A bit of a break in the wind and rain today made for a great school bird boat this morning, with highlights include 2 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-throated Diver and 1 Common Scoter in the South Deep area, as well as 3 Sandwich Tern. Just off Baiter Park, a further 2 Great Northern Diver were present, in addition to a Razorbill just a few feet off the shore. Another Great Northern Diver was reported in Lytchett Bay this morning, along with the first 2 Red-breasted Merganser of the season in the bay. Over at Lytchett Fields, the highlight was a Great White Egret. On Brownsea Lagoon, 33 Spoonbill were present today, along with the usual high numbers of Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit, as well as Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and a few Brent Geese. Our two new webcams on Brownsea Lagoon are already proving their worth, with great footage of the Spoonbill flock earlier in the day. You can find the webcams here:

Razorbill – Baiter – Martin Adams

Woodcock have definitely arrived back into the harbour in numbers with a good count logged as we surveyed Sunnyside Farm during a busy winter wader ringing demonstration last night – a session which saw 5 Woodcock, 3 Jack Snipe and singles of Common Snipe Meadow Pipit and Redwing ringed. Turning our attention to today, the harbour mouth featured a moulting adult Great Northern Diver, with a Red-throated Diver entering the harbour and a sinensis Cormorant flock several hundred strong feeding offshore. Holes Bay supported 181 Avocet across the northern sectors, double figures of Common Snipe and a Kingfisher while Swineham Point offered views of 7 quartering Marsh Harrier mid-morning. A spot of colour-ring reading at Shore Road picked up a Dutch Black-headed Gull (EFN1), observer awaiting further details from the scheme.

Adult Great Northern Diver – Harbour Entrance – OTBT Birder

Winter Wader Ringing Demo – Jack Snipe, Woodcock and Common Snipe (left to right)

A bustling Brownsea Lagoon – Nicki Tutton
Check out our Brownsea Lagoon Livecams here

It’s been a bit of windy day, and the sunshine this morning has quickly descended into a rainy afternoon. We managed to make the most of the sunshine on the safari boat this morning, which turned out to be a rewarding trip. The Brownsea Lagoon was busy, with 300+ Dunlin, 20 Ringed Plover, 300+ Avocet, 250+ Black-tailed Godwit, 35 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Greenshank, 6 Spoonbill and 12 Curlew. As we made our way around the south shore of Brownsea Island, we were treated to great views of a juvenile Red-throated Diver, with a second Red-throated Diver and a single Great Northern Diver also briefly seen in that area. At the top-end of the Wareham Channel, 4+ Marsh Harrier were seen, as well as a burst of excitement with 1 White Tailed Eagle over Hyde’s Heath. On Arne Moors, c.200 Lapwing were making the most of the standing water, with 2 Green Sandpiper on the Swineham fields with a whole host of species feeding on the floodplain including Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew and c30 Starling.

A count of Holes Bay this morning included 150+ Cormorants, 100+ Avocet, 42 Oystercatcher and 1 Common Sandpiper. At Lytchett Bay, 3 Marsh Harrier and a late Swallow were seen this afternoon, as well as the juv. Curlew Sandpiper still present at Lytchett Fields. Highlights from Middlebere today included 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, c.120 Avocet, c.50 Dunlin and an adult Yellow-Legged Gull. On Shipstal Point there were 34 Spoonbill and 2 Marsh Harrier were in Lytchett Bay. Finally, it seemed three different Marsh Harrier roosts came togther this AM as a max of 27 were logged around the Wareham Channel at dawn!

Lytchett Bay – Luke Westacott

Not surprising that most birding was rained off today, however, amazingly, data from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation showed that there were 3 White-tailed Eagles back in the harbour again, the 3-year old G466 and two 2-year olds G801 and G486. They really seem to like decent weather and with these two sunny days we’ve had over the weekend, they obviously fancied a move about and come back to whats fast becoming one of their favourite areas on the south coast! A sea watch from Branksome Chine produced 4 adult Little Gull and 1 Black-throated Diver. For many years a Magpie roost has gathered at Hatch Pond during the winter and this evening Ian Ballam logged 184. At Baiter the first adult male Goldeneye of the winter was just off shore and there was an adult male Red-breasted Merganser on the main Poole Park lake. Other bits and bobs included a Black-necked Grebe in the harbour mouth, 7 Spoonbill on Brownsea and 5 at Shipstal Point, Arne. A Black Redstart has been on the roof of the Middlebere Barn over the last couple of days.

Finally, we started our Winter Safari series of boat trips a few weeks ago and they have started off with a bang, with a whole range of great birds seen during the trips including White-tailed Eagles, multiple Marsh Harrier, Eider ducks, Great Northern and Red-throated Divers, Spoonbills, masses of Avocets, godwits and Brent Geese, plus a whole load more. We’re hosting roughly 2 trips per week between now and the end of February, so if you want a chance to see and learn about the riches of the harbour, why not book on and join us. Our next trip is this coming Wednesday, November 23rd at 9am. We’re averaging between 50-60 species per trip so there’s a great chance to see and learn something new. To book, click HERE – https://www.birdsofpooleharbourbookings.co.uk/event/winter-safari

Grey Plover – Studland – Mark Wright

Ringed Plover – Studland – Mark Wright

Finally, some cold, crisp winter evenings have descended upon us. There’s nothing better than a fading orange glow on a winter horizon as corvids call whilst they enter roosts and Tawny Owls begin courtship battles in the twilight. The last couple of evenings have seen lovely November sunsets, although slightly ruined by having to turn the heating on when we’ve got home! That said, this morning also saw a perfect sunrise, and another decent haul of 22 Marsh Harrier out of the west harbour roost. Then chaos pursued as one of the White-tailed Eagles thats currently present decided to pay a visit to Swineham where c300 geese have recently been residing. It was no surprise that once it had arrived over Swineham, all the geese took to the air and scarpered. By later in the day, Marsh Harrier had dispersed to Lytchett Bay, Brands Bay, Holmebridge and Middlebere. Holes Bay Wigeon totals were still growing with 1263 present today with 98 Shoveler and 27 Pintail. The Creekmoor Ponds Wood Duck continues to be popular with more visitors today, and with this mornings still conditions several pulses of Wood Pigeon were on the move but only smaller flocks of 400-500 over the harbour. Worryingly there was only a single Black-necked Grebe off Middle Beach this evening, when there should be double figures by now. Spoonbill were spread between Arne (16) and Brownsea (17) today.

Finally, we know that webcams were a big focus and source of hope during lockdown, especially our Brownsea Lagoon webcams. So when our system broke down about a year ago, we were keen to get a new system up and running that would bring that focus back. Finally, after a few teething issues, we’ve now got a completely new system, with new cameras operating meaning you can now view the Brownsea Lagoon 365 days a year again. Today Spoonbill were the stars, as were hundreds of Avocet. The links to the webcams can be found on the webcams page of our website or by following the links below.

Screen grabs of Spoonbill and Avocet on the new Brownsea Webcams this morning

Not too much coverage from across the harbour today but a hint of a Starling murmuration over Poole Park this evening, consisting of 750+ Starling brought back the fond memories of the 2017 Studland flock of several thousand. Who knows, if it gets colder this ‘Poole flock’ could grow, so well worth keeping an eye out. There were 2 different White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham channel area this afternoon, and this morning 5 Marsh Harrier were failing to see off one of the eagles as it cruised out over the channel just after dawn. Off Jerry’s Point there were 2 Great Northern Diver, 7 Red-breasted Merganser, 7 Great Crested Grebe and a Red-throated Diver. The juv Eider was visible off Shipstal Point, Arne and c30 Spoonbill were on Shipstal Point. It seems there’s still not masses of Woodcock back yet with only limited numbers seen coming out of roost sites at dusk at various known spots. There was a single Spotted Redshank in Holes Bay, 3 Sandwich Tern in Parkstone Bay and 66 Brent Geese on Baiter Park. A Marsh Harrier in Holes Bay NW was unusual.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese – Baiter Park

When the weather forecast looks a bit iffy ahead of a bird boat, doubts always start to creep in about whether it will be worth venturing out into the harbour. It’s very rare, however, that it doesn’t prove to be fruitful, and this morning turned out to be another excellent trip. Despite a heavy downpour at the start of the trip, when the rain started to clear we were treated to a Peregrine flyby, featuring a stunning double rainbow backdrop. At the end of the Wareham Channel, at least 5 Marsh Harrier were present, giving continued views as we made our way up the River Frome. With standing water across Arne Moors, it was teeming with activity including 100+ Lapwing, amongst Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Greylag Geese and Canada Geese. On the opposite side of the river, 1 Green Sandpiper was seen in the flooded fields.

As we made our way through the central harbour area, 2 Red-throated Diver were visible near Shipstal. One of the highlights of the trip were 2 Eider in the central harbour, one juvenile and one adult male. During the course of the cruise, we saw 7 Great Northern Diver (including 2 adults), with at least 4 logged in Blood Alley, 2 in the central harbour and 1 on the North Brownsea Shoreline. Numbers of Red-breasted Merganser seem to have picked up, with 50-60 logged around the harbour. On the Brownsea Lagoon, 250+ Avocet, 30 Wigeon, 5+ Grey Plover, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, c.50 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Redshank and 1 Greenshank were counted. Just after everyone had left the boat on Poole Quay, we also had a final surprise of a flyover Great White Egret.

Elsewhere in the harbour, 1 Merlin was seen at Lytchett Fields, along with the juvenile Curlew Sandpiper still present. 1 White-tailed Eagle was photographed over Arne carpark, with the plumage suggesting that it is 3 year old G318. At Poole Park, the flock of c.150 Cormorant were present again, with 2 Sandwich Tern and 2 Redshank.

White-tailed Eagle – RSPB Arne – Martine Fenn