Well, here we are a few hours before November and there was still an Osprey in the harbour this morning, there were a few crickets/grasshoppers still ‘chirping’ last night, plenty of bats were out hunting at dusk this evening and this afternoon a few small dragonflies were out on the wing, most likely Common Darter. With the mild weather set to continue is there a chance we could have November records for each of the taxa mentioned above, potentially making November the new September?! Thankfully there was an element of autumn/winter today with a Barnacle Goose in Brands Bay this evening and now 23 Red-breasted Merganser there too with 21 Great Crested Grebe and now 121 Pintail. A Common Sandpiper was in Holes Bay this morning, suggesting it’s likely to over-winter there seeing as the passage period for this species finished about a month ago. There were 3 Firecrest in scrub below Constitution Hill viewpoint and Short-eared Owl flew over Purbeck Golf Course this evening. The White-tailed Eagle pair were moving between Brands Bay and the Wareham Channel and a Great White Egret was in Middlebere. Early this morning a Brambling was sound recorded over Oakdale, Poole.

Avocet – Black-tailed Godwit and Pintail – Middlebere – Kate Plater

There was lots of good birding to be had today with quality throughout the day. The day started with the 6th Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn being ringed at the Carey Secret Garden ringing station and the 2nd Water Pipit of the season ringed at Lytchett Bay, plus another was on site. There were Great White Egret in Lytchett Bay, 2 in Middlebere, 2 in the Wareham Channel and 1 roosting on Swineham GP. The Black-necked Grebe flock in the Wareham Channel has risen from 4 to 6 and both White-tailed Eagles were in the Wareham Channel all day. This evening a Bittern flew in over Slepe Heath heading south, calling as it headed towards Corfe and 2 Merlin went into roost on Hartland Moor. This afternoon 2 Black Redstart were in Upton on roofs at Tree Hamlets, including a cracking adult male. On Wareham Common 12 Cattle Egret were with the cows and 45 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon and 4 flew into the Piddle Valley to roost this evening whilst 7+ Marsh Harrier were also going into roost.

Great White Egrets – Middlebere – John Thorp

It was another unusually warm and calm day for this late in October, meaning that plenty of birders were out, so lots of sightings today. News came in early of a Red-eyed Vireo trapped and ringed at Durlston CP this morning, so although outside of the harbour boundary, it’s worth looking for any more North American migrants with this, and others popping up around the country! Although it felt warm, there were signs of winter creeping in for our final Autumn Safari this morning, with numbers of Red-breasted Merganser and Dark-bellied Brent Geese, noticeably increasing around Brands Bay and Central Harbour. The 4 Black-necked Grebes were still in the Wareham Channel along with 1 in South Deep and 1 reported later off Middle Beach. In the Wareham Channel we had 1 late Osprey moving between the channel and Lytchett Bay, along with 1 Great White Egret and 2 Marsh Harrier. The 2 White-tailed Eagles were sat on the gull islands this morning and the male, G463, gave us a great finale for the trip by taking off in hot pursuit of a Carrion Crow for 30 seconds, before settling once more.  Female G466 was later seen in the Wareham Channel catching a small fish.

On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 42 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank, 48 Avocet, 11 Greenshank and 3 Knot. 1 Slavonian Grebe was in central harbour this afternoon. A single Snow Bunting was seen at Middlebere between Sika Copse and the Harrier Hide, although it could not be relocated once flown. Also in the Middlebere Channel were 2 Great White Egret, 1 Osprey, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 3 Spoonbill and 2 Spotted Redshank. In Holes Bay there were impressive number of Black-tailed Godwit building, with 1307, along with 905 Wigeon and 28 Avocet. Finally 1 Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff was trapped and Ringed at the Careys Secret Garden ringing site.

White-tailed Eagle G463 in hot pursuit of a crow from this morning’s Autumn Safari Cruise – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride

Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff – Careys Secret Garden Ringing Station – Matt Scraggs

Red-eyed Vireo – Durlston CP Ringing Site – Winter Stobart

Despite the early light rain, there was plenty of good birding to be had from the off. At Lytchett Bay this morning a Hawfinch flew over Rock Lea View with 3 Chaffinch. This is our 5th or 6th record of the autumn already and it seems there are plenty around in surrounding counties, so is this the beginning of a mini irruption for Hawfinch again like we saw in 2017/18? Or is it just a decent better than normal autumn which will soon fizzle out? Also at Lytchett Bay this morn ing a female Merlin dashed across the bay and a Barnacle Goose arrived in with c500 Canada Geese. Yesterday morning c1200 Jackdaw left the Holes Bay roost and flew in land over Lytchett Bay. It was good to see Brownsea get in on the Yellow-browed Warbler action with one in woodland adjacent to the lagoon. It was also good to hear a Peregrine was active on the lagoon today as they’ve been notable in their absence during October. The Poole Pegs have been on the Asda building all month but there have been very few reports from elsewhere around the harbour. A Great White Egret flew down the Frome Valley and settled at Holmebridge, 54 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields, 1 Black-necked Grebe was in Studland Bay and a small number of Redwing and Song Thrush were moving/arriving at dawn in the gloom. The Osprey continues to be present and was seen catching a fish this morning in the Wytch Channel.

Avocets – Middlebere – John Thorp

Have we missed the Wood Pigeons? We were amazed to see this morning that Portland had 110,000 Wood Pigeon migrating past/over the Bill yesterday. This is a phenomenon we don’t usually see here over the harbour until at least the first week of November. The other strange thing is that it was overcast and foggy yesterday morning with a light southerly wind. This is the total opposite set of conditions we normally expect Wood Pigeon to move in, with ‘Poole’ birds usually leaving on clear, cold mornings with a hint of north in the wind. There’s every chance the conditions were different at Portland and the birds simply by-passed Poole Harbour due to the cloud cover and early fog? Who knows, but if we too see a big push of Wood Pigeon here in early November then it could potentially be a huge combined autumn passage of Wood Pigeon across south Dorset. The Poole harbour record was in 2010 when c160,000 passed over during the morning of November 7th. There were some new arrivals today with a winter plumaged Red-throated Diver in the Wareham Channel this morning and a Hawfinch passed over Carey Secret Garden just after dawn. An Osprey was in Middlebere with 6 Spotted Redshank in the channel and a Merlin flew through. A Great White Egret was on Wareham water meadows and another was in Middlebere. Early this morning a Golden Plover was sound recorded over Oakdale during a noc-mig session and lots of Redwing and Song Thrush were on the move last night. The 4 Black-necked Grebe were reported out in the Wareham Channel again and male White-tailed Eagle G463 was on the edge of the Wareham Channel for most of the morning. In the PCW Drain Chiffchaff numbers have dropped right down with only c10 present, but also 2 Kingfisher present there. Marsh Harrier numbers have reached 12 recently, birds regularly being seen in Lytchett Bay, Middlebere and at Swineham. Finally, a Jack Snipe was flushed on Middlebere Heath this evening but (as they do) immediately dropped down again 20m away, allowing for a close, slow approach and a game of ‘hunt the Jack Snipe’ to ensue.

Jack Snipe lurking in the cover. Can you find it?

Jack Snipe close up!

It was a classic late October day today, with fog at dawn, soon lifting to reveal a mixture of damp golden greens across the landscape. Our Autumn Safari saw the perfect mix of autumn, winter and even some summer birds moving around the harbour this morning. The summer-vibe consisted of c40 late Swallow moving south out across the Wareham Channel. The harbour was like a glass again and allowed for 4 Black-necked Grebe to be located out in the Wareham Channel with a minimum of 4 different Marsh Harrier also logged and a Great White Egret. The White-tailed Eagle pair were fairly sedentary in the Wareham Channel but soon lifted and moved off north by late morning. The Brownsea Lagoon hosted 56 Spoonbill, c300 Avocet, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, c15 Grey Plover, 4 Greenshank, 5 Sanderling, c50 Dunlin and decent numbers of Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall. The first Water Pipit of the autumn/winter was ringed in Lytchett Bay this morning and amazingly a 5th Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn was ringed at the Carey Secret Garden ringing station. A Black-necked Grebe was in Studland Bay with 44 dark-bellied Brent Geese and yesterday there were 9 Ruff on the floods at Swineham and Bestwall. This evening 2 Mandarin Duck were on Poole Park lake again, an Osprey was eating a fish on a post on Middlebere Heath this afternoon and up to 4 different Merlin are currently present along the southern shores (2m & 2f).

Dark-bellied Brent Geese arriving into the harbour from Autumn Safari this AM – Alison Copland

Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon from Autumn Safari this AM – Alison Copland

Water Pipit ringed at RSPB Lytchett fields this AM – Shaun Robson

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 flying across the Wareham Channel from Autumn Safari this AM – Alison Copland

Yellow-browed Warbler ringed at Carey Secret Garden ringing station – Matthew Scraggs