It was another unusually warm and calm day for this late in October, meaning that plenty of birders were out, so lots of sightings today. News came in early of a Red-eyed Vireo trapped and ringed at Durlston CP this morning, so although outside of the harbour boundary, it’s worth looking for any more North American migrants with this, and others popping up around the country! Although it felt warm, there were signs of winter creeping in for our final Autumn Safari this morning, with numbers of Red-breasted Merganser and Dark-bellied Brent Geese, noticeably increasing around Brands Bay and Central Harbour. The 4 Black-necked Grebes were still in the Wareham Channel along with 1 in South Deep and 1 reported later off Middle Beach. In the Wareham Channel we had 1 late Osprey moving between the channel and Lytchett Bay, along with 1 Great White Egret and 2 Marsh Harrier. The 2 White-tailed Eagles were sat on the gull islands this morning and the male, G463, gave us a great finale for the trip by taking off in hot pursuit of a Carrion Crow for 30 seconds, before settling once more.  Female G466 was later seen in the Wareham Channel catching a small fish.

On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 42 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank, 48 Avocet, 11 Greenshank and 3 Knot. 1 Slavonian Grebe was in central harbour this afternoon. A single Snow Bunting was seen at Middlebere between Sika Copse and the Harrier Hide, although it could not be relocated once flown. Also in the Middlebere Channel were 2 Great White Egret, 1 Osprey, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 3 Spoonbill and 2 Spotted Redshank. In Holes Bay there were impressive number of Black-tailed Godwit building, with 1307, along with 905 Wigeon and 28 Avocet. Finally 1 Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff was trapped and Ringed at the Careys Secret Garden ringing site.

White-tailed Eagle G463 in hot pursuit of a crow from this morning’s Autumn Safari Cruise – Wareham Channel – Harry McBride

Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff – Careys Secret Garden Ringing Station – Matt Scraggs

Red-eyed Vireo – Durlston CP Ringing Site – Winter Stobart

Despite the early light rain, there was plenty of good birding to be had from the off. At Lytchett Bay this morning a Hawfinch flew over Rock Lea View with 3 Chaffinch. This is our 5th or 6th record of the autumn already and it seems there are plenty around in surrounding counties, so is this the beginning of a mini irruption for Hawfinch again like we saw in 2017/18? Or is it just a decent better than normal autumn which will soon fizzle out? Also at Lytchett Bay this morn ing a female Merlin dashed across the bay and a Barnacle Goose arrived in with c500 Canada Geese. Yesterday morning c1200 Jackdaw left the Holes Bay roost and flew in land over Lytchett Bay. It was good to see Brownsea get in on the Yellow-browed Warbler action with one in woodland adjacent to the lagoon. It was also good to hear a Peregrine was active on the lagoon today as they’ve been notable in their absence during October. The Poole Pegs have been on the Asda building all month but there have been very few reports from elsewhere around the harbour. A Great White Egret flew down the Frome Valley and settled at Holmebridge, 54 Spoonbill were on the Brownsea Lagoon, a Spotted Redshank was on Lytchett Fields, 1 Black-necked Grebe was in Studland Bay and a small number of Redwing and Song Thrush were moving/arriving at dawn in the gloom. The Osprey continues to be present and was seen catching a fish this morning in the Wytch Channel.

Avocets – Middlebere – John Thorp

Have we missed the Wood Pigeons? We were amazed to see this morning that Portland had 110,000 Wood Pigeon migrating past/over the Bill yesterday. This is a phenomenon we don’t usually see here over the harbour until at least the first week of November. The other strange thing is that it was overcast and foggy yesterday morning with a light southerly wind. This is the total opposite set of conditions we normally expect Wood Pigeon to move in, with ‘Poole’ birds usually leaving on clear, cold mornings with a hint of north in the wind. There’s every chance the conditions were different at Portland and the birds simply by-passed Poole Harbour due to the cloud cover and early fog? Who knows, but if we too see a big push of Wood Pigeon here in early November then it could potentially be a huge combined autumn passage of Wood Pigeon across south Dorset. The Poole harbour record was in 2010 when c160,000 passed over during the morning of November 7th. There were some new arrivals today with a winter plumaged Red-throated Diver in the Wareham Channel this morning and a Hawfinch passed over Carey Secret Garden just after dawn. An Osprey was in Middlebere with 6 Spotted Redshank in the channel and a Merlin flew through. A Great White Egret was on Wareham water meadows and another was in Middlebere. Early this morning a Golden Plover was sound recorded over Oakdale during a noc-mig session and lots of Redwing and Song Thrush were on the move last night. The 4 Black-necked Grebe were reported out in the Wareham Channel again and male White-tailed Eagle G463 was on the edge of the Wareham Channel for most of the morning. In the PCW Drain Chiffchaff numbers have dropped right down with only c10 present, but also 2 Kingfisher present there. Marsh Harrier numbers have reached 12 recently, birds regularly being seen in Lytchett Bay, Middlebere and at Swineham. Finally, a Jack Snipe was flushed on Middlebere Heath this evening but (as they do) immediately dropped down again 20m away, allowing for a close, slow approach and a game of ‘hunt the Jack Snipe’ to ensue.

Jack Snipe lurking in the cover. Can you find it?

Jack Snipe close up!

It was a classic late October day today, with fog at dawn, soon lifting to reveal a mixture of damp golden greens across the landscape. Our Autumn Safari saw the perfect mix of autumn, winter and even some summer birds moving around the harbour this morning. The summer-vibe consisted of c40 late Swallow moving south out across the Wareham Channel. The harbour was like a glass again and allowed for 4 Black-necked Grebe to be located out in the Wareham Channel with a minimum of 4 different Marsh Harrier also logged and a Great White Egret. The White-tailed Eagle pair were fairly sedentary in the Wareham Channel but soon lifted and moved off north by late morning. The Brownsea Lagoon hosted 56 Spoonbill, c300 Avocet, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, c15 Grey Plover, 4 Greenshank, 5 Sanderling, c50 Dunlin and decent numbers of Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall. The first Water Pipit of the autumn/winter was ringed in Lytchett Bay this morning and amazingly a 5th Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn was ringed at the Carey Secret Garden ringing station. A Black-necked Grebe was in Studland Bay with 44 dark-bellied Brent Geese and yesterday there were 9 Ruff on the floods at Swineham and Bestwall. This evening 2 Mandarin Duck were on Poole Park lake again, an Osprey was eating a fish on a post on Middlebere Heath this afternoon and up to 4 different Merlin are currently present along the southern shores (2m & 2f).

Dark-bellied Brent Geese arriving into the harbour from Autumn Safari this AM – Alison Copland

Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon from Autumn Safari this AM – Alison Copland

Water Pipit ringed at RSPB Lytchett fields this AM – Shaun Robson

Female White-tailed Eagle G466 flying across the Wareham Channel from Autumn Safari this AM – Alison Copland

Yellow-browed Warbler ringed at Carey Secret Garden ringing station – Matthew Scraggs

Today was the calm after the storm, with the harbour like a mill pond pretty much all day. There were 2 Northern Wheatear on the rocks at Baiter, one of which was doing it’s best to try and look rarer having seemingly gone for a swim, and looked dark in colour all over. There was another Northern Wheatear at Greenlands Farm and 1 up on Ballard. The White-tailed Eagle pair were in Lytchett Bay before disappearing off towards Holes Bay. Wigeon numbers are certainly building day by day with what looks like a four figure count now in Holes Bay and c400 in Lytchett Bay. Pintail numbers seem to be building slower than normal but there were 18 in Brands Bay and 42 were in Holes Bay. We still have an Osprey! with an adult (probably Scottish 511) eating a fish in Brands Bay this morning. A Merlin was on Hartland Moor this evening, Marsh Harriers were in Lytchett Bay, Middlebere and Swineham, there were 61 Spoonbill on the Brownsea Lagoon with c400 Avocet and the 2 Spotted Redshank were still at Lytchett Fields.

Kestrel – Hartland Moor – Rob Johnson

What a beautiful October day. Certainly the calm before the storm. Once again there were plenty of good birds around with the Black Redstart on Brownsea Quay again this morning and another in the Millfield area of Poole, just north of Holes Bay. Also in Holes Bay was a high count of 101 Shoveler which were new in. An Osprey was in Middlebere this morning with one being seen over the Brownsea Lagoon, and then one (probably the same) over Middle Beach, Studland going south. Was this our final Osprey of the year departing? The Brownsea Lagoon had 55 Spoonbill, 344 Avocet, 19 Greenshank and 455 sinensis Cormorant. This morning 3 Red-breasted Merganser flew into the harbour, 2 Spotted Redshank were at Lytchett Fields, the Goshawk was sat in a dead tree again viewable from Coombe Heath and a Great White Egret was in Middlebere. A few Swallow were passing over Coombe Heath too and 2 Red Kite passed over there too.

Black Redstart – Brownsea Quay – Nicki Tutton

Osprey and Avocets – RSPB Arne – Mark Wright

There have been plenty of birds migrating over night in the last few nights, mostly Redwing. However there were two great examples of what can sneak over your house during the course of the night whilst your tucked up in bed. One was this early this morning when a Hawfinch was sound recorded over an Oakdale garden at 05:36 this morning. The second was a night migrating Yellow-browed Warbler sound recorded over one of our teams gardens in Lytchett Matravers at 07:37 yesterday morning. The recordings and accompanying sonagrams can be found below. The Hawfinch recording is a perfect series of flight calls which they regularly do whilst migrating at night, with the sonagram providing a visual representation of that call. The Yellow-browed Warbler is harder to hear, but starts at 4.5 seconds into the recording. The sonagram for this call helped clinch the ID and again, is the typical contact call of this species. Both are considered scarce autumn migrants in Dorset and are hard enough to find during the day, so to have them flying over peoples gardens in the dead of night just goes to show that not only should we be looking, but constantly listening too (and never go to bed).

Elsewhere (during daylight hours), the Brownsea Lagoon was still busy on the high tides and held 65 Spoonbill, 401 Avocet, 11 Bar-tailed Godwit, 17 Greenshank and the autumns first Black Redstart was son Brownsea Quay. A Short-eared Owl was in the Wareham Channel this evening, Keysworth side, and female White-tailed Eagle G466 was in Brands Bay this afternoon. A Goshawk was perched up in a tree at Middlebere and an Osprey was also in Middlebere which was apparently Scottish male 511 who is amazingly still around since arriving a few weeks ago. This is the male that was also around last autumn and didn’t leave until October 28th, so he may stick around for another week or so yet. There were singles of  Spotted Redshank in Lytchett Bay and on the Brownsea Lagoon with a minimum of 5 Marsh Harrier in the harbour. A Golden Plover was on Shell Bay Beach, Studland this AM along with 7 Sanderling.

Hawfinch – Call of night time migrant, Oakdale – 18/10/24 @ 05:36 – David Foster

Yellow-browed Warbler – Call of night time migrant, Lytchett Matravers – 17/10/24 @ 03:37 – Paul Morton

Golden Plover – Shell Bay Beach – David Foster