Conditions were perfect for our Winter Safari Cruise this morning, with the flat calm water making it ideal for picking up open water species. There had seemed to be a drop off in the number of Great Northern Diver in the harbour in the last couple of weeks, but this morning provided a good opportunity to log as many as we could. We logged at least 5 or 6 present around the harbour, including 2 were together SW of Brownsea, 1 on the north shore of Brownsea, 1 off Baiter and 2 off Hamworthy. The Velvet Scoter was present near the harbour entrance, 2 Goldeneye south of Furzey Island, and 1 Black-necked Grebe and 5 Eider were in the central harbour. c.120 Red-breasted Merganser and 100 Great Crested Grebe were seen across the harbour. Wader and waterfowl counts around Newton Bay and Ower Bay included 500+ Brent Geese, 180 Pintail, 100 Wigeon, 200 Teal, 200 Oystercatcher, 20 Curlew, 9 Grey Plover, 30 Avocet, 20 Redshank and 400 Dunlin. 12 Spoonbill were also present at Shipstal. With the very low tide, numbers on Brownsea lagoon were low with c.120 Avocet, c.200 Black-tailed Godwit, c.40 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Shelduck and 10 Redshank. Later in the morning, 102 Brent Geese moved onto the lagoon. The Wareham Channel was quiet, apart from the exciting interactions between at least 5 Marsh Harrier, beginning their courtship displays. At Middle Beach, 2 Common Scoter, 2 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Great Crested Grebe were reported today. The Black Redstart was also present again at Sandbanks.

Marsh Harriers – Wareham Channel – Alison Copland

Another magic morning exploring the harbour with our School Bird Boat Project. A trip to remember with today’s class enjoying stunning views of a White-tailed Eagle flying over the Arne Peninsula! Other highlights from the trip included a Pochard flying east from the Wareham Channel into the Central Harbour, 3 Black-necked Grebe in Arne Bay and stunning views of Avocet and Dark-bellied Brent Goose flocks several hundred strong. Elsewhere, a Velvet Scoter was still present from Jerry’s Point plus 5 Black-necked Grebe and a single Great Northern Diver. South Haven featured 3 Redpoll and a single Slavonian Grebe was again from Pilots Point, Studland. Holes Bay featured over 2,000 Black-tailed Godwit today, as well as 3 Spoonbill and 188 Avocet. Meanwhile at least six Woodlarks occupied the the ARC reserve on Holme Lane.

Black-tailed Godwit flock – Holes Bay – @BayHoles

There was an atmospheric start to the morning with a thick frost and fog, with the low tide at Holes Bay offering an early feeding opportunity for c70 Avocet, amongst the Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Wigeon. Early birding from Baiter saw a count of 41 Black-tailed Godwit and a single Greenshank present. Lytchett Fields was busy today, with 88 Dunlin, 2 Green Sandpiper and 50+ Snipe feeding, as well as Water Pipit ringed “1K” recorded again in the Approach Field. A nice sighting of a drake Pochard also seen in flight over Lytchett Bay, headed towards the fields. 5 Woodlark were seen at Bog Lane this morning, and 1 Siberian Chiffchaff was reported at the Sewage Works near Corfe Castle. Within the harbour, 1 Velvet Scoter was present again in South Deep. Just outside of the the harbour, 2 Slavonian Grebe were reported in Shell Bay off Pilots Point. Finally, 1 White-tailed Eagle was seen over Morden Bog this morning.

Water Pipit “1K” – Lytchett Fields – Ian Ballam

A fantastic School Bird Boat this morning produced 1 ringtail Hen Harrier high over Arne, 1 Velvet Scoter in South Deep, 4 Eider the central harbour and another 2 in South Deep, 3 Great Northern Diver, and c150 Red-breasted Merganser. Most unusual of all however a Whimbrel at Shipstal Beach! Whimbrel are typically a spring and autumn passage species for the harbour, with most individuals currently expected to be on their wintering grounds in SW Europe and W Africa. This isn’t the first overwintering individual we’ve had in the harbour, but it is an unusual record and perhaps reflective of the various extremes in weather conditions we’ve experienced this winter.

Elsewhere there were 2 Common Scoter off of Middle Beach and a single Razorbill in the harbour entrance, where the Black Redstart was still present on the rooftops on Sandbanks. In Holes Bay this morning a Green Sandpiper was seen briefly in front of the Stone Bench, along with 500+ Dunlin, 700+ Black-tailed Godwit roosting in the SE, plus Goldcrest and Chiffchaff in the entrance of the PC World Drain. There were 2 White-tailed Eagle seen near Norden Sewage Works, which headed towards Corfe Castle.

Juvenile Razorbill – Harbour Entrance – Clive Hargrave

This weather is so stunning. Yes, frostbite may set in briefly, but it’s worth it for these sunrises and sunsets….and everything in-between. More great birds today with a male Hen Harrier and ringtail Hen Harrier in Middlebere and the stunning male marsh Harrier was at Swineham again. There were a couple of sightings of White-tailed Eagle with one flying east along the Wareham Channel and another over Wareham heading west up the Frome Valley. At Lytchett Fields a Cattle Egret was seen near dusk and the Velvet Scoter was off Jerry’s Point again along with 2 Eider. Along Holme Lane 8 Woodlark were in the cattle field next to the big barn, viewable from the road and at Holmebridge a Marsh Harrier and Peregrine went over. At Baiter there was 1 male Goldeneye, 1 Great Northern Diver, 10 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 21 Cormorant, 5 Turnstone, 1 Rock Pipit and c150 dark-bellied Brent Geese. A few Crossbill were vocal in the Corfe Valley, Wytch Farm side and a Woodlark was sub-singing near Hartland. There’s plenty of Raven activity as pairs are now in full display mode, especially in the middle of the day and the first Sparrowhawk display flights have also been observed.

Raven – Hydes Heath, RSPB Arne – Alison Copland

The raptors stole the show again today with plenty of White-tailed Eagle activity in the Wareham Channel, where visitors to both Swineham and Arne enjoyed views of two birds perched and on the move. Plus, at around 9am this morning, yet another new eagle arrived into the area….this time 3rd cal year male G816. This means that there are now currently five eagles mooching around south, central Dorset. Also around Swineham were several Marsh Harrier including a stunning adult male. Highlights elsewhere included the single Bearded Tit still present at Hatch Pond along with 5 Snipe, 3 Teal, 2 Gadwall and 1 Water Rail. Over at Sandbanks a Black Redstart was present on the rooftops along the beach side of North Haven, whilst inside the harbour there was 1 Velvet Scoter and 1 Slavonian Grebe off of Jerry’s Point, Studland. At the harbour mouth at dawn 5 Eider flew into the harbour and a Great Northern Diver flew out high over Sandbanks.

White-tailed Eagle perched at Swineham – Alison Copland

White-tailed Eagle in flight – Wareham Channel – Jane V Adams

Well, they keep on coming! We’ve now gone from just 1 White-tailed Eagle in and around the harbour at the beginning of the week to 4 today. Late yesterday afternoon saw the arrival of another new individual in the shape of 4th calendar year male G463, meaning this week we’ve had 3rd cal year female G801, 3rd cal year male G812, 4th cal year female G466 and yesterdays new arrival G463. Big thanks to the Roy Dennis foundation for this info, it’s fascinating to see so many individuals continually return to the harbour. Whether it’s because it’s a favoured feeding site, or because it’s a suitable potential territory, only time will tell, but today people were treated some incredible spectacles as several of the birds were seen interacting over the Wareham Channel. Most notably, a pre-longed interaction between the two male individuals G812 (M) and G463 (M). With the settled weather due to continue we could see more arrivals (and departures) over the coming days, but with two 4th calendar year birds now present it could be an exciting couple of months.

Also today, there were 2 Marsh Tit in trees next to the Norden Sewage works and there were also 6+ Common Chiffchaff, a Siberian Chiffchaff and 2 Firecrest, and at the PCW Drain, 6+ Common Chiffchaff and a Firecrest. At Hatch Pond the Bearded Tit was there again on the eastern edge. Off Jerry’s Point there were 6 Black-necked Grebe and 1 Slavonian Grebe. In Middlebere 3 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank and 2 Marsh Harrier were logged and on Swineham GP there was 1 Pochard. 

Thanks also to Garry Hayman who recently consolidated all the info from the 2022 Middlebere Hide diary which provides totals, first dates etc over the course of the year. In total there were 121 different species recorded in the diary for 2022 (105 in 2021).

White-tailed Eagles G466 and G812 over the Wareham Channel – Paula and John Thorpe

Another cold one, and it’s clear there’s been a departure of birds from the harbour due to the icy, cold conditions. The Brownsea Lagoon was frozen solid again, with no sign of the 2500+ Black-tailed Godwit that were here last week, not on the lagoon, or anywhere in the harbour on the low tide! Likewise, for our ringing demo last night, with all the freshwater bodies frozen, there were no Jack Snipe caught and only 3 seen, where there are usually 10-15. Lapwing were only present in very small numbers too as the flooded floodplains also froze over. It will be interesting to see what returns when things warm up a bit over the weekend.

That said, our Low-tide cruise today didn’t disappoint with another mouth watering range of species logged during the trip. Highlights included a Black-throated Diver off East Dorset sailing club, near Salterns marina, also 5 Great Northern Diver (off Baiter, Brownsea south shore, Poole Ferry Port and Hamworthy Beach), 1 Black-necked Grebe off the Brownsea SE corner, 5 Eider out in central harbour, 7 Goldeneye (5 Wareham Channel, 2 in South Deep), 120 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel, 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, c400 dark-bellied Brent Geese, c15 Grey Plover, c500 Dunlin, c100 Avocet, 15 Spoonbill and 1 Kingfisher. The full trip species list can be VIEWED HERE.

Elsewhere a Hen Harrier was seen in Middlebere, and a watch off Jerry’s Point around lunchtime saw 1 Slavonian Grebe, 9 Black-necked Grebe, 8 Goldeneye, 3 Great Northern Diver, 22 Red-breasted Merganser, 28 Great Crested Grebe; then as the tide dropped 28 Sanderling, 19 Turnstone, 3 Grey Plover and 2 Ringed Plover.

White-tailed Eagle – Wareham Channel, Low-tide Cruise – Robin Morrison

Black-necked Grebe – Low-tide Cruise – Robin Morrison

Great Northern Diver – Low-tide Cruise – Robin Morrison

Another bitterly cold day with a flurry of snow this morning too, meaning that the Brownsea Lagoon was frozen during our boat trip this afternoon. Numbers on the lagoon were therefore low, but there were plenty of sightings elsewhere in the harbour…

The central harbour provided some interest with 1 Velvet Scoter and 2 Eider present, with a further single Eider south-east of Brownsea. There were 2 Great Northern Diver in Bramble-bush bay near the house boats, and around 120 Red-breasted Merganser present harbour-wide. In the Wareham Channel, 2 White-tailed Eagle were present (G801 and G812), raising excitement after pursuits by Ravens and Marsh Harriers, and feeding on the shoreline near Keysworth. There were at least 5 Marsh Harrier present in the channel, and 1 Hen Harrier seen distantly over Arne Moors. On the Swineham Gravel Pit, 2 Pochard were seen alongside 5 Tufted Duck and 1 Egyptian Goose. In Holes Bay this morning, at least 1000 Black-tailed Godwit were counted, as well as over 1000 Wigeon, 100+ Avocet, Pintail and Curlew logged. In Lytchett Bay, 3 Spoonbill were present again on the falling tide, as well as 5 Shoveler and 3 Marsh Harrier. A further 3 Spoonbill were seen at Shipstal Point this afternoon.

There are still a few tickets available for our Low Tide Cruise running tomorrow afternoon, which can be booked here.

Pintail – Holes Bay – Tony Furnell