This afternoon saw our last boat trip of the year. With that in mind, we’d like to say a HUGE thank you to anyone and everyone thats been on one (or many) of our trips/events this year. It’s made all the difference to have such great support from the public and we promise that 2023 will be no different. Todays boat trip was a great final sign off for the year and quite fitting that the final bird we saw before heading back to the quay was a stunning White-tailed Eagle sat in a tree only 200 yards off the side of the boat, lit up by the fading evening sunlight as it got mobbed by a crow. As Mark Wrights incredible photo below shows, it was 2 year old G812, the male that seems to have taken a liking to the harbour, along with female G866 who we also saw during the trip, but sat distantly in a tree. Other highlights included 6 Eider, with 5 off the NW Brownsea shore and an adult male off the Brownsea south shore. In the Wareham Channel a Spotted Redshank was feeding with 6 Knot and c900 Dunlin. In South Deep a flock of 29 Goldeneye alighted and settled near Goathorn and a single Black-necked Grebe was located. Frustratingly divers kept their distance but there were 2 Great Northern Diver off Hamworthy beach, 2 off Shipstal and another 2 off Jerry’s Point. What we lacked in close divers we made up for in close feeding Avocet, dark-bellied Brent Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank along the south harbour shore and in the Wareham Channel. Marsh Harrier numbers seem well down with only 2-3 seen at Swineham. Out on the open harbour decent numbers of Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe now seem present and Swineham GP had decent numbers of duck on it including Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Mallard. Spoonbill were logged in the Wareham Channel and in Middlebere. There were 2 Cattle Egret on Wareham Common again with a single Spotted Redshank seen at Lytchett Fields. Elsewhere a ringtail Hen Harrier was on a post viewed out from the Middlebere Lookout at Arne, a Purple Sandpiper was on the ledge in front of the Haven Hotel, in the PCW Drain a Cetti’s Warbler was seen and there were 5+ Common Chiffchaff and a Firecrest. 

Male White-tailed Eagle G812 – Wareham Channel – Mark Wright

Total warmth today, so much so that several Red Admiral Butterfly were seen on the wing. Bonkers! Calm waters allowed for decent viewing too with 5 Eider off the south Brownsea shore, and off Jerry’s Point were 4 Great Northern Diver, 24 Great Crested Grebe, 9 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 22 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Common Scoter, 10 Goldeneye and a fly over Merlin. Off Middle Beach Studland there were 6 Common Scoter and 4 Black-necked Grebe. In Shell Bay there was a Red-throated Diver and a Great Northern Diver was off Pilots Point. On Wareham Common 2 Cattle Egret were still with cattle and in the Wareham Channel 2 White-tailed Eagle were seen again with a ringtail Hen Harrier seen in the Middlebere Channel.

A full high tide count was conducted on the Brownsea Lagoon by warden Hamish Murray who logged…..8 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret, 475 Cormorant, 490 Avocet, 135 Oystercatcher, 2020 Dunlin, 9 Sanderling, 14 Knot, 14 Curlew, 15 Turnstone, 170 Black-tailed Godwit, 52 Bar-tailed Godwit, 98 Redshank, 12 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 12 Ringed Plover, 145 Grey Plover, 1 Lapwing, 4 Snipe, 44 Teal, 6 Shoveler, 48 Wigeon, 22 Gadwall, 32 Brent Goose, 2 Mute Swan, 4 Canada Goose, 6 Greylag, 38 Shelduck and 1 Water Rail. 

Goldeneye – Poole Park – Ian Ballam

Not quite what we were hoping Christmas week would start like with howling winds and driving rain, but at least it’s warmer! Not many birders out today, but 7 Goldeneye on Poole Park boating lake was noteworthy which consisted of 6 males and 1 female. In Middlebere there were 12 Spoonbill at the top end of the channel and out on Baiter 1 Dunlin, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Common Snipe, 12 Turnstone and 150+ dark-bellied Brent Geese were hunkering down. A Great Northern Diver was also off Baiter Beach and in the Wareham Channel a White-tailed Eagle was seen briefly heading across the Wareham Channel.

Goldeneye – Poole Park Lake – Ian Ballam

What a difference a day makes! Where yesterday coverings of ice still lay, today flowed streams of water as they ran off of every surface, melting the frozen ground as they went and in doing so freeing up a food resource which has been inaccessible to birds for almost a whole week. On Baiter Park an unorthodox flock of Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit and Teal, with singles of Dunlin, Grey Plover, Greenshank and possibly a Jack Snipe in the mix all took advantage of newly exposed wet ground. Nearby 22 Tufted Duck were sheltering in Holes Bay, the Peregrine also spotted nearby. Further inland at Hatch Pond 3 Teal were joined by a lone Greenshank – an unusual species for this site. And off Hamworthy Beach was a single Great Northern Diver.

Grey Plover – Baiter Park – Mark Wright

The ground felt solid this morning, but all will change tomorrow when the big low pressure system comes in from the south west. Thankfully the cold will go but wind and rain will set back in and who knows what that may blow into the harbour. It seemed much was seeking sanctuary today with at least 5 Cattle Egret still searching out small mammals and any surviving insects this morning. There was also a Short-eared Owl near Hartland today and 2 Hen Harrier were in Middlebere. 12 Spoonbill were also in Middlebere and off Studland Beach 2 Slavonian Grebe were still in Studland Bay with 9 Black-necked Grebe. the lone Purple Sandpiper was again in front of the Haven Hotel on the sea ledge at low tide but disappeared later in the day. A Pochard was off Baiter, possibly the same that was in Poole Park the day before.

Shoveler – Holes Bay – Martin Adams

There was finally a decent count of Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay today with 14 counted along with 2 Slavonian Grebe. Another new arrival was a single Pochard on Poole Park Lake, along with a male Goldeneye. There were 5 Cattle Egret on Wareham Common again and off Jerry’s Point 8 Goldeneye were in a tight raft. A ringtail Hen Harrier flew along the Middlebere Channel where there were also 13 Spoonbill and there were also 9 Marsh Harrier near Swineham.

Pochard – Poole Park – Rene Goad

Another great day across the harbour, even with the biting NE wind. Our Winter Safari was top draw once again with 5 Eider off Hamworthy Beach, 10 Great Northern Diver spread across the harbour, 1 Red-throated Diver off the Brownsea south shore. In the Wareham Channel White-tailed Eagle G466 flew across, flushing 17 Spoonbill. At the top end of the channel near Swineham 6 Marsh Harrier were constantly moving around and a Golden Plover flew over. On Swineham GP there were decent numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall and Tufted Duck. We also had great views of 2 Bearded Tit feeding on reed heads right off the side of the boat at Swineham. The Brownsea Lagoon was partly frozen but still held c50 Bar-tailed Godwit, c15 Ringed Plover, 2 Greenshank and a handful of Avocet with another c250 Avocet roosting in the Wareham Channel. In central harbour there were 11 distant Goldeneye and 2 Black-necked Grebe. Elsewhere a Short-eared Owl was at Arne this afternoon, a Cattle Egret was on Wareham Common with another at Lytchett Fields. Lytchett Fields also saw Woodcock and Jack Snipe feeding out in the open and 56 Snipe were put up by a Marsh Harrier. At the Haven Hotel a Purple Sandpiper was on the ledge in front of the car park and there also seemed to be some sort of cold weather movement with c100 Lapwing flying super high, SW over Poole Quay. In the PC Drain there were 7 Common Chiffchaff, 2 Kingfisher and 2 Bullfinch.

Eider – Hamworthy Beach – Ian Ballam

Purple Sandpiper – Haven Hotel – Ian Ballam

Still cold, but warming slightly! Plenty around today, but much of the same although an increase to 7 Eider was noteworthy with 6 off the Brownsea north shore and an adult male near the harbour mouth. A Red-throated Diver was off the Brownsea south shore and up to 5 Great Northern Diver were across the open areas off the harbour. There were still 2 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel area and 5+ Marsh Harrier. In Holes Bay there were some good totals of 1200+ Wigeon, 500+ Teal, 100+ Shoveler, 70+Pintail, 300+ Black-tailed Godwit, 400+ Dunlin, 150+ Avocet, 150+ Redshank, 30+ Curlew and 4 Tufted Duck. In the PCW Drain 6+ Common Chiffchaff were somehow feeding and there was a Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher in the channel too. On Wareham Common there was a Great White Egret and a single Cattle Egret again and off Jerry’s Point 2 Black-necked Grebe. In Middlebere there were 17 Spoonbill and 2 ringtail Hen Harrier were seen flying down the channel.

Cattle Egret – Hiding on Wareham Common – Clive Hargrave

With the cold weather continuing into today and still some settled snow around some areas of the harbour it was likely there was going to be some element of cold weather movement, and that was evident with 20 Golden Plover on Baiter Park at dawn, plus another at Middlebere. Sadly the Baiter birds didn’t stay long as the area soon became quite busy. Disappointingly though, other than the Golden Plover, there were no other signs of other wader, sea duck, or even thrush movement in response to the cold. In fact, the cold, still air seemed ‘birdless’ in many areas. The ‘old faithful’ pulled through though and there was still a decent range of birds to be had with 1 Great White Egret still on Wareham Common and another at Swineham with 5 Cattle Egret also on Wareham Common. Off Swineham Point 2 White-tailed Eagle were chasing each other around briefly in the gloom and up to 6 Marsh Harrier were transiting back and fourth around the mouth of the Frome. Off Jerry’s Point there was only 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver and 1 Common Scoter and in Studland Bay 6 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 11 Common Scoter. Out in Central Harbour 2 other Red-throated Diver were seen from our School Bird Boat this morning and a flock of c300 Cormorant were feeding/hunting in the mouth of the Wareham Channel off Hamworthy Beach. Merlin were seen hunting over Wareham Common and Hartland stud where 98 Fieldfare were feeding. At the Shipstal end of Middlebere 2 Hen Harrier were seen from the Middlebere ‘lookout’ and 5 Spoonbill were at the top end of the channel.

Golden Plover – Baiter Park – Martin Adams