The inclement weather continues, offering little inspiration to venture outside with a pair of binoculars. Those who did endure the rain enjoyed 3 Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Bay, along with 312 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Dunlin, 6 Red-breasted Merganser and an undeterred Peregrine overhead. A summer plumage Sandwich Tern off Baiter this morning offered a nice seasonal change among the 70 Cormorant, 40+ Oystercatcher and 3 Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Nearby, Poole Park featured a flyby Curlew and 21 Greylag Geese, including 8 colour-marked individuals from the local project.

Grey Plover – Brownsea Lagoon (yesterday) – Clare Slade

Another much-needed drizzly day to help make up for the lack of rainfall over the winter, though not many sightings to go with it. 12 Avocet were still present in Holes Bay, along with 50 Pintail, 2 Gadwall and 1 Shoveler. In Lytchett Bay, 2 Avocet were reported along with 2 Little Grebe. 1 Goldeneye was also reported on Holme Lane Gravel Pit, along with 2 Pochard seen there yesterday. At Hatch Pond, nice signs of spring continue with Great Crested Grebe present with young!

Great Crested Grebe – Hatch Pond – Ian Ballam

No snow fall today, just some very wet sleet around lunchtime, although tonight could produce some of the white stuff, with a few flurries into the morning. I think we all know what that really means though……cold rain! Despite the cold today, it was blissfully still and the harbour was like a millpond, especially after lunchtime. In Middlebere 3 Spoonbill were feeding, a Spotted Redshank flew over and a Marsh Harrier passed the hide. At Lytchett Fields 2 Water Pipit were in the approach fields with 5 Green Sandpiper. In Wareham the 2 Cattle Egret were in the in the cattle field again opposite the Worgret Manor Hotel. We’ve also been super busy today with a couple of exciting pieces of work which we’ll hopefully be able to announce later in the week. We still have some tweaking to do, but keep an eye on our sightings page and social media for updates.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese – Middlebere 

The dry spell looks to be coming to an end with plenty of rain (and possibly snow) over the coming days. Somehow we managed to totally avoid any rain this afternoon on our Low Tide Cruise, despite at least one down pour passing just north of us on Poole Quay. And even managed a sunset by the end! Once again, plenty of highlights with a White-tailed Eagle over Goathorn, Brands Bay, 4 Marsh Harrier at the mouth of the Frome, 1 Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, c200 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon, 800+ dark-bellied Brent Geese spread across the southern shores, c400 Black-tailed Godwit, c100 Pintail, c300 Wigeon and c30 Mediterranean Gull. Earlier this morning another White-tailed Eagle was settled on the ground on Bestwall floodplains for around 30 mins, before heading towards the harbour. Elsewhere, Water Pipit ‘1K’ was still at Lytchett Fields, as was a Spotted Redshank and an adult Yellow-legged Gull with 3 Cattle Egret flying past Rock Lea view again.

Sunset on our Low-tide Cruise this afternoon

Spotted Redshank Holes (yesterday) – Peter Moore

Calm and bitterly cold conditions today gave the harbour a rather subdued feeling, with seemingly few birds on the move. The primary exception were the wetland species, with good numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Curlew, Teal, Pintail and Brent Geese all still present and feeding across much of the southern harbour on the afternoon low tide. Brownsea Lagoon also continues to hold good numbers of Avocet, plus a single Spoonbill this morning. In the south west corner of Holes Bay was a Spotted Redshank, along with 2 Water Rail, 1 Snipe and several Black-tailed Godwit. A few other winter visitors were also still to be found, with a small flock of 12 Redwing feeding among the livestock at Sunnyside Farm. That said, signs of early spring are certainly in the air, with at least 2 Red Kite seen circling over the Wareham Channel. Here Marsh Harrier were also active, and further inland at Norden a White-tailed Eagle was spotted soaring overhead.

March normally heralds the start of quieter @WeBS_UK counts, but not today. Still really good numbers of Blackwit, Avocet, Curlew, Teal, Pintail and Brent Geese along southern shores of the harbour. Bonus Red Kite and Marsh Harrier overhead @DorsetBirdClub pic.twitter.com/rFlkLB9oLX

— birdsofpooleharbour (@harbourbirds) March 5, 2023

The cold was certainly creeping back in today, and the number of birds still out on the mud during our Low-tide cruise this afternoon would suggest there’s still plenty of birds that still consider it winter too. Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and dark-bellied Brent Geese all remained at c1000 and there was still decent rafts of Wigeon, Teal and 250+ Pintail along the southern shores. At the top end of the Wareham Channel c200 Lapwing were still hunkered down on the mud and 100+ Red-breasted Merganser and c50 Great Crested Grebe were spread across the open water areas. There were multiple other highlights to compliment the high number of commoner species with a mostly summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe off Jerry’s Point, singles of White-tailed Eagle, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier and Peregrine in the Wareham Channel, a decent spread of summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gull right across the harbour, and best of all…a hunting Barn Owl on Furzey Island!! We also had a Kingfisher on the quay and another on Goathorn. Elsewhere the 2 Cattle Egret were again in the cow field off the Worgret Manor roundabout, a Water Pipit was at Lytchett Fields along with 1 Spotted Redshank. This morning, there was actually 4 different White-tailed Eagle in the harbour/Wareham Channel, with views had from the Ham Common viewpoint and there’s also been a decent Starling murmuration located in Wareham Forest, consisting of several thousand birds. It apparently seems to form behind the Birchwood Touring Park, along the Sugar Hill road with birds starting to arrive around 17:15 and peaking half an hour later. Thanks @PlushieTumRs on Twitter for the heads up about this. You can’t beat a decent murm!

Cattle Egret – Worgret/Wareham – Clive Hargrave

The hopes of an early spring seem to have been dashed with talk of snow next week. Hopefully it will be just a cold blip rather than a prolonged freeze! There were a few odds and sods from today with the 4 Eider still off Pilots Point, Studland this morning. A ringtail Hen Harrier cirled over Middlebere mid-morning and another (or the same) was seen in the Wareham Channel. There were 2 Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach, a Cattle Egret was seen flying over the Wareham bypass bridge heading up the Frome and White-tailed Eagle sightings were seen at Middlebere, the Wareham Channel and high over Ballard. At Norden Sewage Works 10+ Chiffchaff were still active in the scrub around the filter beds as were 2 Firecrest. The Barclays Peregrines were active on the breeding ledge mid-morning, Red Kites were seen over the Piddle Valley, Slepe Heath and Studland and it was great to hear the familiar song of multiple Reed Bunting back on territory along some of the river banks. Finally, there were several Firecrest at RSPB Arne.

Firecrest – RSPB Arne – Clive Hargrave

A glorious spring morning enticed raptors into action across the harbour with Red Kites were observed cruising over the northern and western reaches of the harbour. A very confiding Spotted Redshank continues to show in Holes Bay SW, a nice highlight among the 800+ Black-tailed Godwit, 150+ Redshank, 12 Avocet, Curlew and Oystercatcher feeding in the Bay. Waterfowl numbers continue to wane across the harbour with Holes Bay featuring 494 Teal, 470 Wigeon, 69 Pintail, 5 Shoveler and 56 Shelduck, as well as 2 Kingfishers and a Firecrest in Upton Country Park. Elsewhere, 4 Eider (2 first-winter males and 2 females) were moving around of Pilot’s Point, Studland and 4 Water Pipit occupied Sherford Pools, Lytchett Bay. This evening, a surprise find of a Whooper Swan on Swineham GP was a welcome treat whilst waiting for a departing Bittern, which never materialised.

Red Kite – Longfleet – Rene Goad

Spotted Redshank – Holes Bay – @BayHoles

Spring is officially here! And just like clockwork, the first Little Ringed Plovers have begun arriving back into the UK with records in East Sussex and Hampshire. That said continued north-easterlies are keeping conditions decided cold and wintery at the moment and small flocks of Fieldfare were moving around the river valleys locally. Two Cattle Egret were still present in field by Worgret roundabout and an hour’s watch from Rock Lea View, Lytchett Bay featured Shoveler, Spotted Redshank and Tawny Owl calling. Turning to Lytchett Fields, Water Pipit 1K and Rock Pipit BT were also observed in Approach Field this morning. A visit to the Brands Bay hide produced views of a White-tailed Eagle drifting between Goathorn and Godlingstone Heath.

One of two Adder – Lytchett Bay – Ian Ballam

Thats it! February is done and dusted. Winter has come to an end and spring (kind of) starts tomorrow. No doubt we’ll still be scraping the ice of our cars, but thats not the point! With March comes the first Little Ringed Plovers, Wheatears, Garganey, Swallows, Willow Warblers and of course….Ospreys. The first Ospreys back on territory tend to be the Rutland Water pair with a typical return date of March 15th, which is only a couple of weeks away. As a charity we’re busy prepping for another jam packed season (hopefully) and are looking forward to what the year ahead provides. Will we see CJ7 and 022 return? Will we see more translocated Ospreys come back? will we see more than one successful Osprey nest? Will we see nesting eagles???!! Ten years ago when we started the charity, we never thought we’d be able to pose these questions in our daily sightings blog, but here we are 10 years later being able to realistically expect the answer to be ‘yes’ to each of these questions at some point over the coming years.

Today the excitement didn’t stretch that far, although the White-tailed Eagle pair were active in the south of the harbour with male G463 even paying a visit to the Houseboats this afternoon in Bramble Bush Bay, Studland. Perhaps checking out the properties at Sandbanks? This morning 7 Marsh Harrier came out of the roost and a Red Kite was in Middlebere. The 2 Cattle Egret were again near the Purbeck Sports Centre roundabout, this time on the road verge opposite the Worgret Manor Hotel.

Cattle Egret – Worgret/Wareham roundabout verge – Clive Hargrave