Another great day across the harbour, even with the biting NE wind. Our Winter Safari was top draw once again with 5 Eider off Hamworthy Beach, 10 Great Northern Diver spread across the harbour, 1 Red-throated Diver off the Brownsea south shore. In the Wareham Channel White-tailed Eagle G466 flew across, flushing 17 Spoonbill. At the top end of the channel near Swineham 6 Marsh Harrier were constantly moving around and a Golden Plover flew over. On Swineham GP there were decent numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall and Tufted Duck. We also had great views of 2 Bearded Tit feeding on reed heads right off the side of the boat at Swineham. The Brownsea Lagoon was partly frozen but still held c50 Bar-tailed Godwit, c15 Ringed Plover, 2 Greenshank and a handful of Avocet with another c250 Avocet roosting in the Wareham Channel. In central harbour there were 11 distant Goldeneye and 2 Black-necked Grebe. Elsewhere a Short-eared Owl was at Arne this afternoon, a Cattle Egret was on Wareham Common with another at Lytchett Fields. Lytchett Fields also saw Woodcock and Jack Snipe feeding out in the open and 56 Snipe were put up by a Marsh Harrier. At the Haven Hotel a Purple Sandpiper was on the ledge in front of the car park and there also seemed to be some sort of cold weather movement with c100 Lapwing flying super high, SW over Poole Quay. In the PC Drain there were 7 Common Chiffchaff, 2 Kingfisher and 2 Bullfinch.

Eider – Hamworthy Beach – Ian Ballam

Purple Sandpiper – Haven Hotel – Ian Ballam

Still cold, but warming slightly! Plenty around today, but much of the same although an increase to 7 Eider was noteworthy with 6 off the Brownsea north shore and an adult male near the harbour mouth. A Red-throated Diver was off the Brownsea south shore and up to 5 Great Northern Diver were across the open areas off the harbour. There were still 2 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel area and 5+ Marsh Harrier. In Holes Bay there were some good totals of 1200+ Wigeon, 500+ Teal, 100+ Shoveler, 70+Pintail, 300+ Black-tailed Godwit, 400+ Dunlin, 150+ Avocet, 150+ Redshank, 30+ Curlew and 4 Tufted Duck. In the PCW Drain 6+ Common Chiffchaff were somehow feeding and there was a Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher in the channel too. On Wareham Common there was a Great White Egret and a single Cattle Egret again and off Jerry’s Point 2 Black-necked Grebe. In Middlebere there were 17 Spoonbill and 2 ringtail Hen Harrier were seen flying down the channel.

Cattle Egret – Hiding on Wareham Common – Clive Hargrave

With the cold weather continuing into today and still some settled snow around some areas of the harbour it was likely there was going to be some element of cold weather movement, and that was evident with 20 Golden Plover on Baiter Park at dawn, plus another at Middlebere. Sadly the Baiter birds didn’t stay long as the area soon became quite busy. Disappointingly though, other than the Golden Plover, there were no other signs of other wader, sea duck, or even thrush movement in response to the cold. In fact, the cold, still air seemed ‘birdless’ in many areas. The ‘old faithful’ pulled through though and there was still a decent range of birds to be had with 1 Great White Egret still on Wareham Common and another at Swineham with 5 Cattle Egret also on Wareham Common. Off Swineham Point 2 White-tailed Eagle were chasing each other around briefly in the gloom and up to 6 Marsh Harrier were transiting back and fourth around the mouth of the Frome. Off Jerry’s Point there was only 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver and 1 Common Scoter and in Studland Bay 6 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 11 Common Scoter. Out in Central Harbour 2 other Red-throated Diver were seen from our School Bird Boat this morning and a flock of c300 Cormorant were feeding/hunting in the mouth of the Wareham Channel off Hamworthy Beach. Merlin were seen hunting over Wareham Common and Hartland stud where 98 Fieldfare were feeding. At the Shipstal end of Middlebere 2 Hen Harrier were seen from the Middlebere ‘lookout’ and 5 Spoonbill were at the top end of the channel.

Golden Plover – Baiter Park – Martin Adams

When the weather outside is frightful…..go birding! At least locally, so you can see if the cold weather has produced any local cold weather movements. There was an element of some ‘arrivals’ when the snow hit this morning with 4 Golden Plover out on Wareham Common next to the bypass, as well as 2 ‘new in’ Cattle Egret which have been quite scarce this winter period. It seemed Common Snipe and small numbers of Lapwing had moved with numbers evident out in the open feeding. Also out on Wareham Common was the Great White Egret, 130 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Jack Snipe. In Middlebere 2 ringtail Hen Harrier were seen (adult female and 1st winter male) along with 1 Merlin, 1 Spotted Redshank, 37 Grey Plover, and c200 Avocet. In the Wareham Channel 2 White-tailed Eagle were seen briefly and in Holes Bay 6 Spoonbill and 1 Common Sandpiper. In Lytchett Bay 4 Marsh Harrier and 1 Great White Egret flew past Rock Lea View and on the fields were 1 Spotted Redshank and 37 Common Snipe. There was a Great Northern Diver off Hamworthy Beach and 3 Black-necked Grebe in Studland Bay.

Egret snow fall! Cattle, Great White and Little Egret drifting in the snow on Wareham Common – Peter Moore

Beautifully still, clear skies and frost-cover ground made for promising birding conditions if you were prepared to brave the sub-zero temperatures (some areas around the harbour reached a biting -8°C just before dawn!). The cold start saw 21 Marsh Harriers leave the Poole Harbour roosts this morning, joined by a fly by ringtail Hen Harrier shortly before a Red Kite drifted towards Brownsea from Studland and the new Rock Lea Viewpoint enjoyed action from 3 Marsh Harriers, Merlin and Sparrowhawk. The Wareham Common Great White Egret was present again, in search of suitable feeding grounds beyond the frozen floods. The Black Brant was photographed among the dark-bellied Brent Goose flock in the Middlebere Channel and plummeting temperatures during a Studland visit at sunset produced singles of Great Northern Diver, 5 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Slavonian Grebe, as well as a minimum count of 9 Black-necked Grebe and 4 Ring-necked Parakeets all from Middle Beach. Moving to Jerry’s Point at dusk offered a further 2 Great Northern Diver, a Red-throated Diver, 28 Great Crested Grebe and a decent variety of  waders at the Houseboats logging 20+ Sanderling, 20+ Turnstone, 32 Ringed Plover with 4 Grey Plover.

Great White Egret – Peter Moore – Wareham Common

Kate Plater – Black Brant (centre) among dark-bellied Brent Goose flock – Middlebere Channel

Another beautifully stunning winter day, with a sprinkling of frost covering almost all parts of the harbour at dawn. Yesterday the 3 Eider were out in central harbour again with the adult male still present. There were 2 ringtail Hen Harrier logged at an undisclosed site yesterday evening and a Goshawk was seen in Middlebere this afternoon. At Swineham 4 Great White Egret were roosting on the edge of the gravel pit and there was a definite arrival of Tufted Duck with 136 present. Also around Swineham a Goshawk (possibly the Middlebere bird) and 8 Marsh Harrier were hunting/active in the area on the Barclays Building 2 Peregrine were roosting together. Off Jerry’s Point 1 Great Northern Diver and 2 Red-throated Diver were feeding and in Shell Bay 4 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 2 Common Scoter were out in the bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon, we were playing around with the webcam at lunchtime, testing it’s capabilities on a close Avocet when a colour-ringed individual walked on by. We managed to find the scheme and it’s a Dutch ringed individual from the Wadden Sea area, although exact details are yet to be received.

Dutch Colour-ringed Avocet and un-ringed Avocet – Video grab from Brownsea Webcam

Temperatures now plummeting over night resulting in the Wareham Common floods to freeze over, leaving the 93 strong Black-tailed Godwit flock attempting of forage around the ice. A Shoveler and Great White Egret north of the railway also of note across the common. The cold snap also saw the arrival of a drake Goldeneye to Poole Park Lake yesterday morning and a Brambling over the Lower Piddle Valley this morning. A White-tailed Eagle was clocked heading north over Parkstone Cemetery early morning pursued by gulls. Both Poole Town Peregrine occupied the Barclays building again late morning.

We’ve just ‘doubled up’ on our Year-list Kick-starter Cruise on Saturday 14th January by adding a second (afternoon) trip! So there’s now a 3-hr cruise setting off from Poole Quay at 9am and 1pm to help get those 2023 year-list off to a flying start.

Can’t make that date? Don’t worry, we’ve also got kick-starter trips running on 7th and 13th January as well as a whole host of Winter Safari and Low Tide Cruises lined up! The harbour is really on form with a dazzling array of species being logged from every trip. Divers are having an excellent season with double figures of overwintering Great Northern Diver, record-breaking Marsh Harrier action, regular appearances from White-tailed Eagle and frequent sightings of Poole Harbour scarcities, notably Eider, Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter and Razorbill. Desperate to get out birding the harbour sooner?! No worries, we’ve still got spaces available on Winter Safari Cruises exploring the harbour on 14th and 18th December. Happy days – events details and bookings can be found here.

Goldeneye – Poole Park (yesterday) – Rene Goad