A high tide this morning pushed lots of waders onto Brownsea Lagoon for the start of our Winter Safari Cruise, with 300 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 300 Dunlin, 120 Avocet, 20 Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 12 Turnstone and 6 Grey Plover. The northern harbour was otherwise quiet besides a Guillemot in the North Channel. Moving round the eastern end of Brownsea Island into South Deep there were 3 Great Northern Diver, 2 Black-necked Grebe, and the Long-tailed Duck in amongst 25 Great Crested Grebe. The sheltered fringes of Ower Bay were busy with several hundred Brent Geese, along with 3 Spoonbill and a Peregrine which landed on one of the shingle islands. In the central harbour there were 8 Goldeneye and 40 Red-breasted Merganser, and in the Wareham Channel 1 Red-throated Diver was seen along with 1 Great White Egret, 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Red Kite.

Elsewhere a single Slavonian Grebe was off Jerry’s Point again this morning, and in Holes Bay there were 1300 Black-tailed Godwit, 331 Avocet, 90 Shoveler and 58 Pintail. A Great White Egret was also seen at Hatch Pond this evening.

Red-throated Diver – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland

Another good day across the harbour today. Nothing new as such, but still a sustained decent haul of birds with the Long-tailed Duck flying into the harbour at 8am. The 2 Black-throated Diver were still off Baiter this morning and 4 Great Northern Diver were off Pilots Point, Studland with 10 Common Scoter in Studland Bay. In between Brands Bay and Jerry’s Point today there were 6 Goldeneye still, plus the Slavonian Grebe and 3 Black-necked Grebe. In Middlebere there were upwards of c700 Avocet, 3 Spoonbill and 2 Spotted Redshank, with another Spotted Redshank in Lytchett Bay. A concentrated count of Holes Bay, from the Holes Bay locals produced 1732 Wigeon, 2143 Black-tailed Godwit, 393 Avocet, 525 Dunlin and good numbers of other common wildfowl. A male Hen Harrier was seen in Middlebere, the White-tailed Eagle pair were seen up on Ballard again.

Black-tailed Godwit flock – Holes Bay – Derek Morgan

Barnacle Goose – Swineham – Clive Hargrave

Once again, an impressive suit of birds spread across the harbour today, especially open water species with 2 Black-throated Diver off Baiter this morning, one close into the footpath along Whitecliff and a second further out between Baiter and Sandbanks. There were also 7 Great Northern Diver, split between the urban northern channels and off Jerry’s Point, and another was in Studland Bay, plus a single Red-throated Diver was 200m of Poole Quay again. Grebe’s were well represented again with 1 Slavoniain Grebe off Jerry’s Point, 5 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay, 3 in South Deep and 3 in central harbour, plus c100 Great Crested Grebe spread across the harbour. The Long-tailed Duck was off the western Furzey shore again and 10 Goldeneye were out in the central harbour/south Deep area. Spoonbill were dotted around with 12 in Newton Bay and 3 in the Wareham Channel and 2 in Middlebere. There also seems to be thousands of wildfowl and common waders in the harbour currently with huge numbers of Wigeon and Teal spread between Holes Bay, the southern shores, Brands Bay and the north Wareham Channel area. Are rarity this winter but 34 Fieldfare were on Hartland Moor this morning and 2 Crossbill were at RSPB Arne. A ringtail Hen Harrier was in Middlebere again and 2 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham. There were 2 newly arrived Guillemot in the harbour today too, which could have been around since the storm last weekend, but only discovered today.

10 Spoonbill in Newton Bay from this afternoons Low-tide Cruise

Avocet flock from this afternoons Low-tide Cruise

Long-tailed Duck and Red-breasted Merganser from this afternoons Low-tide Cruise

There was an obscene number of birds in Holes Bay north today with c2500 Black-tailed Godwit, 1000+ Wigeon and 800-1000 Teal,  plus excellent totals of Pintail, Avocet, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew, Shelduck and a single Tufted Duck! A ringtail Hen Harrier was in Lytchett Bay again this morning and another (or the same) was seen in Middlebere. Out in Studland Bay this after 10 Common Scoter remained with 5 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver. Brands Bay held 1 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver, 21 Great Crested Grebe, 51 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Black-necked Grebe, 208 Pintail and 550+ Dunlin. The Black-throated Diver was still off Baiter Beach with 1 Great Northern Diver and the White-tailed Eagle pair were seen over Hartland Moor. A Barnacle Goose was at Swineham with 4 Marsh Harrier also there. Finally, 3 Spoonbill were at the top end of Middlebere and 10 were in the Wareham Channel.

Spoonbill passing Corfe Castle – Middlebere – Alison Copland

Hen Harrier – Middlebere – Alison Copland

The cold northerly wind subsided a bit more today, making harbour viewing a bit easier for anyone that was out. Early doors saw 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver and 3 Sandwich Tern off Baiter Park. A ringtail Hen Harrier was in Lytchett Bay at dawn, and an adult male flew through later in the morning, both male Mandarin Duck are still in Poole Park, a Siberian Chiffchaff was seen at Norden sewage works and off Jerry’s Point there was 1 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver and 8 Goldeneye. There seem to be really good numbers of Kingfisher around with 4 in Holes Bay east today, 3-4 along Poole Quay and multiple individuals between Baiter and Sandbanks.

Kingfisher – Poole Quay 

Kingfisher – Poole Quay 

The harbour was at it’s coldest, wintery best today with what seemed like a monumental number of birds present, mostly common wetland birds such as Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, dark-bellied Brent Geese, Oystercatcher, Avocet and Dunlin etc but every bay and exposed area of mud was covered with birds. There was also a great suit of scarcer winter birds with the Long-tailed Duck finally pinned down off the west shore of Furzey Island. A respectable total of 16 Goldeneye were counted, most around the South Deep area, and some out in central harbour. All three diver species were logged again with 2 Red-throated Diver, (one of Poole Quay and one in central harbour), 5 Great Northern Diver, (2 off Baiter and 3 off Jerry’s Point) and 1 Black-throated Diver which flew over Brownsea and seemed to be heading for Holes Bay. A single Slavonian Grebe was off Jerry’s Point with 2 Black-necked Grebe and another lone individual was in central harbour. Off Middle Beach, Studland 4 Black-necked Grebe were feeding together and 6 Common Scoter were further out. There are great totals of Red-breasted Merganser about (cold weather arrival?) with a minimum of 150 spread across certain areas. A Great White Egret was at Swineham GP and a Water Pipit was off Swineham Point. It seems the Spoonbill are opting to feed in the sheltered areas of the harbour with only 15 in the Wareham Channel this morning. Despite their elusive nature currently there were actually 3 White-tailed Eagle around today, with all 3 circling up over Ballard Down this morning and this morning there were 2 Hen Harrier in Lytchett Bay, an adult male and a ringtail.

Red-throated Diver – Off Poole Quay 

Long-tailed Duck – Furzey western shore

Black-necked Grebe – Central Harbour

Another cold day, but there seems to be loads of common wetland birds in the harbour currently. In Brands Bay today the Green-winged Teal was still feeding with 646 Eurasian Teal, but there was also 6 Goldeneye, 675 Wigeon, 244 Pintail, 400+ Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Sandwich Tern and 2 White-tailed Eagles. Out off Middle Beach, Studland there were 2 Black-necked Grebe and 5 Common Scoter. There were 3 Spoonbill in Holes Bay, a Slavonian Grebe and 2 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point. Holes Bay is currently holding thousands of birds with huge numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, Wigeon, Teal and Dunlin.

Dunlin – Sandbanks groynes – Peter Moore

Sanderling – Sandbanks groynes – Peter Moore

Turnstone – Sandbanks groynes – Peter Moore

Although most of Storm Darragh passed through last night, the wind was still peaking at between 40mph – 50mph during the course of the day, and the wind chill made it feel pretty nippy. It wasn’t about divers today, rather a day of ducks! Best duck was a drake Green-winged Teal which was found in Brands Bay this afternoon by Phil Saunders. Whether it’s the same individual thats been at Cowards Marsh over the last few days is unknown, but in the past, Green-winged Teals often stay for long periods of time once they arrive. The Long-tailed Duck thats been entering the harbour over the last 4 days flew in again this morning at dawn. It’s yet to be found in the harbour yet, but no doubt it will get pinned down at some point. There were 4 Goldeneye on Poole Park boating lake again today and there were just 7 Common Scoter off Middle Beach, Studland along with 2 Slavonian Grebe, 8 Black-necked Grebe, 3 Great Northern Diver and 1 Black-throated Diver. A small flock of 6 Kittiwake flew up Middlebere this morning and Holes Bay saw big totals of birds with 1510 Black-tailed Godwit and 600+ Dunlin. There’s been up to 16 Marsh Harrier in the west harbour roost this last week and a male Hen Harrier was seen in Middlebere again. Finally there were 15 Spoonbill in Lytchett Bay viewed from Rock Lea View.

Masses of birds at Holes Bay – Martin Adams

Green-winged Teal – Brands Bay – James Leaver

More diver news today, although on a sad note, the Black-throated Diver which was close in on Studland Beach a few days ago seems to have perished sadly. We’re not surprised as it looked pretty poorly upon its discovery a few days ago. We’re not sure what the cause was, but its behaviour on Wednesday seemed unusual for Black-throated Diver, drifting so close to the shoreline. The other Black-throated Diver seemed to be fighting fit though this morning in Holes Bay SW as it fed happily off Cobbs Quay. Elsewhere there was a Slavonian Grebe off Jerry’s Point, 10 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach and 1 off Jerry’s Point. Great Northern Diver totals included 3 off Middle Beach,. Studland and 2 in Shell Bay. A big total of 62 Cattle Egret were logged feeding in fields in between Holmebridge and Wool which is another Poole Harbour record.

Cattle Egret – Frome Valley – James Leaver

Cattle Egret – Frome Valley – James Leaver