A Long Winded Stroll - Poole Park, Baiter Park, Holes Bay & Upton Country Park - 8th February 20208/2/2020 Yep, that's right if you read the title then you must think I am crazy, and to be honest it wasn't what I had set out to do, but with the weather being nice and the forecast for the next week or so being somewhat dull and miserable, I decided that I would make the most out of today... I started off with quite a relaxed start compared to yesterday. Since yesterday I had decided to go down to Bournemouth East Cliff with my house mate in order to watch the sunrise from behind the Isle of Wight. (Below: Yesterdays Sunrise) Todays sunrise, was a little underwhelming as it was hidden behind a think grey murkiness that gave the morning an eerie feel to it. I arrived at Poole Park at just after 8 and so i headed of in search of some good birds. I knew that I would need to do this quickly as I had forgotten that today was park run day! It was no surprise that there was hardly anything on the smaller lakes, so onto the main boating lake I went. There was plenty around on this lake with around 20 Tufted Duck out in the middle, amongst the hoards of Mute Swan, Coots, and Mallard. Surprisingly there were very few large gulls about bar a few hefty Great Black-backed. There were however plenty of Black-headed Gulls, however scanning through the flock I only managed to find a Common Gull in and amongst them which was a poor return. The new islands that were installed last winter actually had some life on them for a change with several Oystercatcher, 2 Turnstone, and a Redshank. Infact actually the Turnstones made me laugh as one of them was flicking stones up right in the middle of where the Black-headed Gulls were roosting, lets just say they weren't impressed. Above: Male Pied Wagtail Below: Oystercatchers I decided to keep the pace up and headed round towards the café. Whilst i was scanning the middle Island that was full of Oystercatchers something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and when i turned to see what it was I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A drake Red-breasted Merganser was feeding a few centimeters away from the bank it was incredible. It was so close that you could see it under the water and you could follow the trail of bubbles as it swam. I could have reached out and touched it, if i wanted too. I couldn't believe that it had just snuck up on my like that. Honestly though if you think you have ever had a bad hair day then just wait until you see this bird. Above: The incredible Drake Red-breasted Merganser I mean I still can't believe how incredibly tame this bird was and honestly I am not entirely sure why it was this tame either. I was speechless at the time and I still am now. Moving on and I headed up along the final stretch of Poole Park, however the Park run had now caught me up, so I decided that it would be best if I quickly moved on to Baiter Park. Walking through the Baiter Park car park it was nice to see some Greenfinch feeding along side the local House Sparrows. A couple of Long-tailed Tit were also feeding in the bushes along with a Goldcrest. Heading up to Parkstone Bay I was surprised at just how still it was. The water was flat and lifeless and thus made for some easy viewing. Great-crested Grebes, Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye were all out and about along with the odd Cormorant. Above: Pair of Red-breasted Merganser & a Great Crested Grebe Below: Pair of Goldeneye & a Great Crested Grebe Moving onto the main football pitch and when I first arrived there was a decent sized flock of Oystercatcher with 9 Brent Geese present. Now that might sound good but in recent years there have been up to 100 Brent Geese over wintering on these fields and within seconds of me being there the reason for this decline was most notable. Several people with their dogs bounded right for the middle of the flock and whoosh everything was gone, well that was all bar one Brent Goose. This Brent Goose didn't stay for long though as it too was sent packing by dogs. Its frustrating when this sort of thing happens as a lot of people don't realise the effect that their dog running through the middle of the flock could have. Brent Geese are migrants and come to the UK to feed up during the winter, however the time and energy spent flying away from peoples dogs could not only lead them to not have enough energy to keep warm, but when it comes to migration it could also potential be the difference between them arriving safety at their breeding grounds and them dying on route. A one off disturbance would have little effect, however this is now unfortunately a daily occurrence and it happens more than once a day. (Below shows the lonely Brent Goose.) Above: Brent Goose Below: Oystercatcher I then headed round to Baiter Point which over looks the harbour. There were plenty of Cormorants feeding out in the middle of the harbour and these were joined by a few Shag, Great Crested Grebe and at least 2 Great Northern Divers. There could possibly have been more out there but most things were put up by the Ferry that was heading out of the harbour. Above: Mute Swan Below: Goldeneye Above: Great Crested Grebe Below: Distant Great Northern Diver Above: Great Northern Diver up close After this I head down to Poole Quay where my first Med Gull of the year was seen. Several Brent Geese were also feeding on the breakwaters as was a flock of 25 Turnstone. A couple of Shag, Cormorant and Oystercatchers were also sat roosting on the breakwater as another pair of Mute Swan made a close flyby. Above: Turnstone Below: Spot the Turnstone Above: Turnstone in flight Below: Top Bird: Med Gull, Lower Bird: Black-headed Gull After this I decided to walk through the Urban areas of Poole up to the Twin Sails Bridge. From here I had a quick scan through Holes Bay to see if the Scaup were about, but unfortunately for me they were nowhere to be seen. This was when my short walk was extended somewhat as I decided to head for Upton Country Park. Along the way I stopped near the RNLI centre as a Starling was feeding quite successfully on little worms in the mossy vegetation next to the main road. It was so incredibly tame and so this provided me the chance to get to see its quite stunning plumage. Above: Starling Next I headed past ASDA to see if the Peregrines were visible, but unfortunately they must have both been out hunting as neither were on view which was a shame. I then moved onto the small area of Marshland near to ASDA which held a Little Egret, a few Wigeon, Teal, Redshank, Curlew, and Oystercatcher. When you consider this is next to a busy 4 lane main road this is actually quite incredible. Above: Little Egret Below: Redshank and Wigeon I Moved further round Holes bay adding Dunlin to the day list. The vegetated Islands out in the middle of the Bay were full of Wigeon, Teal and Shelduck and to be honest there was quite a large gathering of Curlew as well, but still no sign of the Scaup. There were however 6 Great Crested Grebe down by the trainline which was a decent record. On towards Upton Country Park and no sooner had I crossed the trainline I had the 4 Scaup feeding out in the middle. 3 females and the first winter Drake. They were joined by what must have been a four figure count of Wigeon. Avocet also swam out in the middle of the bay and a mixed Dunlin, Redshank flock flew over the bay. Shelduck and Teal were also present in good numbers as well, but the highlight had to be the Scaup flock even if they did spend the vast majority of the time underwater. Above: Curlew, Wigeon, Teal Below: The 4 Scaup Above: Wigeon Below: Avocet. I have only just realised that the left hand bird is flagged would be interesting to find out where it came from. Apparently it was ringed on the South Coast, how boring... Moving further around to the other side of Upton Country Park, i found my first Black-tailed Godwits of the day with 10 sat sleeping out on the mud. Infact everything seemed to be taking a well earned rest including the Shoveler and Pintail which were mixed in with the Wigeon and Teal. Above: Dozing Ducks (Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Redshank (which i know aren't ducks)) Moving around to the next viewing point and bizarrely someone had loaded the area with bird seed. This was interesting as the birds were extremely closeby and seemed to ignore my prescene. There were plenty of birds making the most of this opportunity with Great, Blue and Coal Tit, several Nuthatch, 6 Chaffinch, 4 Dunnock, 2 Robin and a pair of Bullfinch which appeared to be attracted to the budding plants next to the seed. It was amazing to watch the comings and goings from the fence line. Above: Great Tit Below: Bullfinch Above: Great Tit Below: Coal Tit Above: Nuthatch Below: Chaffinch Above: Blue Tit Below: Coal Tit being dive bombed by a Chaffinch Above: Blue Tit Below: Dunnock Above: Nuthatch with a distant Great Tit Moving on towards the café I discovered yet more Bullfinch munching on the plentiful buds. These Bullfinch gave some amazing views rather unlike the Redwings that were also feeding in the same patch of brambles. After this i decided to call it a day and headed for the Bus in order to go back and play some footie before tomorrows storm. Above: Bullfinch And so with the poor weather forecast for Sunday you would assume that the blog post would end now.... Well, lets just say i had the rather stupid idea of going sea watching of Hengistbury Head yesterday afternoon. Honestly the conditions couldn't have been worse if it tried. The sea was lifeless bar the 4 Med Gulls that travelled east, a Common Gull that travelled West and a Great Northern Diver that was feeding close in to the Beach Huts. I was at least hoping for a Gannet or a Scoter, but unfortunately there was nothing. Just before I completely gave up I had a walk along the Sandspit where at least 8 Ringed Plover were sheltering along with several Rock Pipit. The Ringed Plover were infact year ticks, but shortly after this a squal line came through and dumped a tonne of rain in the driving wind. I was soaked through to the skin even with wearing waterproofs. My shoes were so wet that they had water pooling in side them. The driving wind meant that when i got home the whole of one side of my face was covered in sand whilst the other side was amusingly bone dry. Although it was a great experience i am not entirely sure i will ever do it again, and i think a leason has been learnt.
Anyways that leaves me on 120 sepcies for the year. Only 80 more to go to reach my target and 81 to beat my record.
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AuthorI have been a birder since I was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 19. ArchivesCategories |