An official account of all species that have been recorded and reported by birdwatchers and naturalists in the Poole Harbour area since records began.

The data for this list has been extracted from various sources, but George Greens 'The Birds of Dorset', Mansel-Pleydell's Birds of Dorsetshire, Naylor’s reference manual of rare birds and the back catalogue of Dorset bird reports have provided most information. Data is currently still being researched and records will be updated accordingly.

You can view this information in two different ways. Our alphabetical list provides information on the status of each species within the harbour, finder dates and names, photos and favoured locations. By clicking on the Systematic List button you will be presented the full Poole Harbour systematic list which includes status of species, pending records and historical accounts.

To date, 333 species have occurred and have been accepted within the Birds of Poole Harbour boundaries. A further 11 distinct subspecies have also been seen. In addition, we have two species/subspecies which have been recorded, but are awaiting acceptance by the appropriate records panel.

There are a handful of historical records, for which there is currently insufficient information to allow their inclusion onto the Poole Harbour list, but are believed to be genuine records. They are listed at the end of the list.

Finally, there are a number of feral or escaped species that have been recorded within the Birds of Poole Harbour boundaries. They are included for completeness, but are not included on the Poole Harbour list.

We would be interested in hearing details of any species that do not appeared on this list.

The Birds of Poole Harbour systematic list is a PDF which you can view by clicking on the button below. It was last updated on December 2019.

Full Poole Harbour Systematic List
 

Filter our birds:

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

Sabine’s Gull

Latin Name

Xema sabini

Status

Vagrant

Site And Records Information

Rare but almost annual visitor to Dorset. It’s a rare vagrant to the harbour usually associated with very strong southerly gales in autumn. Most records consist of juvenile birds in autumn, but out of the 10 Poole Harbour records there is 1 mid-summer record from Brownsea.

Two 19th century records. The first at Wareham in 1867, and the other in October 1891. A 70 year wait ensued before the next.

1 on 18th June 1961 at Brownsea (H Brotherton, A Bull) had been seen at Peverill Point for the 5 previous days.

A Juv on 16th Sep 1969 on Brownsea was “well described”.

2 on 5th Sep 1987 off Fitzworth
1 on 18th Oct 1987 on Little Sea
1 on 17th Oct 1997 at Branksome Chine (M&M Constantine)

A Juv on 7th Oct 2008 at Branksome Chine (G Armstrong, I Prophet)

A Juv on 10th Sep 2011 at Middlebere (N Hopper, SW Smith)


Call 01202 641 003