Today saw the first decent frost across the harbour with the water flat as glass across much of the area. Writing the sightings during the winter is always such a pleasure as there’s always so much to comment on. At Swineham the White-fronted Goose was still on the flood plain and a Jack Snipe was flushed from along the two-rivers walk. At Lytchett Fields there was 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 7 Avocet, 70 Dunlin and 1 female Marsh Harrier. In Middlebere there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 30 Grey Plover, 200 Dunlin, 40 Curlew, 37 Redshank, c350 Avocet, c200 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Great White Egret and 1 Marsh Harrier. In Brands Bay counts included 281 Wigeon, 48 Pintail, 4 Red-breasted Merganser, 121 Black-tailed Godwit and 30+ Lapwing. In Bramble Bush Bay 7 Sanderling were on the shoreline along with 6 Ringed Plover, c20 Turnstone and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit. On Hartland Moor c220 Fieldfare were still busy feeding on berries, a Marsh Harrier was sat out in the middle of the moor and 22 Lapwing flew over. In Poole Park a Water Rail was feeding on the small duck pond and there were 28 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 34 Oystercatcher, 36 Coot and 2 Redshank whilst around Baiter 2 Goldeneye were out in Parkstone Bay along with 21 Brent Geese, 20 Turnstone, 76 Oystercatcher, 2 Redshank, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Rock Pipit and 1 Med Gull. There were 2 Kingfisher were off Poole Quay, 8 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach and the 1st winter Long-tailed Duck was off the northern end of the Brownsea Lagoon.

Water Rail – Poole Park – Samuel Levy

Find of the day was awarded to a 1^st year male Long-tailed Duck located off the western end of The Lagoon sea wall around midday. At least 4 Goldeneye were also kicking about the harbour amongst good numbers of Red-breasted Merganser. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were Spotted Redshank 6, Greenshank 7, Redshank 35, Knot 22, Grey Plover 94, Ringed Plover 29, Turnstone 6, Sanderling 5, Dunlin 1,385, Curlew 25, Bar-tailed godwit 37, Black-tailed godwit 542, Avocet 85, Oystercatcher 124, Common Snipe 1, Spoonbill 17, Little Egret 1, Grey heron 11, Cormorant 37, Shelduck 29, Teal 189, Shoveler 55, Mallard 3, Gadwall 50, Eurasian Wigeon 67, Common gull 1, Great black-backed gull 15, Black-headed gull 3 and Moorhen 18

The ringing session at Lytchett Heath began with views of a Marsh Harrier leaving the roost at Lytchett heading west. Yesterday saw 3 Marsh Harrier leaving Lytchett in the morning. Holton Pools also recorded an individual late morning. The ringing session was fairly quiet with a couple of Cetti’s Warbler and a Redwing the highlights.

A visit to Swineham Gavel produced c150 Coot, 37 Gadwall, 2 Tufted Duck, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Kingfisher and 6 Reed Bunting. Nearby, the flood fields opposite Redclyffe Yacht Club held 1 White-fronted Goose with 2 domestic geese, 37 Curlew, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Cetti’s Warbler and 1 Chiffchaff.

A quiet Sunnyside scrape featured 14 Teal, Little Egret and 2 Meadow Pipit. The second November Scaup was recorded today. A female/1st winter was seen brieflyin Holes Bay NE, before flying south of railway line. The Bay also harboured 427 Dunlin and 2 Knot amongst the more common assemblages.

A pair of Bar-tailed Godwit continue to Baiter Park as their main feeding area, amongst the Oystercatcher flock, while a Poole garden featured a male and female Blackcap. Littlesea featured 1 Great White Egret and high Kingfisher activity was logged at Holton Pools.

Brownsea Lagoon saw an increase in Spoonbill numbers in recent weeks.  A total of 21 individuals were recorded with the webcam, accompanied by several hundred Dunlin, Knot, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwit.

Arne featured its first Brambling of the Autumn, located near the RSPB Welcome Hut and a Marsh Harrier was quartering over reedbeds in front of Raptor screen.

Jerry’s Point offered 1 Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Common Scoter, 17 Red-breasted Merganser and abundant Great Crested Grebe. 40 Oystercatcher, 4 Turnstone, 3 Dunlin, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and a single Grey Plover on opposite spit. Brands Bay held c200 Brent Goose, 40 Pintail, c100 Lapwing, c150 Black-tailed Godwit, 60 Curlew & 30 Redshank. A total of 6 Dartford Warbler were recorded on Studland Heath.

Bar-tailed Godwit – Baiter – Ian Ballam

Plenty of great sightings today, with a good range picked up on the survey boat, including c150 Red-breasted Merganser, 200 Great Crested Grebe and 450 Brent Geese. Brownsea Lagoon was highly productive, with 1000+ Dunlin, c50 Grey Plover, 15 Spoonbill, 4 Sanderling, c150 Avocet, 3 Spotted Redshank, Knot, Ringed Plover, 12 Bar-tailed Godwit, c800 Black-tailed Godwit, and Common Snipe.

Unusually, there was a record of a Sanderling feeding at Lytchett Bay this morning. This is the first sighting during winter on record. At Lytchett Fields there were reports of 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper and 70 Lapwing, as well as over 100 Avocets and 57 Brent Geese in Lytchett Bay and 4 Water Pipits on the Pool Field.

Unfortunately, still no sign of the Long-eared Owl at Swineham, but otherwise great sightings of Marsh Harrier, 300 Curlew, 134 Lapwing, 1 Swallow, 2 Pochard and 1 Peregrine. Other highlights include 3 Great Northern Diver, 3 Common Scoter, 3 Velvet Scoter in the central harbour, 1 White-fronted Goose at Bestwall, 1 Merlin feeding at Arne, 12 Black-necked grebe and 1 Red-throated Diver seen near Hamworthy beach.

A Red-necked Grebe was seen to fly into the harbour this morning, along with 85 Shag, 25 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 diver sp. & 1 Sandwich Tern and the groynes opposite Sandbanks Pavilion features 22 Ringed Plover & 5 Sanderling. A Slavonian Grebe was recorded at Baiter amongst 2 Goldeneye, 2 Great Crested Grebe and a Rock Pipit.