With most people out Christmas shopping on the last Saturday before Christmas Day, sightings today were a little bit limited, but despite the building gusts, various areas were still watched and surveyed. There was a count of 41 Cattle Egret at Holmebridge this afternoon and a Great White Egret on Wareham Common. Off Jerry’s point the 1st winter male Eider was still about and 6 Goldeneye, 2 Great Northern Diver and 2 Black-necked Grebe were also logged. There was also another big count of Pintail in Brands Bay totalling 412. Out in Studland Bay there were 4 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver and 12 Common Scoter. Lytchett Bay/Fields saw 6 Spoonbill, 1 Hen Harrier and 1 Spotted Redshank. There was also a male Hen Harrier seen in Middlebere.

Firecrest – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

It was a stunning start to the day, with a cold, crisp (and dare we say it) Christmassy feel to it, but it soon deteriorated to more wind and rain, making birding tricky. This morning the 2 Black-throated Diver were both still off the Whitecliff/Baiter footpath and there was a real sign of the times when a Great White Egret dropped into Poole Park lake where both Mandarin Duck were still present. Off Redhorn Quay/Brands Bay there was a good count of 10 Goldeneye, plus 2 Great Northern Diver, a massive 374 Pintail and the 1st winter male Eider had moved round to there. In Middlebere a male Merlin landed on a post in front of the Middlebere lookout and 3 Marsh Harrier were in also in Middlebere and a lone Spotted Redshank was in Lytchett Bay.

Great White Egret – Poole Park – Clive Hargrave

Merlin – Middlebere – Alison Copland

The day started grim, turned nice for a few minutes, then went grim again, which was a shame as it was our last ‘Bird Boat’ of the calendar year. We didn’t let the weather dampen our spirits though and a good haul of birds were seen with 2 Black-throated Diver bobbing around in the North Channel, 1 Red-throated Diver off Gold Point and 3-4 Great Northern Diver dotted around. We had 7 Spoonbill in the Wareham Channel, a Water Pipit was off Swineham Point with 2 Marsh Harrier in that area too and a Barnacle Goose was on Arne Moors. In South Deep 2 Black-necked Grebe were bobbing about with 2 Goldeneye off Jerry’s Point and an adult male Peregrine was causing havoc in Arne Bay, upsetting c200 Curlew. In the mouth of the Frome there were c300 Avocet and the Brownsea Lagoon saw a whopping c2000 Herring Gull coming into roost. This morning there was still at least 1 Purple Sandpiper on the Sandbanks groynes, the Long-tailed Duck flew into the harbour this morning bang on 8am again along with 7 Great Northern Diver. A male Hen Harrier was seen in Lytchett Bay this morning and both White-tailed Eagles were hunkered down in Brands Bay this evening in the driving rain, keeping a low profile.

Red-breasted Merganser – South Deep

It was good to receive news today of the first record of ‘multiple’ Purple Sandpiper at Sandbanks in several years. In recent years they’ve been almost totally absent from this traditional area, with just a few records of lone, short-staying individuals over the last couple of years. There was an excellent count of c35 at Hengistbury on Sunday, so there’s a good chance we could even see a few more over the rest of the winter? Also off Sandbanks today were 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Razorbill, 2 Guillemot and a light passage of Mediterranean Gulls. The juv male Eider was off the Houseboats again in Bramble Bush Bay and off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Great Northern Diver, 3 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Goldeneye. Off Middle Beach, Studland 11 Common Scoter remained and 3 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Great Northern Diver were spread across the bay. A lone Cattle Egret flew over Carey Secret Garden and a Black-throated Diver was off Whitecliff/Baiter again.

Purple Sandpiper – Sandbanks 

Purple Sandpiper – Sandbanks 

1st winter male Eider – Bramble Bush Bay – Mick Brooks

With a few Song Thrush already moving on up through the gears in regards to building their spring song, which is typical for mild mornings in late December/early January, it was a total shock upon visiting the PCW Drain this morning to also find 4 Common Chiffchaff in total full song making it feel more like late March rather than a week before Christmas. In total there were around 15 Common Chiffchaff when eventually a Siberian Chiffchaff was also found at the top end. They’ve been notable by their absence the last few years here, despite having always been a reliable site for this species. Just down the road from there in Upton CP a flock of 35 Redwing were feeding, which have also been pretty scarce this winter with only tiny flocks noted in a few areas with the same going for Fieldfare of which there were c30 at Hartland Moor. Off Jerry’s Point the Slavoniain Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Great Northern Diver were counted, a ringtail Hen Harrier, 1 White-tailed Eagle and 2 Spotted Redshank were in Middlebere and out in Studland Bay there were 8 Common Scoter. A female Eider in Bramble bush Bau was new in and there were 3 Great Northern Diver off Pilot’s Point, Studland Bay.

Redwing – Upton CP – Rene Goad

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