The high tide and strong winds at Middlebere produced highlights of Merlin and ringtail Hen Harrier, large flocks of Wigeon and Teal, c50 Brent Goose, c20 Curlew, c30 Dunlin, 10 Pintail, c300 Avocet and numerous Redshank. A Pochard was among the Tufted Duck and Gadwall at Hatch Pond this morning. The Great Grey Shrike showed well on Morden Bog this morning around Decoy Pond. Also noted were 3 Stonechat, c70 Redwing and 4 Siskin. A Blackcap visited garden feeders in Parkstone, keep an eye out for these increasingly regaular over-wintering warblers.
Poole Harbour sightings blog
A record of all interesting and notable sightings from around the harbour throughout the year.
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Archive for January, 2020
Harbour Update – posted 11/01/20
Harbour Update – posted 10/01/20
Jerry’s Point again offered some of the best birding opportunities in the harbour, featuring the 2 Long-tailed Duck, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 5 Black-necked Grebe, 3 Great Northern Diver, 2 Common Scoter, 3 Goldeneye and a Spoonbill on the far side. Additional species observed from the Jerry’s Point included 20+ Great Crested Grebe, 26 Red-breasted Merganser, 50 Oystercatcher, 31 Sanderling, 7 Ringed Plover and a single Avocet.
Middle Beach saw 4 Black-necked Grebe, while Fort Henry / Redend Point held another 4 Black-necked Grebe, 57 Brent Goose, 2 Common Scoter, 3 Ring-necked Parakeet and 1 very vocal Marsh Tit in the woods between Middle Beach and Fort Henry. Redhorn Quay produced 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Sandwich Tern on a post offshore and 1 Great White Egret on the Goathorn shore. Norden sewage treatment works held at least 5 Chiffchaff, 1 Grey Wagtail and 15 Pied Wagtail. A total of 9 Marsh Harrier left the West Harbour roost this morning.
Harbour Update – posted 09/01/20
A Slavonian Grebe was among the more numerous Great Crested Grebe, Brent Goose and Red-breasted Merganser off Jerry’s Point this morning. Upton Heath featured a Kingfisher at main pond. Baiter Park (offshore) boasted 3 Great Northern Diver and a Sandwich Tern. A single Water Pipit remained on Lytchett Fields, as well as 1 Spotted Redshank and 3 Green Sandpiper. Shipstal Point, Arne saw 23 roosting Spoonbill and a Great Northern Diver.
Harbour Update – posted 08/01/20
Our weekly Poole Town Walk exploring Poole Quay, Baiter and Poole Park produced 2 Great Northern Diver, 3 Goldeneye, 15 Turnstone, 2 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Sandwich Tern and both Meadow Pipit and Rock Pipit feeding together offering great views for a quick identification crash course! The urban Poole next walk is taking place on Thursday 16th January.
Middlebere channel saw 3 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Pintail, large flocks of wildfowl, 11 Curlew, c250 Avocet with Brent Goose and Redshank in abundance. Good numbers of Redwing & Bullfinch were also noted. PC World Drain held a Cetti’s Warbler, 4+ Chiffchaff and 3 Goldcrestearly afternoon. Both the Wareham Common Siberian Chiffchaff and Morden Bog Great Grey Shrike remained present.
The rain and drizzle were against us tonight for our Sunnyside Ringing Demo but we still managed to score the hat-trick for our group tonight. A good session with a Woodcock, Common Snipe and Jack Snipe ringed.
Jack Snipe – Sunnyside Ringing Demo
Harbour Update – posted 07/01/20
With a low-tide cruise looming at 12:30pm today and a bank of low cloud/drizzle looming even lower over the harbour, there was a question as to whether we’d see anything at all. However, the birding gods were looking down on us and provided a great range of species for everyone to enjoy. As we reached the top end of the Wareham Channel the tide drained away nicely allowing 300+ Dunlin to feed on the mud along with Curlew, Oystercatcher, 200+ Lapwing and a few Avocet. The best though were 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 close to the boat and the Hen Harrier flew along the Arne Moors shoreline, also a feeding Spoonbill close to the boat on the Arne shoreline. A Common Seal also came and said hello close to the boat. Out around the harbour we had 8 Great Northern Diver, c10 Goldeneye, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Long-tailed Duck (South Deep) and 100+ Red-breasted Merganser, The Brownsea Lagoon was busy with 1500+ Black-tailed Godwit, c70 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 100+ Avocet, 50+ Shoveler and gatherings of gulls coming into roost. Off Middle Beach there were 10 Black-necked Grebe and 5 Common Scoter with a Slavonian Grebe off Shell Bay where 44 Grey Plover roosted with 13 Ringed Plover and 18 Sanderling.
Harbour Update – posted 06/01/20
With most people back at work now and schools now open (hoorah), Christmas will now soon feel a distant memory. And with the quiet of an early January Monday morning, as you’d expect, reported sightings were rather thin on the ground. However, 3 Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s point was still a good total, and in Middlebere the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen again along with 4 different Marsh Harrier also 5 Spotted Redshank, 200 Avocet, 1 Firecrest and 50 Dunlin. The west Poole Harbour Marsh Harrier roost is looking healthy again with 8 leaving in the morning and a Merlin was on Stoborough Heath. Off Middle Beach there were 4 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Common Scoter and 5 Goldeneye in Brands Bay.
Harbour Update – posted 05/01/20
Only a few reports today after the fantastic day for birds yesterday. This morning in Middlebere Channel, sightings included large numbers of Wigeon, 30 Redshank, 3 Red-Breasted Merganser, Brent Geese, Avocet and Grey Plover, with highlights of 1 Great White Egret in flight, 1 Great Northern Diver and 6 Spoonbill.
Elsewhere, the Siberian Chiffchaff remains at Wareham Common at the corner of North and West Walls. Several Chiffchaff recorded at PC World Drain today, but the Siberian Chiffchaffseen yesterday was unreported. Low tide at Brands Bay held 260 Brent Geese, 85 Shelduck, 23 Pintail, 4 Gadwall (which I can’t recall having seen here); 40 Common Gull, 19 Grey Plover, 21 Knot, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Avocet. The Marsh Harrier roost has built again with 7 leaving one of the roosts this morning and a Hen Harrier was over Stoborough Heath with a Merlin there too.
Harbour Update – posted 04/01/20
The harbour really was at it’s best today with a whole suit of birds at different areas. A focused 12 hour watch around the whole harbour along with numerous ‘Bird Race’ teams out and about meant there was some excellent coverage today. Highlights started at 5:30am 2 Jack Snipe and several Common Snipe out on Baiter Park. At the top of Soldiers Road 5 Woodcock were in the open fields on Hartland Moor. At dawn a watch at the harbour mouth saw 1 Long-tailed Duck arrive in from the east and disappeared again out into Poole Bay, also 2 Great Northern Diver, 4 Black-necked Grebe and 35 Shag were on the water. On Pilots Point 33 Grey Plover, 17 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin and 5 Ringed Plover roosted. Also at dawn a finch roost left South Haven with several each of Greenfinch, Bullfinch, 1 Lesser Redpoll, a few Reed Bunting and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker heading inland. A seawatch from Branksome Chine produced another Long-tailed Duck settled on the water, 5 Red-throated Diver (1 on the water and 4 on passage east), 4 Gannet, 2 Wigeon and 1 Teal west, and 2 Auk sp (likely Razorbill) east. A Blackcap was seen in a private Poole garden. The top end of the PCW drain was bustling with Chiffchaff including a cracking Siberian Chiffchaff with a Cetti’s Warbler there too. Holes Bay was brimming with birds too including good numbers of Dunlin, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal and Wigeon. In the Piddle Valley 2 Egyptian Geese were on the flooded fields and along Holme Lane a Great Bustard was seen flying over and a small flock of Woodlark were feeding in fields. Off Jerry’s Point there were the 2 regular Long-tailed Duck, 4 Slavonian Grebe, 8 Black-necked Grebe, 1 female Common Scoter, 3 Great Northern Diver and numerous Red-breasted Merganser. In total we logged 11 Great Northern Diver in the harbour today. In the Wareham Channel 2 Marsh Harrier were busy and the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen briefly and on Swineham GP 3 Pochard were present. Off Hamworthy Beach this evening a roost of c3000 Black-headed Gull settled. Also at sunset a Great White Egret flew up the Wareham Channel. The Peregrine was also on the Asda building. On the Brownsea Lagoon 1 Spotted Redshank was logged along with 3 Greenshank, c70 Bar-tailed Godwit, c600 Black-tailed Godwit and the usual. Off Middle Beach there were 4 Black-necked Grebe, 7 Common Scoter and 5 Ring-necked Parakeet in Studland Village. So, by the looks of it there’s no better time to get out and build your year lists than NOW! And with another big low pressure system coming through next week, what else will end up in the harbour next week??
Harbour Update – Posted 03/01/20
Our ‘Focus On’ Shell Bay was a brilliant success, clocking up a wonderful species list featuring 1 Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe, 8 Sanderling, 5 Brent Goose and constant Mediterranean Gull sightings included an individual ringed in Poland! More focus on events are taking place on the 25th January and 8th February – you can visit our events page here for more info.
Elsewhere, Middlebere saw 15 Snipe, 13 Shelduck, 190 Avocet, 53 Grey Plover, 265 Dunlin and singles of ringtail Hen Harrier, Tawny Owl, Raven, Firecrest, Stonechat and Reed Bunting. Jerry’s Point offered 2 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Great Northern Diver, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Common Scoter and 4 Goldeneye. A Siberian Chiffchaff located in PC World drain was also of note.
Harbour update – posted 02/01/20
Once again, Holes Bay looked like an Urban Birders dream with great numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Avocet, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit in both north and south sectors with Pintail, Shoveler, 3 Goldeneye and 1 Great Northern Diver.
A male Merlin was again seen this evening at the Middlebere lay by and a Peregrine was located on its usual ASDA perch this afternoon. Also at Middlebere a Merlin, Peregrine and Hen Harrier were active at the same time from the hide. There was another Merlin at Lytchett Fields too. Two Long-tailed Duck off Jerry’s point amongst several Goldeneye, Black-necked Grebe, Great Crested Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser. Nearby, a single Great White Egret was on Little Sea. The Black Brant was still present today, located on the north side Arne Bay and the Siberian Chiffchaff remained at Wareham Common at base of Northwest Walls in ditch by River Piddle, 100 metres west of North Mill along with 1 Firecrest. On Poole Park boating Lake there were 6 Goldeneye.
Our ‘Focus On’ Knoll Beach, Studland event in partnership with the Purbeck National Trust team offered superb views of 6 Common Scoter, 10 Black-necked Grebe, 3 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Gannet, c15 Great Crested Grebe and various Brent Goose and Curlew passing south. Later 2 Slavonian Grebe were logged off South Beach. Tomorrow we will be setup at Shell Bay offering a chance to learn about and see a range of special winter visitors. Drop in anytime between 9am and 12pm to join us as we work through Divers, Grebes, Gulls, Seaducks and more…
More details about our free ‘Focus On’ can be found by following the link below.
https://www.birdsofpooleharbourbookings.co.uk/events
Bullfinch – Middlebere – Paul Swann
Call 01202 641 003
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