The big day is nearly upon us! With that, sightings remained somewhat limited today, no doubt due to last minute Christmas shopping issues playing a role. Saying that, the 3 Tundra Bean Geese were still present and enjoyed by several visitors, with the birds actually being closer than they’ve been before. Off Redhorn/Brands Bay area there were 2 Great Northern Diver, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Scaup and 1 Great White Egret. From Middlebere there were 3 Spotted Redshank, a ringtail Hen Harrier and a Merlin were active, a Great White Egret passed by and there were 14 Bullfinch along the track. At Holme Lane GP there were 7 Pochard and at Holes Bay there was a Bearded Tit in the reeds near Cobbs Quay.

Tundra Bean Goose – Up ton CP – Mark Wright

A bit of a drizzly day, with not many sightings to report… The 3 Tundra Bean Geese are still present north of Holes Bay, in a field viewable from Upton Country Park (viewing instructions in previous day’s sightings). Please remember to only view from the gate at the end of the UCP path and do not enter the field! Amongst the usual numbers of Avocet, Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Spoonbill were present in the Middlebere Channel today, as well as 1 Spotted Redshank.

Reminder that we are planning our Big Poole Harbour Bird Count on Sunday 16th January. We want as many people as possible to get involved with the count, and hope you are able to join us. Find more information and download the count sheet here.

A very rare record for Lytchett Bay this morning, with a Guillemot seen just off the outflow. Unfortunately, the individual doesn’t look in a healthy condition, so hopefully it will find its way back out of the bay. It’s been an unusual year so far for Guillemot and Razorbill, with individuals appearing around the harbour much more frequently than in previous years, some in poor condition, perhaps been blown down from the north…?

Numbers of Middlebere this morning had a count of 625 Avocet, 225 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Spotted Redshank , 130 Lapwing, 1 Great White Egret and 1 female Merlin. The 3 Tundra Bean Geese are still viewable from Upton Country Park. Please make sure to only view as far as the gate highlighted in red on yesterday’s map, and do not enter 13 Acre Field to get closer to the geese. More interesting goose activity today, with 11 grey geese flying over Poole Park this morning, presumed to be White-fronted Geese from their calls. 7 Pochard were seen at Holme Lane Gravel Pit this afternoon. Finally, a count on Brownsea lagoon this morning produced over 400 Dunlin, 75 Brent Geese, 4 Greylag Geese and 2 Pintail.

Guillemot – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Tundra Bean Geese at Sunrise – Upton Country Park

As expected, the 3 geese that showed up yesterday have been confirmed as Tundra Bean Geese. They have been present again today feeding in the same field – 13 Acre Field –  viewable from Upton Country Park by parking and walking along the path shown in the map below (provided by Nick Hull). A great find and a fantastic record for the area… At Studland today, Shell Bay held 23 Grey Plover, 33 Dunlin and 2 Sanderling, with a nice range from Jerry’s Point, including 2 Great Northern Diver, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 4 Common Scoter and 1 Razorbill. A count at Middlebere recorded c.550 Avocet, c.250 Black-tailed Godwit, and 1 Great White Egret, as well as the usual Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Curlew, Redshank and Dunlin.

Tundra Bean Goose – 13 Acre Field – Mark Wright (@markwright12002)

Blue point marks location of geese, with viewing from the closest red point at Upton Country Park

2 drake Pochard were reported flying into Lytchett Bay this morning, which aren’t common for the bay, with only around 1 annual appearance. 1 Merlin was present at Middlebere, along with 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 ringtail Hen Harrier, as well as high numbers of Avocet reported in the channel. Most interestingly today is a group of 3 geese which have shown up just off the A350 in a field near Upton Country Park, NNW of Pergins Island in Holes Bay. Feeding amongst the Canada Geese and Black-tailed Godwit, pictures and description suggest them as very likely Tundra Bean Geese; a great record for Holes Bay and the harbour in general, the last record of Bean Goose being in December 2014 at Swineham and Arne Moors. Further sightings should hopefully give confirmation of identification.

Likely Tundra Bean Goose – Tom Beer & Phil Collingham – Holes Bay

Merlin – Middlebere – Clive Templeton

The murky start to today was brightened by views of the first Black-throated Diver of the season, which flew out through the harbour entrance past South Haven at Studland and continued South past Pilots Point this morning. All three of our usual visiting Diver species have now been recorded in the harbour this winter, of which Great Northern Diver is typically the most locally abundant, with four recorded in Studland Bay today. That said numbers, still appear low for this time of year compared with recent years. Also present were Razorbill, Guillemot, 14 Common Scoter, 5 Great Crested Grebe, and 8 Black-necked Grebe. Along the beach were also 13 Sanderling and at least 136 Dark-bellied Brent Geese. Elsewhere, both adult Peregines were present in Holes Bay and the adult male Hen Harrier was seen again in the West of the harbour.

Peregrine falcons – Holes Bay – Tanya Hart

Plenty around the last couple of days but best of all was news that a different White-tailed Eagle from the Isle of Wight project paid a visit to the harbour, albeit only briefly. This time, a female, known as G814 spent a bit of time in Brands Bay on Saturday afternoon before heading off west. It seemed to have passed over Christchurch Harbour earlier in the afternoon. There were Great Northern Divers in Studland Bay (2), Shell Bay (1), Jerry’s Point (2) and Shipstal Beach (1). There are 7 Scaup now off Jerry’s Point including a new 1st winter individual. The Slavonian Grebe was still off Jerry’s Point along with 6 Goldeneye and 2 Black-necked Grebe. The 19 Common Scoter were off Middle Beach again and the Velvet Scoter was seen and the Red-necked Grebe was in Bramble Bush Bay. On Shipstal only 22 Spoonbill were counted and a Water Pipit was again at Lytchett Fields. Up to two Merlin were bombing around the Middlebere area and a ringtail Hen Harrier seen over Swineham. In Holes Bay, the Common Sandpiper was near the outflow and there were 5 Common Chiffchaff in the PCW Drain.

Common Sandpiper – Holes Bay outflow – Mark Wright (@markwright12002)

)

Sightings from Studland continue to be good, with the Red-necked Grebe still present between Jerry’s Point and Brownsea today, as well as 2 Great Northern Diver, 7 Scaup, 2 Common Scoter and 1 Black-necked Grebe seen from Redhorn. However, there have been no reports of the Slavonian Grebe seen for the last few days from Jerry’s Point today. 1 ringtail Hen Harrier was reported over Coombe Heath this morning. Sightings notable from Lytchett Fields today include 1 Mediterranean Gull which has been present for the last 4 days, as well as the colour-ringed Greenshank RN-GB.

Mediterranean Gull (left) & Black-headed Gulls – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

The Red-necked Grebe is still in the harbour today, visible in Bramble Bush Bay at Studland.  The Slavonian Grebe was reported again of Jerry’s Point, along with 3 Great Northern Diver.  Also from Studland, 1 Great Northern Diver was seen in Shell Bay, as well as 5 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Red-throated Diver, 20 Common Scoter and 1 Velvet Scoter seen from Middle Beach. In Brands Bay, a count produced 320 Wigeon, 180 Pintail, 34 Grey Plover, 2 Knot, 1 Greenshank and 7 Scaup. 1 Great Northern Diver has been reported in Parkstone Bay, one of only a couple of reports in the north of the harbour so far this winter. A further 3 Great Northern Diver were seen off Brownsea today, potentially the same birds seen from Jerry’s Point, but finally it feels like numbers are building inside the harbour… Finally, 1 Siberian Chiffchaff was visible today by the boardwalk bridge at Lytchett Bay View.

We’ve also just announced our Big Poole Harbour Bird Count planned for Sunday 16th January 2022. Restrictions allowing, it would be great to have as many people out as possible birding the harbour on the 16th, aiming to give a snapshot of the numbers of species in the area during the winter. You can find more information here.

Great Northern Diver – Hamish Murray – from Brownsea Island

Pretty wet and dank the last couple of days but this following week is due to be quite settled so hopefully some decent birding opportunities coming up just before Christmas. Various highlights from the last few days include a redhead Goosander on Swineham GP, ringtail Hen Harriers were logged at Middlebere and Swineham, the Velvet Scoter was still in Studland Bay with 6 Common Scoter and the 6 Scaup were still out in Brands Bay. The Red-necked Grebe was still off Jerry’s Point, although distant. There were up to 5 Great Northern Diver dotted around with individuals in Studland Bay, Shell Bay and off Jerry’s Point. Great White Egrets were seen in Middlebere and at Lytchett Bay. There was a Spotted Redshank on Brownsea and another 2 in Middlebere. Off Jerry’s Point there was a single Slavonian Grebe and 2 Great Northern Diver.

1st winter Dutch-ringed Spoonbill ‘NBNZ’ – Middlebere – Pennhillman