Although still windy (and cold), today was actually pretty eventful for mid-March. Our Spring Safari Cruise this AM saw plenty of action including the White-tailed Eagle pair G463 and G466 soaring and interacting with one another over RSPB Arne, directly opposite the new Ham Common viewpoint at Rockley. If anyone had been stood on there, they would have had a great view! Amazingly we also had a Great Northern Diver just off the Brownsea shore, which is a species thats been nearly totally absent for the last month. There was also a distant Black-necked Grebe of Jerry’s Point and c80 Red-breasted Merganser spread across the harbour. With Brownsea now open again for the season, it was great to see the lagoon still so busy with 3 Spoonbill, c250 Avocet, c80 Bar-tailed Godwit, c300 Black-tailed Godwit, c100 Dunlin, c15 Grey Plover, c100 Oystercatcher, 2 Pintail and smaller numbers of Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler. At Swineham an adult male Merlin dashed across the gravel pit, with another (or the same) snatching a Sand Martin at dusk this evening. Until the Merlin attack, there had actually briefly been 6 Sand Martin at Swineham this evening, accompanied by 1 Barn Owl and 3 Marsh Harrier off the point and 2 Spoonbill were on the Swineham scrapes. At the PCW drain c10 Chiffchaff were enjoying the sun this morning and 3 were in full song and around mid-morning and there was a Spotted Redshank at Lytchett Fields. There were also 4 summer plumaged Sandwich Tern dotted around (2 Shipstal, 2 Brownsea). The Poole Peregrines were seen mating and dropping down onto the nesting ledge, suggesting they could be laying eggs any day now. And finally, although not Poole Harbour, the first Osprey of the season was seen landing on a nest up at Rutland Water, in Leicestershire which heralds the start of what will hopefully be another exciting year. We don’t anticipate our Poole Harbour pair to arrive back until very early April, but the first migrant Osprey could start passing through any day now, although in recent years the first observation seems to be anytime from March 20th onwards.

Of note, with so many people enjoying Lytchett Bay, Lytchett Fields and the new Rock Lea Viewpoint, you may be interested to read the recently completed and excellent Lytchett Bay 2022 Bird and Nature report.

Great Northern Diver – Brownsea shoreline – Alison Copland

Spoonbills – Swineham scrapes this evening

Last nights and todays wind didn’t seem to deliver anything too unusual to the harbour area, certainly not 7 Alpine Swift feeding above Poole Town. Now that would be something. The best that could be mustered once the wind had died down a bit was 4 Sand Martin over Swineham GP this evening. Also a White-tailed Eagle flew low over Lytchett Fields heading towards the Wareham Channel. around 5pm. This afternoon 2 Spotted Redshank were in Middlebere and Chiffchaff were singing at Hatch Pond (2), PCW Drain (2) and Norden Sewage Works (3).

Baiter Starling 

Surprisingly clear conditions this morning made for an enjoyable Spring Safari Cruise: Brownsea Lagoon was busy with 120+ Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 60 Avocet, 3 Grey Plover, 70 Dunlin, 8 Curlew, 10 Redshank, and 1 Greenshank. The recent spring tides and much awaited rain have resulted in considerable flooding at Swineham, where there were 10 Shoveler, 22 Shelduck, 23 Gadwall, 64 Teal, 12 Curlew, 5 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Lapwing, plus 5 Tufted Duck on the gravel pit. Despite the strong winds, 2 Sand Martin (perhaps some of yesterday’s arrivals) were on the wing, along with 1 Peregrine, 2 Kestrel, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 White-tailed Eagle and several pairs of displaying Buzzard.

Elsewhere a single Black-necked Grebe was seen off Bramble Bush Bay. In Lytchett Bay highlights were 318 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Spotted Redshank. And at Arne 10 Spoonbill were at present at Shipstal once again.

Great Crested Grebe – @twamers on Twitter

Despite the wind and rain, spring punched through with the first 5 Sand Martin of the year, flying low over Swineham GP desperately trying to feed. There may have also been a minor Chiffchaff arrival too, with low numbers along the river edges in scrub. White-tailed Eagles G466 and G463 were in the Wareham Channel pretty much all day, and the 2 Cattle Egret were still in the field on the outskirts of Wareham, at Worgret.

Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin – Wareham Channel

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