When the weather outside is frightful…..go birding! At least locally, so you can see if the cold weather has produced any local cold weather movements. There was an element of some ‘arrivals’ when the snow hit this morning with 4 Golden Plover out on Wareham Common next to the bypass, as well as 2 ‘new in’ Cattle Egret which have been quite scarce this winter period. It seemed Common Snipe and small numbers of Lapwing had moved with numbers evident out in the open feeding. Also out on Wareham Common was the Great White Egret, 130 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Jack Snipe. In Middlebere 2 ringtail Hen Harrier were seen (adult female and 1st winter male) along with 1 Merlin, 1 Spotted Redshank, 37 Grey Plover, and c200 Avocet. In the Wareham Channel 2 White-tailed Eagle were seen briefly and in Holes Bay 6 Spoonbill and 1 Common Sandpiper. In Lytchett Bay 4 Marsh Harrier and 1 Great White Egret flew past Rock Lea View and on the fields were 1 Spotted Redshank and 37 Common Snipe. There was a Great Northern Diver off Hamworthy Beach and 3 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay.

Egret snow fall! Cattle, Great White and Little Egret drifting in the snow on Wareham Common – Peter Moore

Beautifully still, clear skies and frost-cover ground made for promising birding conditions if you were prepared to brave the sub-zero temperatures (some areas around the harbour reached a biting -8°C just before dawn!). The cold start saw 21 Marsh Harriers leave the Poole Harbour roosts this morning, joined by a fly by ringtail Hen Harrier shortly before a Red Kite drifted towards Brownsea from Studland and the new Rock Lea Viewpoint enjoyed action from 3 Marsh Harriers, Merlin and Sparrowhawk. The Wareham Common Great White Egret was present again, in search of suitable feeding grounds beyond the frozen floods. The Black Brant was photographed among the dark-bellied Brent Goose flock in the Middlebere Channel and plummeting temperatures during a Studland visit at sunset produced singles of Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Slavonian Grebe, as well as a minimum count of 9 Black-necked Grebe and 4 Ring-necked Parakeets all from Middle Beach. Moving to Jerry’s Point at dusk offered a further 2 Great Northern Diver, a Red-throated Diver, 28 Great Crested Grebe and a decent variety of  waders at the Houseboats logging 20+ Sanderling, 20+ Turnstone, 32 Ringed Plover with 4 Grey Plover.

Great White Egret – Peter Moore – Wareham Common

Kate Plater – Black Brant (centre) among dark-bellied Brent Goose flock – Middlebere Channel

Another beautifully stunning winter day, with a sprinkling of frost covering almost all parts of the harbour at dawn. Yesterday the 3 Eider were out in central harbour again with the adult male still present. There were 2 ringtail Hen Harrier logged at an undisclosed site yesterday evening and a Goshawk was seen in Middlebere this afternoon. At Swineham 4 Great White Egret were roosting on the edge of the gravel pit and there was a definite arrival of Tufted Duck with 136 present. Also around Swineham a Goshawk (possibly the Middlebere bird) and 8 Marsh Harrier were hunting/active in the area on the Barclays Building 2 Peregrine were roosting together. Off Jerry’s Point 1 Great Northern Diver and 2 Red-throated Diver were feeding and in Shell Bay 4 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 2 Common Scoter were out in the bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon, we were playing around with the webcam at lunchtime, testing it’s capabilities on a close Avocet when a colour-ringed individual walked on by. We managed to find the scheme and it’s a Dutch ringed individual from the Wadden Sea area, although exact details are yet to be received.

Dutch Colour-ringed Avocet and un-ringed Avocet – Video grab from Brownsea Webcam

Temperatures now plummeting over night resulting in the Wareham Common floods to freeze over, leaving the 93 strong Black-tailed Godwit flock attempting of forage around the ice. A Shoveler and Great White Egret north of the railway also of note across the common. The cold snap also saw the arrival of a drake Goldeneye to Poole Park Lake yesterday morning and a Brambling over the Lower Piddle Valley this morning. A White-tailed Eagle was clocked heading north over Parkstone Cemetery early morning pursued by gulls. Both Poole Town Peregrine occupied the Barclays building again late morning.

We’ve just ‘doubled up’ on our Year-list Kick-starter Cruise on Saturday 14th January by adding a second (afternoon) trip! So there’s now a 3-hr cruise setting off from Poole Quay at 9am and 1pm to help get those 2023 year-list off to a flying start.

Can’t make that date? Don’t worry, we’ve also got kick-starter trips running on 7th and 13th January as well as a whole host of Winter Safari and Low Tide Cruises lined up! The harbour is really on form with a dazzling array of species being logged from every trip. Divers are having an excellent season with double figures of overwintering Great Northern Diver, record-breaking Marsh Harrier action, regular appearances from White-tailed Eagle and frequent sightings of Poole Harbour scarcities, notably Eider, Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter and Razorbill. Desperate to get out birding the harbour sooner?! No worries, we’ve still got spaces available on Winter Safari Cruises exploring the harbour on 14th and 18th December. Happy days – events details and bookings can be found here.

Goldeneye – Poole Park (yesterday) – Rene Goad

It was another busy day across the harbour, and it seems there’s no better time to get out and explore than now, although with another 3 months of winter to go, things can surely get better and better? That said, it’s pretty damn good now! Our Low-tide cruise this afternoon was mega busy with no less than 6 Great Northern Diver, plus 3 Red-throated Diver, 2 Common Scoter, c70 Red-breasted Merganser, 17 Goldeneye and c20 Great Crested Grebe on open areas of the harbour. In the Wareham Channel a White-tailed Eagle was sat out on the salt marsh of Shag Looe Point, at the top of the channel were 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Great White Egret, with another seen flying from Arne to towards Holes Bay. There were 12 Spoonbill feeding south of Green Island, on an earlier School Bird Boat an Eider was seen in central harbour. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was on the mud in the Wareham Channel with c300 Dunlin, c500 Black-tailed Godwit, 40 Lapwing also present out there, as were small parties of Avocet containing 10-100 birds which were dotted around various shorelines. In Lytchett Bay 2 Marsh Harrier were constantly flying back and fourth past the Rock Lea viewpoint. The PCW Drain help a minimum of 8 Chiffchaff and what also looked like an over-wintering Willow Warbler there too with 1 Firecrest also present. A Spoonbill was in Holes Bay along with 85 Pintail.

White-tailed Eagle from Low-tide Cruise – Wareham Channel – Derek Morgan

Goldeneye from Low-tide Cruise – Central Harbour – Derek Morgan

Spoonbills from Low-tide Cruise – Newton Bay – Derek Morgan

Red-throated Diver from Low-tide Cruise – South Deep – Derek Morgan

Loads going on today, so we’ll just crack on with a full round up. From our Winter Safari Cruise this AM we logged 3 Red-throated Diver across the harbour and a minimum of 8 Great Northern Diver. At Swineham there were 4 Marsh Harrier and 3 Spoonbill were in the Wareham Channel feeding. The 3 Eider, including the adult male were out in central harbour and the lagoon looked good with lots of waders and winter duck. Today was also the Poole Harbour WeBS count and produced plenty of goodies including 1 Slavonian Grebe, 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver and 2 Common Scoter off Jerry’s Point. In Studland Bay there were 6 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Eider and 6 Common Scoter. There were 3 Great White Egret on Swineham GP with 1 also (possibly one of the Swineham 3) on Wareham Common, plus another under the bridge that spits Holes Bay north and south. A Black Brant was in Newton Bay, a few Goldeneye appeared with individuals in Poole Park, off Baiter and 3 in central harbour. There were 2 White-tailed Eagle in and around the Wareham Channel late afternoon and a Merlin was sat on the post to the far right of Rock Lea viewpoint.

Marsh Harrier – Swineham – John Thorpe

A day of odds and sods today with the cold north easterly keeping birders at bay it seems. A Water Pipit was sat Lytchett Bay this morning and in Holes Bay NW there were 5 Spoonbill. At Sandbanks a Black Redstart was busy on the roof of the Haven Hotel and there was a minor arrival of winter thrush’s with 300 Redwing and 25 Fieldfare over the harbour entrance at dawn. A count of 95 Shag were logged flying through the harbour entrance at dawn along with c25 Red-breasted Merganser. The Great White Egret was again on Wareham Common and this evening a possible Caspian Gull came into roost on the Brownsea Lagoon.

Possible Caspian Gull (central bird) – Brownsea Lagoon 

Not so ‘ergh’ today, with another crisp (but very cold) winter sunset seeing out the day with Woodcock report flying out of multiple woodlands at dusk with 3 seen over Soldiers Road, 2 over the entrance of Middlebere, 7 flew out across the Piddle valley and 1 was seen over the Arne Road. The Great White Egret was still on Wareham Common, viewable from the cycle path on, at the Wareham end of the common. In Holes Bay the Spotted Redshank was in the SW section and off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Black-necked Grebe, 10 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Great Northern Diver. A Yellow-browed Warbler was reported on Candford Heath and 2 Lesser Redpoll were at Arne. Numbers of winter birds do seem to be building nicely with bigger numbers of Pintail, Shoveler and Gadwall around now, although there’s still hardly any Goldeneye about which is a bit worrying with only 1 logged out in central harbour today. Maybe this up and coming cold spell will push more down? Marsh Harrier numbers seem to have dropped again with only singles seen at Lytchett Bay and Middlebere with 4 at Swineham. No doubt good numbers will return again soon.

A typical winter scene in Holes Bay – Good numbers of Pintail and Wigeon – Martin Adams