Poole Harbour is an important over-wintering site for a whole range of different wetland bird species. This comprises of numerous wader, wildfowl and long-legged water birds like Grey Heron and Spoonbill, as well multiple gull species too. To assess the ever shifting population trends of these birds, Wetland Bird Surveys (WeBS counts), which are managed centrally by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have been carried out in Poole Harbour since 1975. These surveys assess all wetland species during the course of the winter which in turn provides data on which birds are present in nationally and internationally important numbers, which are increasing and which are decreasing as well as comparing local trends with national trends. It’s the results of these surveys that also determine whether a site is afforded special protection or needs to be designated.

Poole Harbour is a Special Protection Area (SPA), with its bird life forming several features of that SPA. These include the regular over-wintering numbers of  Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Shelduck, Spoonbill and Little Egret as well as breeding Mediterranean Gull, Sandwich and Common Terns in the summer. The combined total of all over-wintering wetland birds (winter bird assemblage) also form part of the Poole Harbour SPA.

The data from these surveys is incredibly helpful to see where species thrive in the harbour, how well a species is doing or not over a period of time and when peak arrival, population and departure times are. The BTO’s WeBS reporting website provides an excellent overview of all Poole Harbour data, as well as other sites across the UK, but knowing where specific species priorities for feeding is not highlighted within their webpages, nor can all data be viewed in one place so visually.

With thanks to some incredible volunteers and our BoPH team, we’re now able to publish a full Overwintering Birds of Poole Harbour – An Analysis of Poole Harbour WeBS Data 1975 – 2021 report which breaks down, consolidates and interprets data from the last 45 years of Poole Harbour WeBS counts.

The purpose of this publication is to bring together an analysis of that data for 43 of the main winter species, the trends in numbers over the long-term, how they compare with national numbers, their seasonality, and where the birds are distributed around the harbour during the winter months. It is a ‘fact-based’ analysis of the importance of Poole Harbour for wintering birds, which we hope will stimulate public interest and further research and discussions to protect and enhance this very special place.

With special thanks we’d like to extend our immense gratitude to several volunteers for this report. These include Patrick Redshaw for the data analysis and presentation of all 45 years worth of WeBS data in this publication. To Jol Mitchell and Patrick Redshaw for the data collection and organising of all historic and present day WeBS data. Rod Brummitt who for 10 years has received, collated, entered and submitted all WeBS count data to the BTO and of course, to our valiant team of 33 WeBS counters who head out each month, come rain or shine, to count Poole Harbours amazing winter bird life. Also, a huge thank you to Brittany Maxted and Liv Cooper from our BoPH team for their incredible and ongoing editing, interpreting and design input throughout the whole process. Plus, a big thank you must go out to all previous WeBS counters and organisers who started gathering WeBS data in the early days and especially Brian Pickess and John Day from the Poole Harbour Study Group who’s early work and analysis on Poole Harbour WeBS helped form part of this report. Without any of these people, this document simply wouldn’t be possible.

Equally as important, we’d also like to thank all landowners who grant us access permission so that WeBS counters can access difficult to reach areas, meaning count accuracy is much higher. Without their support, the data would certainly suffer and degrade.

We hope you enjoy reading this new report – Overwintering Birds of Poole Harbour – An Analysis of Poole Harbour WeBS Data 1975 – 2021

A series of inspiring environmental initiatives that are being carried out across the south coast could provide multiple eco-tourism opportunities for the Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Purbeck area over the coming years. The last 18 months has seen a huge spike in the number of people wishing to not only connect with nature, but to learn about its functionality and backstory too. Over the last decade social media and mainstream news channels have often highlighted the worst and most catastrophic environmental stories from across the globe. However, here in Dorset and along the south coast a new era of positive environmental change seems to be emerging, focussing on nature and species recovery, and the positive impacts are already becoming evident.

Within the last ten years, several high profile projects have begun along the south coast with the aim of restoring lost habitats and species. These include the Poole Harbour Osprey translocation project carried out by local charity Birds of Poole Harbour, the White-tailed Sea Eagle reintroduction on the Isle of Wight carried out by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England, and the White Stork reintroduction in Sussex and Surrey run by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Cotswold Wildlife Park, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and Warsaw Zoo. Last year also saw the launch of the new groundbreaking Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve, a joint partnership project between Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Forestry England, National Trust, Natural England, Rempstone Estate and the RSPB, and recently the Dorset Wildlife Trust obtained a new 170 hectare area of land south-east of Bere Regis which will focus on Rewilding the large previously farmed area. Plus, the National Trust currently have a licence application underway to undertake a wild Beaver reintroduction in the Little Sea area of Studland, with Beavers being renowned natural, dynamic eco-engineers that vastly improve ecosystems. Collectively, all these projects place south Dorset in a unique position to not only improve and accelerate species and ecosystem recovery, but to also attract and establish a growing eco-tourism audience.

Paul Morton from the Birds of Poole Harbour charity explained;
“Over the last four years we’ve been reintroducing Osprey to Poole Harbour, in an effort to try and restore a breeding population having been absent for nearly 200 years. This summer we saw a pair form and we witnessed the male displaying high over his nest site: a behaviour that’s not been seen in southern Britain for two centuries. Although they didn’t end up breeding, this is the beginnings of re-colonisation. Then, a series of events in Sept 2021 blew my mind. Firstly, on Sept 16th an incredible sight of 36 White Stork migrated over the harbour, a scenario that probably hasn’t been seen here for nearly 400 years. Then, on the following day, one of the Isle of Wight sea eagles decided to pay us a visit, firstly hanging out briefly on the lagoon on Brownsea Island before relocating to Middlebere near RSPB Arne the following day where crowds of people got to enjoy watching this huge majestic bird of prey with its 8ft wingspan, before it alighted and headed off north. This was then followed by several other sightings of another of the projects eagles as another drifted over the Wareham Channel and Arne. To think that these birds will soon become a regular sight again having been missing from our landscape for so long and hopefully be breeding in the harbour over the coming years is just breathtaking. If anyone had said to me ten years ago that in the space of a week we’d see displaying Osprey, migrating White Storks and hunting White-tailed Sea Eagle in Poole Harbour I would have literally laughed in their face and walked off. It was all dreamland stuff ten years ago, but here we are a decade later and it’s actually happening”

White-tailed Eagle – Middlebere – Kate Plater

Back in 2017, when Birds of Poole Harbour began their Osprey Translocation Project they hosted a single boat trip to show and talk to people about the project. Due to demand that year they had to put on an extra two trips. Then in 2018 they hosted eight trips, in 2019 ten trips and now, in 2021 the charity hosted fifteen cruises, all of which sold out with both locals and visitors to the area wanting to see and learn about Osprey conservation. On the Isle of Mull in Scotland, where White-tailed Sea Eagles were reintroduced in 1975, it’s now estimated that sea eagles bring in around £5 million to the local economy, highlighting the potential for when sea eagles first nest along the south coast over the coming years.

White Storks over Brands Bay – Aidan Brown
Paul Morton added;
“It’s not just conservation NGO’s that are doing their bit, the councils have been doing a great job too, enhancing and improving eco-systems through schemes like their wild verges scheme. Even changing streetlights to LED lights has a positive impact on the environment. Councils should not underestimate how valuable and important schemes like the wild verges/areas scheme is for the environment and how appreciated they are by the public. Although it can sometimes feel or seem contentious, it’s this kind of progressive forward thinking to nature recovery adopted by councils that fits perfectly into the much bigger picture of what’s happening locally. The new Purbeck Heaths National Nature reserve along the south of the harbour is a vital landscape scale rewilding project, which is going to have a huge positive impact on our local environment. Gone are the days where postage stamp-sized nature reserves are managed for specific species: the future is in connecting areas of land and allowing natural processes to evolve. That’s quite easy to do in rural areas with landowner cooperation, but much harder to do in urban ones, so councils need to be bold in their approach and see what positive role they can have year after year. I’ve lived in the Poole Harbour area my whole life, and never have I been so excited and optimistic about the area’s future. There’s so much to be downhearted about in the modern world, but everyone should take great pride in what’s happening locally, embrace it, immerse themselves in it and make sure we carry on with this trajectory. Many areas would be begging to have just one of these types of projects on their doorsteps to benefit from, but the fact here in South Dorset we have six or seven says to me that we’ve got a great opportunity in the future to make great strides both environmentally and economically”.

Local conservation charity Birds of Poole Harbour and popular visitor attraction Poole Museum are forming a new collaborative partnership to help interpret and highlight the harbours important birdlife and natural heritage. The partnership will see Birds of Poole Harbour initially utilise part of the Museum’s gallery and exhibition space by transferring some of their popular interactive and informative displays from their engagement centre on Poole Quay, which is due to close at the end of September.

The Poole based conservation charity has spent the last 10-years developing a series of people engagement and education initiatives including their popular School Bird Boat project, as well as working on multiple conservation projects including their pioneering Osprey reintroduction within the Poole Harbour area. In 2018 they opened their new visitors centre on Poole Quay which aimed to interpret and popularise bird conservation in and around Poole and was deemed a great success. But after a year of Covid, the charity has re-evaluated it’s focus and priorities and will be closing the exhibition space this autumn.

Paul Morton from the Birds of Poole Harbour charity explained;

“this is such a new and exciting opportunity for our charity, allowing us to expand, deliver and communicate our stories much more effectively and to a much larger audience. Poole Museum has a great reputation for bringing Poole’s history to life and we hope that by including information about it’s wildlife too, it provides an extra learning journey for visitors to the museum. Like all businesses, the last 18 months has really allowed us to carefully assess where we’re most effective as a charity, what our priorities are, how we can have the biggest impact whilst remaining dynamic and influential in our local area. We’re now looking to be a lot more active out around the harbour, hosting many more events throughout the year, building on our education work and forming new partnerships to really get people excited about conservation in this incredible area.”

Plans are also currently in place to transform Poole Museum creating a major cultural quayside heritage attraction for local communities and tourists. Poole Museum’s important historic buildings will be conserved and opened-up for more people to enjoy, more of the time. The plans include creating three brand new maritime displays with the community. Volunteers, local people and visitors will all contribute to and become part of a shared history of Poole.

Plans will improve the visitor experience as well as revitalising the Lower High Street and Quay, increasing visitors to museum and local area. With the support of funders and the public it’s hoped the plans will transform the Museum to a regional scale attraction at the heart of a rejuvenated, vibrant, cultural ‘Quay Quarter’.

The Poole ‘Our Museum’ project was recently awarded an initial grant of £352,000 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) to develop future plans for our museum. This funding allowed the museum team to carry out creative consultation and collaboration with wide range of visitors, residents, partners and community groups, as well as enabling them to work with a team of professional architects and exhibition designers.

Councillor Mohan Iyengar, Portfolio Holder for Poole Museum added;

“I am pleased that Birds of Poole Harbour and Poole Museum have come together to offer even more to our visitors. We’ve collaborated in the past and the museum has already benefited from the knowledge and passion of the charity’s team in delivering public talks and in refreshing the popular bird hide display. I hope that residents take the chance to visit again and engage with the team of ‘Birds of Poole Harbour’ while they’re in residence, and at the same time find out more about Poole’s unique natural history.”

Paul Morton concluded;

“We’re at a really interesting crossroads locally with multiple exciting, new and bold conservation projects either taking place already or being planned for the future. All of which seek to restore habitats, increase biodiversity and educate the public on the richness of Poole Harbour. With Poole Museum’s perfect location combined with their long term plans, this new partnership provides a great base to continue telling these stories right in the heart of town”

The Poole Harbour Osprey reintroduction project is one of several stories the new partnership aims to tell and promote

Our popular school environmental education program is set to return this winter after COVID prevented the project from taking place last year. The School Bird Boat project, run by us, Birds of Poole Harbour, will start taking school children from around the Poole Harbour area out on boat trips this coming winter, teaching them about the importance of their local environment and the role the harbour plays in peoples day to day lives.

The trips, which will be funded by Poole based business LUSH this year, have been organised and hosted by Birds of Poole Harbour for nearly 10 years and sees on average 1200 local school children benefit from the project each year.

Poole Harbour is a nationally and internationally important site for winter birds with up to 25,000 waders and wildfowl taking refuge in the large, sheltered, shallow harbour. During the peak of the winter up to 1200 Avocet, 2500 Black-tailed Godwit, 5000 Wigeon and 50 Spoonbill all call Poole Harbour home, along with a whole range of other important and unique species.

Paul Morton from the Birds of Poole Harbour charity explained;

“It’s fantastic that we’re able to start organising these trips again. It’s so important that local children get to get out on the water and experience Poole Harbour from this unique perspective. These children will be the harbours custodians in future years, so inspiring them now will hopefully plant the seed and see them want to protect it as they get older. We can’t thank LUSH enough for kindly funding the trips this year, it’s a massive boost as it means we’re able to offer the trips for free, including transport, meaning the schools, the parents or the pupils don’t have to pay a penny towards the project.

The main focus of the trips is to provide school children the opportunity to connect with their local environment, and understand the relationship between how the harbour is managed for nature, but also it’s function and importance for people to earn a living.

Paul added:

“The harbour is vitally important for both wildlife and people, with some of the children’s parents probably working out and around the harbour, whether it be in the fishing industry, for the RNLI, the Marines, the port etc. So highlighting how all this fits together is an important and key message. Plus, it’s likely nearly all the children will use the harbour recreationally over the coming years, so understanding where the sensitive sites are, the impacts different activities have and how to protect the harbour are all crucial topics to discuss”

 The trips, which historically have always been hosted during the winter will run from October 2021 to March 2022 and will focus on the harbours rich winter bird life. However, the Birds of Poole harbour charity are also carrying out a pioneering Osprey reintroduction program in Poole Harbour, looking to restore a population of these incredible birds of prey to the south coast after a 200 year absence, and it’s hoped that the charities schools education work will be able to extend and broaden its focus when Ospreys begin nesting here in the coming years.

Mark Constantine, Lush Co-Founder, MD and bird sound expert comments:

“It’s a privilege to be able to fund this initiative, as we know how important it is that children have good access to nature. As a business our journey started here in Poole, so it’s important to us to be able to have a direct impact on local school children’s environmental education and also the harbours long-term protection”. 

The event will be streamed LIVE on YouTube through the Self-Isolating Bird Club channel, starting at 10am. Find out more about The Reintroduction & Rewilding Summit here!

WATCH THE EVENT HERE

In 2021, it cannot be denied that our planet is at an ecological tipping point. Whether we’re discussing the climate crisis or extreme declines in biodiversity, taking appropriate action to remedy these problems is still not a priority for many of those with power. In the past year especially, nature has proven its worth 100 times over, with millions of us finding comfort and solace within it. At Birds of Poole Harbour, we are not content with letting the opportunity to restore and conserve our natural heritage slip through our fingers, and we’re not alone. We are a small part of a mighty network of people and organisations striving to make positive change for nature, exploring novel ways of doing so and educating the public as we go.

As a charity, with our involvement in the Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project, we’re particularly inspired by the uptake of wildlife restoration projects through reintroductions and rewilding, and we know that many other people are just as engaged and enthused as we are. We therefore decided to launch a new event, bringing these projects together to showcase them to the public: The Reintroduction & Rewilding Summit.

The R & R Summit is a virtual event which you will be able to stream live from home on Saturday 10th April 2021. The day will be hosted by the brilliant Self-Isolating Bird Club, with presenters Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin, and will be jam-packed full of content from different projects, conservationists and science communicators talking all about reintroductions and nature restoration. The event will raise the discussion of a multitude of questions, from whether reintroductions are the best way to re-establish native species,  to how beavers can shape our landscape, and whether rewilding has become an overused buzzword or is it actually the answer to reverse biodiversity decline? But most importantly, we hope the day will fill you with much-needed hope and excitement for the future of wildlife restoration and will inspire you to discover more about these projects. Speakers will include the likes of conservation hero Roy Dennis, Beaver expert Derek Gow, ‘Rebirding’ author Benedict Macdonald and The White Stork Project. The event will be livestreamed on 10th April through the Self-Isolating Bird Club and Birds of Poole Harbour’s YouTube Channels, and you can sign-up to register your interest and be sent the link to the event here.

In the meantime…

The R&R Summit Insight Podcasts

Over the next 10-weeks leading up to the event, guest podcaster Charlie Moores will be interviewing a series of reintroduction and rewilding project leaders, discussing the details, aims and inspiration behind each scheme. With many of these topics or ideas sometimes being considered controversial, these open discussions aim to lay all cards on the table, allowing listeners to hear about the processes, practicalities and outcomes of each of the projects and how they fit into a wider context of conservation.

Podcast 1 – Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project

In 2017, Dorset-based charity Birds of Poole Harbour began a 5-year Osprey translocation project in an effort to restore a south coast breeding population having been absent for nearly 200 years. In this first podcast, Charlie discusses with some of the Osprey project team the reasoning behind the reintroduction, their aspirations moving forward and the project’s place within a wider nature restoration framework.

Podcast 2 – The White Stork Project

Join Charlie as he chats with Lucy Groves, a project officer for The White Stork Project. Discover the motivations behind the project, the progress already made and what we can hope to see by 2030, as well as the impacts they have already had in engaging the public with the wildlife…

Find out more about The White Stork Project here: https://www.whitestorkproject.org/

Podcast 3 – Celtic Reptile & Amphibian

Charlie chats with Harvey Tweats and Tom Whitehurst of Celtic Reptile & Amphibian to dive deeper into understanding their ambitions, how they see themselves fitting into the bigger conservation picture, and what they’ve taken on board since attracting national attention.

Find out more about Celtic Reptile & Amphibian here: http://celticreptileamphibian.co.uk/

Podcast 4 – Rewilding Britain

In this episode, Charlie talks to Sara King from Rewilding Britain, who is the Rewilding Network Lead. They delve into the world of rewilding on a larger landscape scale, discuss the possibilities of marine rewilding, and the benefits of having a network of rewilding projects.

To find out more about Rewilding Britain and their Network, explore their website: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/

Podcast 5 – Vulture Conservation Foundation

This week, Charlie got to grips with the scale of the efforts made to conserve vultures across Europe. Talking with José Tavares, the Director of Vulture Conservation Foundation, they discuss what’s needed to make reintroductions successful, how they go hand in hand with other conservation techniques, and the important role that vultures play in their landscape.

To find out more about Vulture Conservation Foundation, head to their website: https://www.4vultures.org/

Podcast 6 – Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation

This episode Charlie chats with Roy Dennis MBE and Dr Tim Mackrill of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. They discuss the recent updates from the White-tailed Eagle translocation on the Isle of Wight, the hurdles to overcome when planning a reintroduction project, and how translocations will continue to be a key player in conservation in the future.

To find out more about the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, you can go to their website: https://www.roydennis.org/

Podcast 7 – Isabella Tree (Knepp Wildland)

In this episode, Charlie talks with Isabella Tree, who has been largely responsible for bringing rewilding to public attention through her brilliant book “Wilding”. They discuss the progress and influence of the Knepp Estate, the fantastic array of people who have been through its doors, and how to find balance between managing land and letting nature take the reigns…

If you want to learn more about Knepp Wildland, you can find their website here: https://knepp.co.uk/home

You can also find all the episodes on Spotify: HERE

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

Our final Pop Up event of the year will take place at Studland NNR in partnership with the National Trust Studland team this Thursday (31st Dec) between 10am and 1pm. Join our team across FOUR watchpoints for a last chance to maximise your 2020 yearlist and discover why Studland peninsula is such an important overwintering site for birds.

Studland Bay is an important feeding area for the UK’s largest over-wintering population of Black-necked Grebe, a scarce breeding bird in the UK. A good winter watch in Studland Bay can produce both Black-necked and Slavonian Grebe, along with Red-breasted Merganser, Common Scoter, Brent Geese, Mediterranean Gulls and occasional Sandwich Tern. Recent sightings have also included Red-necked Grebe and Long-tailed Duck!

Our team will be stationed at four locations across the peninsula. Find us at the watchpoints below between 10am and 1pm.

• Shell Bay
• Jerry’s Point
• Redhorn Quay
• Knoll Beach (situated at the Watersports Hut, next to the Knoll Beach Cafe)

Watchpoint map available here »

Parking is available along Ferry Road lay-bys, as well as the Shell Bay and Knoll Beach National Trust pay and display car parks.

Unfortunately, we are currently unable to share our optics at public events to limit risk of spreading Covid-19. Therefore, if you have your own binoculars and scopes, please bring them along, they will be really useful!

Footage from Shell Bay Pop Up on 9th Decemeber

Our team will be visiting Holes Bay this Sunday to help you bird this superb urban hotspot. Recent sightings from the site include great counts of Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin, as well as vast numbers of wildfowl and a small but faithful flock of Knot. The site offers a great opportunity to get your head around wader and wildfowl identification with our team.

Unfortunately, we are currently unable to share our optics at public events to limit risk of spreading Covid-19. Therefore, if you have your own binoculars and scopes, please bring them along, they will be really useful! Holes Bay is fully accessible with a cycle path running along much of the shoreline. The closest car park (pay & display) is located at Upton Country Park.

Holes Bay Pop-Up event, Sat 12 Dec

Where to find us: Creekmoor Drain (8.30am to 11.30am)

what.three.words – https://w3w.co/tame.bids.clear

Google maps pindrop – https://goo.gl/maps/SaUTNssCP1Kd335f6

We hope you are able to join us on Sunday, and keep a lookout on our social media and website for announcements of future locations and dates!

Summer-plumaged divers are among the smartest visitors to our waters and are readily identifiable. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the understated non-breeding plumages these birds adopt during the winter months. The dapper summer throat patches are exchanged for a rather less distinctive appearance. That said, swimming birds can usually be identified confidently with careful study of bill structure, colour and head, neck and flank details.

Over recent months, passage migrants and returning winter species of various shapes and sizes have been arriving back for the season. As well as worrying about the prospect of separating the divers, a supporting cast of cormorants, auks, grebes and ducks can add to the confusion.

Divers have a very distinctive ‘humpbacked’ flight profile, with long, narrow wings, large protruding feet that trail and powerful, direct flight action. Birds are typically observed singly but sometimes in loosely scattered, small parties and often fly well above the horizon. All have plain wings, which instantly separates them from grebes. Separating diver species in flight can be difficult, and distant or doubtful individuals should be identified with great caution. Grebes can be ruled out quickly as the weaker fliers typically travel low over the water, with trailing feet, with fast wing beats.

Great Northern Diver in flight silhouette © Ian Ballam

Divers usually sit low in the water (like cormorants, unlike ducks), but float higher when resting or preening, appearing long-bodied, long-necked and ‘tailless’. A very easy behavioural distinction from Cormorant and Shag is that divers do not leap out of the water to dive underwater. Instead, they gently bow their head forward and submerge with a smooth elegance, often remaining submerged for over a minute, moving surprisingly long distances underwater. Diving may follow a period of underwater surveillance (or ‘snorkelling’) with the bill and head partly submerged in the water.

Record shot of all three diver species at Studland, December 15 2014.

Of the three species that regularly occur in the UK, two are scarce breeders in Scotland (Red-throated & Black-throated), becoming widespread during the winter and the other (Great Northern) a regular winter visitor. Red-throated Diver are best searched for out in Poole Bay and Studland Bay where numbers are generally between 1-4 birds during the winter. Higher counts can occur during periods of bad weather as they move around to find more sheltered areas. In the winter, best places to look are out in Poole Bay, Shell Bay and Studland Bay with occasional inner harbour records at places like Brands Bay and even Holes Bay and Lytchett Bay. Passage birds move through Poole Bay in an easterly direction in the spring and westerly in Autumn and on days of strong passage up to 20 birds can be logged. George Green in Birds of Dorset does mention mid winter movements and highly mobile winter birds. The record maximum is 34 in Poole Bay on Christmas Day 1988, with the previous record being twelve counted flying in to the harbour, again on Christmas day 1984.

Red-throated Diver in winter plumage

Red-throated Diver Identification. Photo © Ian Ballam

Great Northern Diver are most common of the three regular diver species found inside and outside of the harbour. Outside they can be seen out in Poole Bay, whilst inside the harbour they prefer the deep channels around Brownsea, Brands Bay and the harbour mouth. Birds can also be encountered off the beaches at Shipstal, Hamworthy, Baiter and Shore Road on cold, still winter mornings, and have even turned up on Poole Park boating lake in recent years! Numbers tend to peak after sustained periods of bad weather, forcing birds to enter the harbour in search of shelter. The wet and windy winters of 2013/14 and 2019/20 saw harbour records broken each time with a high count of 16 around the harbour on February 12th 2017 and 19 logged during the Big Poole Harbour Bird Count back in January 19th 2020.

Passage occurs out in Poole Bay in autumn and spring and some full summer plumaged birds have even been logged sat out on the water in Poole Bay during May and early June. The autumn was a great year for passage birds, with up to 6 Great Northern Divers frequently recorded in October and November, of which 2 were in stonking summer plumage! First-winter birds closely resemble non-breeding adult plumage, but are separable at close range by detailed head pattern and pale fringing on upperparts forming a neat scalloped pattern.

Great Northern Diver Identification. Photo (left) © Clare Slade

Black-throated Diver are the least common of the three ‘regulars’, they can arrive and spend time in the bays outside the harbour mouth during the winter. They are scarcely recorded inside the harbour, when present the north channel off Evening Hill and Salterns Marina seems most favourable. In winter, birds can be also be found fishing off Sandbanks just outside the harbour mouth and into Studland Bay, with a maximum of 8 in Poole Bay 7^th January 1989, however most records are logged from winter seawatches from Branksome Chine. Unseasonal historical  records include individuals on 31st July 1978 and 13th June 1984. One also summered in Poole Bay in 2000 and was present from June to September seen mainly off Branksome Chine. One on Hatch Pond 21-23 January 1995 was a noteworthy inland record.

Black-throated Diver Identification