The Poole Harbour Status List

The Poole Harbour Status List Mute Swan – Status – Breeding resident and winter visitor. Good Sites – Seen sporadically around the harbour but Poole Park, Hatch Pond, Brands Bay, Little Sea, Ham Common, Arne, Middlebere, Swineham and Holes Bay are all good sites. Bewick’s Swan Status – Uncommon winter visitor. Once a regular winter visitor to the Frome Valley now only arrives in hard or severe winters. Good Sites – Along the Frome Valley leading to Wareham water meadows and Bestwall Whooper Swan Status – Rare winter visitor and passage migrant Good Sites – In the 60’s there were regular reports of birds over wintering on Little Sea, however, sightings are now mainly due to extreme weather conditions. Bestwall, Wareham Water Meadows and the harbour mouth are all potential sites Tundra Bean Goose Status – Vagrant to the harbour Taiga Bean Goose Status – Vagrant to the harbour Pink-footed Goose Status – Rare winter visitor. Good Sites – Middlebere and Wareham Water Meadows have the most records for this species White-fronted Goose Status – Once annual, but now scarce winter visitor. Good Sites – During periods of cold weather the best places to look are Bestwall, Arne, Keysworth and the Frome Valley. Greylag Goose Status – Resident feral breeder and rare winter visitor Good Sites – Poole Park has around 10-15 birds throughout the year. Swineham GP, Wareham Water Meadows and Bestwall all host birds during the year. Brett had 3 birds with collar rings some years ago. Maybe worth mentioning those. Canada Goose Status – Common reeding resident. Good Sites – Poole Park has a healthy feral population. Middlebere late summer can host up to 200 birds with other large gatherings at Arne, Brownsea Island, Swineham, Greenland’s Farm and Brands Bay. Barnacle Goose Status – Feral and scarce wild winter visitor Good Sites – Lytchett Bay, Brands Bay and Middlebere have seen the most recent birds in the last 3 years. Bestwall and Swineham are worth checking in cold weather too. Dark-bellied Brent Goose Status – Winter visitor and passage migrant Good Sites – Poole harbor is a Nationally important site for these geese. The Middlebere Channel and fields can host up to 1000 birds mid to late winter. The saltmarsh in front of the Shipstal hide at Arne also holds large numbers. Baiter Park allows good close views as long as there aren’t too many dogs. Studland Bay hosts early returning birds in October. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Status – Scarce passage migrant and winter visitor Good Sites – The first record of this taxa is five in Brands Bay 1994. They have also been seen at Middlebere, Shell Bay, Baiter and Brownsea. Small groups can be seen passing out in Poole Bay on migration during April. Black Brant Status – Vagrant to the harbour Red-breasted Goose Status – Vagrant to the harbour Egyptian Goose Status – Feral visitor from out of county populations Good Places – Could turn up anywhere, but Lytchett Bay, Middlebere and Swineham all hold records. Could become more regular with numbers rising in the Avon Valley. Ruddy Shelduck Status – Rare feral wanderers and potential genuine vagrant. Good Sites – Have been recorded more than once at Swineham, Holes Bay and Wareham Water Meadows. Shelduck Status – Declining breeding resident and common winter visitor Good Sites – Found throughout the Harbour, Check the Middlebere Channel in late summer for large crèches containing up to 30 birds. Numbers rise in October with birds returning from Germany with peak counts reaching up to 2000 birds. Mandarin Duck Status – Small Feral Population. Good Sites – Hatch Pond and Poole Park are the best places to check. Also been seen at Upton Country Park and Lytchett Bay. Breeds just outside the bouderies at Broadstone golf course and Merley. Wigeon Status – Common winter visitor Best Sites – As they arrive back in October numbers start to rise in many places around the Harbour. Arne Bay, Middlebere, Lytchett Bay, Holes Bay and Brands Bay all hold very large numbers especially in very cold weather. American Wigeon Status –Potential vagrant Good Sites – One record of a bird on Brownsea 1987 and another (or the same) at Arne in 1990 were thought to be an escape.. Possibly over looked, well worth scanning those large Wigeon flocks in winter. Gadwall Status – Scarce breeding resident and winter visitor Good Sites – Hatch Pond and Swineham GP have breeding birds as well as wintering birds, whilst Holes Bay and Lytchett Bay and Little Sea are worth a look too. Teal Status – Common winter visitor Good Sites – Holes Bay, Arne Bay, Lytchett Bay, Brands Bay, Brownsea Lagoon and Middlebere all hold large numbers in winter. Common throughout the whole Harbour in winter with January and February seeing peak counts at some sites of over 2300 birds. Green-winged Teal Status- Vagrant to the harbour Good Sites – Over two thirds of the county records are from Poole Harbour, with two thirds of these records occuring in Holes Bay. Other sites include Brands Bay and Newtons Bay. Mallard Status – Common breeding resident and winter visitor Good Sites – ‘Presumed to breed on wetlands everywhere’. Common throughout the Harbour but as common around the world, the best place to see Mallard is in the Park, so Upton Country Park and Poole Park are a dead cert. Pintail Status – Fairly common winter visitor Good Sites – Poole Harbour holds nationally important numbers of Pintail. Little Sea and Newton’s Bay used to be the best places but Arne Bay, Brands Bay and Holes Bay now hold most numbers. Maximum counts of up 200 can be seen in hard weather. Garganey Status – Scarce passage migrant, has bred Good Sites – Best chances of being seen are March to April on flooded areas such as Bestwall and Swineham and also August to September with the eclipse flocks of Teal at Brownsea, Middlebere and Lytchett Bay. Shoveler Status – Winter visitor, has bred Good Sites – Poole Harbour is a nationally important wintering area for this species. Little Sea used to be ‘the’ hotspot but now Brownsea Lagoon, Holes Bay and Hatch Pond are more reliable. Red-crested Pochard Status – Rare winter Visitor Good Sites – Little Sea has the most records for this species but also Swineham GP and the Brownsea Lagoon have hosted birds. Pochard Status – Winter visitor, has bred. Good Sites – Formally a nationally important site for Pochard, their numbers have dropped from their wintering stronghold of Little Sea where around 600 used to spend the winter. In hard weather Poole Park, Hatch Pond and Holes bay hold recent records. Ring-necked Duck Status – Vagrant to the Harbour Ferruginous Duck Status – Vagrant to the Harbour Tufted Duck Status – Winter visitor and uncommon resident Good Sites – Little Sea used to have large wintering numbers, but the introduction of Carp in to the lake seems to have had an affect on duck numbers as a whole. Holes Bay, Hatch Pond, Poole Park and Brownsea are all reliable sites. Scaup Status – Scarce winter visitor, occasional passage migrant Good Sites – Little Sea again used to be the best place to see these with a winter maximum of 233 in 1970. Now only found in single figures with Swineham GP, and on the water in areas like Shipstal and off Goathorn being good places to look. Lesser Scaup Status – Vagrant to the harbour Eider Status – Fairly regular winter visitor Good Sites – Tends to prefer staying around the harbour mouth. Brands Bay, Bramble Bush Bay and on the body of water looking across to Goathorn from South Haven Point. Long -tailed Duck Status – Uncommon winter visitor Good Sites – Check the large body of water in the middle of the Harbour viewed from Shipstal Point in December and January or try from an RSPB Bird Boat. Also in and around Brands Bay and Bramble Bush Bay out towards Goathorn Point. Common Scoter Status – Uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant Good Sites – Numbers used to reach around 100 birds out in Poole Bay during the 1950’s, but now only single figures of settled birds can be found. Out in Shell Bay and off Knoll and Middle beach are worth a look. Out in the center of the Harbour viewed from Shipstal Point too. Small flocks can be seen passing out in Poole Bay in spring. Velvet Scoter Status – Uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant Good Sites – Worth checking out on the sea if at any of the Studland beaches. Also gets recorded out in the harbour from Arne and around Brands Bay. Goldeneye Status – Regular winter visitor Good Sites – Poole Harbour is a nationally important site for Goldeneye. Best places to see them are out on the open water viewed from Arne, Rockley Point, North/South Haven and Brands Bay. Evening roosts between Furzy Island and Round Island can hold up to 100 birds. Smew Status – Scarce winter visitor Good Sites – Massive decline in wintering numbers with the Wareham Channel often hosting 60-80 birds in the 1950’s. Now it seems only extreme cold weather brings birds to the harbour with Swineham GP, Holes Bay and the Wareham Channel being good places to look. Red-breasted Merganser Status – Common winter visitor Good Sites – Poole Harbour hosts the largest wintering population outside of Scotland. Large rafts of these ‘punk rockers’ can be seen loafing out on any body of water out in the Harbour. A great way to see them is from an RSPB bird boat. A large evening roost containing up to 300 birds can be seen in- between Furzey Island and Round Island mixing with Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe. Goosander Status – Scarce winter visitor Good Sites – Another bird drawn in by extreme cold weather. Check the warmer waters of Holes Bay during a big freeze or the Swineham GP.

Load more