Posted on: December 22nd, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Today has brought some bleak weather and not a great number of bird sightings. Nevertheless, the harbour cruise showed high numbers of Red-Breasted Merganser and c500 Brent Geese throughout the harbour. On Brownsea Lagoon there were c600 Black-tailed Godwit, c200 Grey Plover and c200 Avocet, as well as high numbers of Shoveler. Travelling up the Wareham Channel, there were c20 Spoonbill at Shipstal Point, and 2 Great Northern Divers in the channel. Across the whole of the harbour there were 10 sightings of Great Northern Divers.
Elsewhere, the Siberian Chiffchaff is still reported to be on the edge of Wareham Common, south of the Wareham Bypass, as well as 2 Firecrest on Wareham Common on the Northern Boundary of Wareham Hospital.
Firecrest – Wareham Common – Trevor Warrick
Harbour Update – posted 20/12/19
Posted on: December 20th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Middlebere supported 2 Spotted Redshank, 220 Avocet, 70+ Knot, 50 Curlew, c300 Lapwing, Kingfisher, 32 Dunlin, 1 Greenshank, 2 Grey Plover and 30 Redshank. Among the 19 Dark-bellied Brent Goose feeding in the field next to Middlebere hide were two Pale-bellied. A ringtail Hen Harrier and female Merlin were hunting over Hartland Moor.
Hamworthy Park boasted 5 Sandwich Tern on old pier late morning, while 3 Great Northern Diver off Baiter. Despite a relatively weak neap tide, today’s low tide Holes Bay Guided Walk featured wonderful views of c100 Avocet, c500 Dunlin, c800 Wigeon and Grey Wagtail, along with a scattering of Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Teal, Shoveler and Pintail.
Yesterday saw a Siberian Chiffchaff on the edge of Wareham Common south of Wareham Bypass. It was on the ditch by the River Piddle at the foot of North West Walls, about 100 metres west of North Mill.
View From Holes Bay Guided Walk – Alison Copland
Greenshank – Batier Park – Ian Ballam
Siberian Chiffchaff – Wareham Common – Trevor Warrick
Harbour Update – posted 19/12/19
Posted on: December 19th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Today’s Poole Town Bird Walk produced wonderful views of Kingfisher, Brent Goose and Turnstone before the heavens opened. A Great Northern Diver was again off Baiter Beach and Baiter Park was a hive of activity. A single Pale-bellied Brent Goose accompanied the large feeding flock of c250 Dark-bellied Brent Goose. The Park also held 16 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, c20 Turnstone, c25 Redshank and several hundred Starling and Oystercatcher. Parkstone Bay featured a pair of Red-breasted Merganser and 5 Great Crested Grebe. Both Goldeneye remained present on Poole Park.
Brands Bay held a further c250 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 85 Pintail, 49 Shelduck, 32 Grey Plover, 3 Greenshank among the abundant Turnstones & Ring Plover and Sanderling. Lytchett Fields in extreme flood today holding 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 2 Green Sandpiper with Redshank, Lapwing and Dunlin in Approach Field.
Turnstones – Baiter Park – Joe Parker
Harbour
Harbour Update – posted 18/12/19
Posted on: December 18th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Some good sightings today before the rain descended. 1 Long-tailed Duck (m) off the north Brownsea Lagoon shoreline again, with a female seen off Jerry’s Point, along with 3 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver.
A number of Great Northern Diver reported elsewhere in the harbour area today – individuals reported in the Central Harbour, Bramble Bush Bay, Holes Bay South and at the mouth of the Middlebere Channel. The Middlebere Channel also provided views of c250 Lapwing, 4 Spotted Redshank, 125 Avocet, 1 Peregrine and 1 Marsh Harrier.
The ringtail Hen Harrier was sighted at Hartland Moor again today, along with a Peregrine and Male Merlin. At Knoll Beach there were 2 Black-necked Grebe and 9 Common Scoter reported.
Elsewhere in the harbour, highlights for today include c.20 Spoonbill at Shipstal Point at Arne, and 2 Great White Egret at Littlesea.
Peregrine and Marsh Harrier – Holton Pools – Alison Copland
Harbour Update – posted 17/12/19
Posted on: December 17th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Another beautifully calm day which saw rain mid morning but it soon eased off, providing excellent harbour watching conditions again. Highlights today included 2 Long-tailed Duck of the north Brownsea Lagoon shoreline, which were associating with Red-breasted Merganser. A total of 8 Great Northern Diver were spread across the harbour with individuals off Baiter, Hamworthy Park, Shipstal, Brownsea and several in South Deep. On Shipsstal c20 Spoonbill were huddled and 8 Black-necked Grebe were out in central harbour. Holes Bay NE was again looking great on the low tide this AM with Avocet, Dunlin, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher all right next to the cycle path. Up the Frome Valley at East Holme 2 Egyptian Geese were on the floodplain with 10 Little Egret, a Marsh Harrier and Peregrine went over. At dusk the Black Brant settled on Round Island with dark-bellied Brent Geese. In Lytchett Bay there were 228 Avocet this morning and 42 Dunlin and at Holton Pools 1 Water Pipit and 1 Greenshank were out in front of the hide.
Harbour Update – posted 16/12/19
Posted on: December 16th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
What a shame the calm weather of this morning didn’t welcome us for our windy boat trip yesterday. Still, it gave us a chance (and a reason) to get up and out early for sunrise so we could monitor a lot of the open water species roosts at sites like Studland and Brands Bay, Jerry’s Point and Poole Bay. With much of the harbour being flat calm at dawn some excellent totals and range of species were logged. Starting in Studland Bay there were 12 Black-necked Grebe, 14 Common Scoter, 1 Great Northern Diver, 5 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Med Gulls and 3 Ring-necked Parakeet flew over. In Brands Bay there were 32 Red-breasted Merganser, 200+ Brent Geese and 3 Goldeneye. From Jerry’s Point 1 Long-tailed Duck, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver, 11 Black-necked Grebe, 7 Goldeneye and c40 Red-breasted Merganser were counted. Shell Bay hosted 2 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe and on Pilots Point it was great to see a small roost once more (it used to host thousands of waders in the 1980s/90’s) with 27 Ringed Plover, 21 Sanderling, 25 Grey Plover and 1 Knot logged with a fly over Sandwich Tern too. Poole Bay saw 2 more Great Northern Diver and a Red-throated Diver, whilst the north Channel off Evening Hill saw 2 more Great Northern Diver and a Red-throated Diver was off Baiter. From Hamworthy Beach, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 68 Red-breasted Merganser and 7 Goldeneye were present. In total 11 different Great Northern Diver were logged today as were 27 Black-necked Grebe. There were also 2 Hen Harrier in the harbour today with the female still present around Middlebere and a new juv male bombing about near Swineham Point. In the mouth of the Frome, 4 Marsh Harrier were active with another further up the Frome Valley near Bog Lane. The floodplain at Holmebridge is holding good numbers of birds including (the Swineham?) 436 Canada Geese, 21 Pintail, 2 Shoveler, 9 Curlew and 42 Mute Swan and on the West side 61 Mute Swan, 40+ Lapwing, 50+ Teal and lots of Redwing and Fieldfare. In the Middlebere orchard a Firecrest, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting and Bullfinch were present and in the channel c200 Lapwing, 150 Avocet, 100 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Spotted Redshank.
Black-necked Grebe – Shell Bay
Slavonian Grebe – Jerry’s Point
Sanderling & Ringed Plover flock – Pilots Point, Studland
Great Northern Divers – Hamworthy Beach – Ian Ballam
Harbour Update – posted 15/12/19
Posted on: December 15th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
We achieved great coverage today from our rather chilly harbour cruise. The winds were cold, but the birding was excellent. Wareham channel produced 5 Marsh Harrier and a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the surrounding reedbeds. A meander up the River Frome to Redcliffe picked up 200+ Lapwing with smaller flocks of Dunlin interspersed. Shipstal Point featured 21 roosting Spoonbill and a drake Goldeneye (in total 7 were observed during the trip). Great Northern Diver were in abundance with 9 individuals recorded from the boat. A Common Scoter offered wonderful views as it flew past the boat near South Deep. Larege numbers of Black-tailed Godwit were on Brownsea, with a minimum of 1000 birds roosting on the relatively sheltered lagoon. Bar-tailed Godwit were also present in smaller numbers, with at least 70 logged.
A watch from Jerry’s Point late afternoon produced a Long-tailed Duck, which unfortunately eluded the cruise. Elsewhere, the Pale-bellied Brent Goose was still present at Baiter Park in the morning and a Peregrine was also perching at ASDA, Holes Bay.
Harbour Update – posted 14/12/19
Posted on: December 14th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Marsh Harrier numbers hit double figures again today with 10 leaving the Wareham Channel roosts this morning. A ringtail Hen Harrier flew south-east along Slepe Heath mid-morning. A Single Long-tailed Duck was off Redhorn Quay, along with 2 Great Northern Divers, 3 Black-necked Grebe and 9 Goldeneye. A Great Northern Diver, Black-necked Grebe and numerous Red-breasted Merganser were visible from Jerry’s Point. Baiter offered 1 Great Northern Diver off the beach, 11 Turnstone, 5 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Sandwich Tern. A Pale-bellied Brent Goose was among the Dark-bellied flock feeding at Baiter Park this morning.
Pale-bellied Brent Goose (left) – Baiter Park – Ian Ballam
Harbour Update – posted 13/12/19
Posted on: December 13th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
A Great Northern Diver frequented Holes Bay South throughout the day and was still present at dusk. Merlin continue to show regularly near Middlebere lay-by, this evening saw a hunting male. Notable records from Shipstal Point, Arne include 22 Spoonbill, 2 Sandwich Tern, 3 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Goldeneye. A ringtail Hen Harrier was also observed over Arne. Nearby, Middlebere channel held 3 Spotted Redshank, both Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, c200 Lapwing and c350 Avocet. Holton Pools saw Redshank, Greenshank and Kingfisher.
Harbour Update – posted 12/12/19
Posted on: December 12th, 2019 by Birds of Poole Harbour
Regular visitors to the sightings page may remember the excellent November WeBS survey back on the 24th. Totals from the harbour wide count have been collated totalling an impressive 21527 birds from 58 species. This is the highest November count over the past five years! Two WeBS species total records were broken this time. These were 390 Pintail (the previous highest number was 341) and 2 Long-tailed Duck (previously only one recorded). Other less common species recorded in November included 1 Red-throated Diver, 9 Great Northern Diver, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Green Sandpiper, 25 Black-necked Grebe.
Returning to today’s sightings, Baiter Park held 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Turnstones, c150 Brent Goose and 1 Greenshank. Some great totals were recorded on Brownsea Lagoon with 172 Grey Plover, 39 Knot and 1805 Black-tailed Godwit of note. Other Lagoon totals worth a mention include 194 Avocet, 90 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Sanderling and singles of Ringed Plover, Spotted Redshank and Snipe. Swineham late afternoon produced 2 Woodcock along Bestwall road, Water Rail squealing on the flood meadows, a Tawny Owl in the pines and as the rain showers fizzled out, 5 Marsh Harrier were quartering around the west Harbour.
