham and now Lytchett Bay. There was also a Merlin and a Peregrine out over the Wareham Channel. 3 adult type passed North Haven yesterday morning but distantly and in the gloom meant an ID couldn’t be clinched, but they were either Arctic or Pomarine. The Great White Egret was again out in Brands Bay and Red-breasted Merganser numbers continue to increase. There were 12 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach and 6 Sanderling in Shell Bay. 

Today was the Poole Harbour WeBS count so the harbour saw some nice coverage for most of the day. Starting with the Studland area where the Great White Egret appeared in Brands Bay again and a Yellow-browed Warbler was still in Knoll Beach car park. Out in Studland Bay there were 17 Black-necked Grebe. Elsewhere there was Black Redstart x 1 at Arne Farm and another at Knoll Beach, Firecrest x 4 in the Arne car park,
Hen Harrier x 1 on Arne Moors,
Marsh Harrier x 4 in the Wareham Channel including the adult male, 
Peregrine x 1 on Arne Moors,
Spoonbill x 28 at Shipstal Point,
Knot x 7 Arne Bay (rare here), Red-breasted Merganser x 20 off Long Island,
Goldeneye x 9 in Central Harbour, Woodcock x 2 Grip Heath, Arne. A Brambling was on Brownsea Island mid-afternoon. There was also 2 Firecrest at the Swineham entrance road. The first Pochard of the autumn was at Hatch Pond, and Baiter saw its first Brent Geese of the autumn. There seemed to be good numbers of the ‘usuals’ with at least 400 Avocet at the mouth of Middlebere/Wytch Lake, plus big numbers of Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and wildfowl species. 

Apologise for the site going down last night, especially with a decent round up of birds to include. The harbour seemed to churn up goody after goody yesterday starting with 2 Yellow-browed Warbler in the corner of Knoll Beach car park, accompanying 3 Firecrest, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Lesser Redpoll and a fly over Brambling. Out in Studland Bay 5 Common Scoter were present, also 11 Black-necked Grebe and a handful of Great Crested Grebe. Wood Pigeon numbers aren’t quite taking off yet, with a max count of only 2240 so far from central Poole. For me, highlight of yesterday was a family party of 4 Whooper Swan that dropped into Middlebere for the afternoon, 1 adult and 3 juveniles. On Brownsea 42 Spoonbill were still present. At Arne Farm 2 Black Redstart were feeding on the farm buildings, with another in Market Street, Poole. There are currently 6 Marsh Harrier in the normal roost, with 2 Hen Harrier, which continue to commute between Middlebere, Hartland and Swineham most days.

Today, an early morning visit to Middlebere to see if the Whoopers had over-stayed resulted in negative swan news but a beautiful sunrise and great birds still made it worth while as 32 Spoonbill fed and a ringtail Hen Harrier hunted roosting starlings with 200 Avocet resting up on the tide line. Redwings were passing overhead on Coombe and a Merlin dashed across the heath. Further down the road towards Soldiers Road the ‘6 thrush challenge’ was completed as a Ring Ouzel was in a hawthorn bush, the first Fieldfares passed overhead, a Mistle Thrush sat on wires and Blackbird and Song Thrush bustled through the bushes. A Black Redstart was at Lytchett Bay, and a Rock Pipit was caught during a ringing session bearing a Belgium ring. Also at Lytchett Bay 1 Firecrest, 15 Greenshank, 5 Spotted Redshank and a Hen Harrier.