Luckily the rain held off until late afternoon, which meant a few reports came in. The female Smew was still in Holes Bay north…how long will she stay around for? Out over Arne Moors (viewed from Soldiers Road) a Short-eared Owl, 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine and a single Hen Harrier high overhead were noted.

Both Wednesday 3^rd and Thursday 4^th were very quite with not much to report other than a Woodlark singing on Slepe Heath, 20+ Spoonbill on Shipstal, 1 Short-eared Owl on Coombe Heath, Arne, 2 Firecrest in the Arne car park, 1500+ Brent Geese in Middelbere with a Marsh Harrier, 1 Merlin at Shipstal the Smew in Holes Bay.

Tufted Duck – Poole Park – Keith Rawling

Goldeneye – Poole Park – Keith Rawling

Pintail – Upton CP – Keith Rawling

RSPB Lytchett Fields and Lytchett Bay saw most coverage today with 2 Bearded Tit in a reedbed just behind the Waterworks, 1 Spoonbill, 4 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 8 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Goldeneye out in the Bay and 332 Lapwing, 15 Little Egret and a Kingfisher out on the fields. On the Pools Field at Lytchett Bay there was 1 Water Pipit, but several of the ‘Scandinavian’ Rock Pipit are starting to moult into their spring plumage, which will be nice to see if they hang around until their moult is complete. In Poole Harbour west a Peregrine spooked a flock of 500 Lapwing and a Hen Harrier worked its way across the Wareham Channel north shore. A Marsh Harrier was seen at Upton Country Park.

A quiet Monday with just the Holes Bay Smew, 20+ Shipstal Spoonbill and a ringtail Hen Harrier in Middlebere being the only birds reported. 

Sightings were few and far between today with not much change from recent days. There were 20+ Spoonbill out at Shipstal and 3 Great Northern Diver on the open water. The Smew was still in Holes Bay south and both Marsh and Hen Harrier were noted in Poole Harbour west.

Public Talk

Birds of Poole Harbour will be hosting a talk at Holton Lee on Feb 17^th about the charities work and the birds and wildlife of Holton Lee/ Lytchett Bay. The event is a booked event so to book on please call Holton Lee on 01202 625562.

Today we were invited by NT, DWT and RSPB to host the commentary on the Poole Harbour public bird boat, an invitation we can never refuse! This new public bird boat partnership between NT, DWT and RSPB only began this winter and saw them trying a new ‘double boat’ option, meaning that two tours were carried out back to back throughout the day. As a trial trip it was a great experience and with a few logistical tweaks could be a great success in winters to come. Seeing good birds always helps and although the cold wind blew the birds certainly performed. Most notably a female Merlin which spent most of the day hunting and spooking waders on the Brownsea Lagoon with a Peregrine occasionally chipping in too. A 2015/16 winter record count of 112 Bar-tailed Godwit was also noted with 7 Greenshank, 6 Spotted Redshank, 2 Spoonbill, 12 Turnstone, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 1 Med Gull and 8 Pintail all of note on the lagoon with Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Knot all adding to the spectacle. In total a 68 species were recorded from the boat and harbour tour. Out on the water the Black Guillemot showed well for one group but then totally disappeared for the other, but up to 6 Great Northern Diver, 2 Black-necked Grebe, Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebes made for an enjoyable trip with 15 Spoonbill on Shipstal too. At Lytchett Fields the ringtail Hen Harrier again passed over the fields and reeds on the western edge of the bay. Despite much searching from the Bird Boat we saw no Golden Pheasant on Furzey Island, however 5 were ‘scoped’ from South Haven on the slipway of Furzy, including 2 males. This is the highest count of this species in the harbour for quite some time. Out in Studland Bay were 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 3 Black-necked Grebe. The Smew was still feeding out in Holes Bay south near the railway bridge.

A morning watch from the Holton Lee shoreline out across the Wareham Channel saw of note…3 Sandwich Tern, 4 Spoonbill, 2 Goldeneye, 3 Grey Plover and 2 Pintail as well as the usual assemblage of common waders and wildfowl. At RSPB Lytchett Fields a ringtail Hen Harrier was seen over the fields and on Sherford Pools a Green Sandpiper was seen.