14 Feb 15 - Article: The Studland Great White Egrets

Back in October, I wrote an article for the Poole RSPB group newsletter (which was published a couple of months ago). I have reproduced it on the Blog as this was one of the highlights of 2014 on the Studland/Ballard Down patch.

Since 1987, Little Egrets have been a common sight in Poole Harbour. Prior to that time, they were a rare visitor to Dorset. They are easily identified by their small size, compared to a Grey Heron, black legs with yellow feet and long thin black bill. They are now the commonest of the Heron species in Poole Harbour.

Little Egret: Middlebere (30 Sep 14)

Up to this Autumn, Little Egrets were also easily identified as they were the only white Heron in Poole Harbour. However, on 15 Aug 14, local Birder Graham Armstrong found a Great White Egret at South Haven, Studland. Unfortunately, this disappeared within an hour & despite a fair bit of searching, it wasn't relocated. Then on 7 Sept, I found a Great White Egret in front of the Harrier hide at Middlebere. This stayed around for about 3 hours, a Poole Harbour record as normally they are seen in flight or fly off soon after being found. When it did fly, it was tracked flying to Littlesea, Studland, where it was watched by observers there that afternoon. It was assumed to be Graham's bird. The following day, I managed to see it feeding from the High hide on Littlesea. The High hide can be accessed by roadside parking at the Greenlands Farm & then following the track opposite to the hide which overlooks Littlesea.

Great White Egret: First individual. Littlesea, Studland (9 Sep 14)

Over the following days, it was clear that it had a routine which involved feeding around Littlesea, as well as, occasionally appearing in Brands Bay. But it has also been seen at Middlebere and as far away as Lytchett Bay. Often on the high tide it can be seen from the High hide, as it roosts with the Little Egrets in the NE corner of Littlesea: a telescope is essential as the roost is 1/2 mile away. But it sometimes dropped into Brands Bay to feed & when it is here, the hide is the perfect place to watch it as unlike the Little Egrets, Great White Egrets are shy birds which are easily flushed.

Great White Egret: First individual. Brands Bay (16 Sep 14)

The key features to look for on a Great White Egret: the large size (they are the size of a Grey Heron); the stout yellow-orange bill; the long black legs & importantly black feet; a very long neck which has this distinctive kink giving it a question mark shape. Note, at times it will keep its neck straight & on these occasions it is actually taller than a Grey Heron. When seen next to Little Egrets they are at least 50% larger. But beware trying size comparisons alone on Egrets when one is hunched up & the other has its neck outstretched. In these circumstances, you need to look for the bill colour & shape and the neck shape.

Having just got use to there being a resident Great White Egret in the Studland area, there was an even more exciting news update: two were seen together on Littlesea on 28 Sept. The new bird quickly settled in and has been a frequent visitor to Littlesea, Brands Bay & Brownsea since that date.

Great White Egret: Second individual. Brands Bay (5 Oct 14). Note the black feet (Little Egrets have yellow feet)

So how do we know that there are two birds present around the Studland area. Firstly, by the easy answer we have seen two birds together. But, also because we can tell them apart. The second bird has gleaming white wings. But if seen well in flight, it is just possible to see that the first bird has buff edges to some of the secondary coverts in the wing. This seems to be an unusual plumage marking, but which does occur in some juvenile birds. It will disappear if these coverts are moulted later in the year, when it will be more difficult to separate the two birds.

So the obvious question is will these Great White Egrets stay & breed. At this stage, this is unlikely as both are juveniles and even if they were a male & female, it is likely that they wouldn't breed in their first Summer. More importantly, the pattern for most Great White Egrets is they frequently turning up in the UK during the early Autumn, spending the Winter here and departing back to Europe in the Spring. At the end of Sept 14, there were thought to be about 40 or 50 birds in the UK, so they remain a scarce species. But they have settled down & bred on the Somerset Levels in the last few years and therefore, there is always a chance of breeding in Poole Harbour in a few years time. But for now if you get the chance, get out to the Studland area or Brownsea and enjoy seeing this once very elusive Great White Egret while they are around.

Update, since writing this article, the second Great White Egret has moved on. However, the first individual is still around the Studland area. It mainly frequents Littlesea & the Eastern Lake, but is still a wary individual. There are more photos of the Studland Great White Egret on the Blog:

First individual 9 Sep 14, 14 Sep 14, 16 Sep 14, 11 Jan 15

Second individual 30 Sep 14, 5 Oct 14.

8 Feb 15 - An Admiral Visits The Patch

With the Studland/Ballard patch being a coastal site & right next to the entrance to Poole Harbour, then there are a lot of ships & boats which pass through the patch ranging from commercial ferries & merchant ships, down to Sunseeker luxury boats, fishing boats down to canoes & often irresponsible jet-skis. I guess it's possible that occasionally there has been the occasional off duty Admiral on one of the ferries or Sunseekers.

Condor Ferry: Passing the Studland Chain Ferry. Maybe there has been an Admiral as a passenger on board over the years (6 Oct 14)

But this Post isn't about senior naval officers, but about a Red Admiral. Last month, I managed to photograph a hibernating Peacock Butterfly that had emerged on a mild, sunny January day for a quick fly around & feed at Greenlands Farm, at the Southern end of the patch. A close relative is the Red Admiral, which is another species which over-winters as an adult. Like the Peacock, there is a chance one might fly past on a sunny day, before returning to a sheltered location to hibernate again. Today was a still day and despite being a cold start, there was a bit of warmth in the sun by late morning. This sun encouraged a Red Admiral to fly past & fortunately, stop for a feed. The highlight of an otherwise quiet visit to the patch (assuming you agree a mere 18 Black-necked Grebes as a quiet visit, given I had probably missed about 50% of them in the choppy coastal waters).

Red Admiral: There are few flowers out locally at the moment, but there is a reasonable amount of flowering Gorse

I can see a new challenge coming on to try & photograph at least one species of Butterfly on the Studland/Ballard patch in every month this year. Clearly, the first two months are covered with the Peacock & this Red Admiral. There are usually late Butterflies around in October & November, so that leaves just two potentially tricky months of March & December. Challenge set.

2 Feb 15 - January Summary For The Studland/Ballard Patch Year List

In the last Post, I provided an overview of the Studland/Ballard patch. In the last few years, I have found I haven't been as motivated to get out onto the Studland/Ballard Down patch as often as I was getting out when I was doing a patch Year List. So to incentivise myself, I've decided on another patch Year List. I won't be registering for the Patchwork Challenge15 as it is too large a patch & I don't want to narrow my attention down even further to a smaller sub-patch within the Studland/Ballard patch. I won't be competing against anybody other than my younger self from previous years (2008, 2009 & 2011). I will aim for monthly patch updates on the Blog as to how the Year List is going, but will put occasional extra Posts in when good birds warrant them. It will be possible to follow all updates on the Year List by clicking on the Label Studland15 on the right hand side Label list.

Great White Egret: This was the highlight of the first few hours on 1 Jan. Two Great White Egrets turned up during the Autumn & this one was still around in January. Quite remarkable given there were only a couple of previous records & they stayed minutes before moving on from both Studland & Poole Harbour (11 Jan 15)

My best Studland/Ballard Down patch Year List is 176 in 2009 (following BOU taxonomy). This excludes Crap or Feral Pigeon which I saw, but I ignore all of the Crap or Feral Pigeon individuals I see in the UK as I don't believe there are any wild pure Rock Doves, left in England. My target for 2015 is 180 (again ignoring Crap Pigeon).

Black Guillemot: The second stunning species for the patch Year List & only my second Studland & Poole Harbour Black Guillemot. After being incredible elusive with only 3 brief sightings in about 3 weeks around Studland (including my refound sighting off Old Harry on 19 Dec 14), it was then finally pinned down on the Poole Harbour Pelagic on 1 Jan in the Brownsea Channel. It was often in that area in the first half of Jan & visible from the Studland Houseboats. Photo taken on the Poole Harbour Pelagic (1 Jan 15)

I have had a great start to the Year List. I've been able to get out on the Studland/Ballard patch on all, but three days in January. Overall, I managed to spend about half the daylight hours out Birding. The patch is about 3 miles from top to bottom and about 3 miles from East to West at the bottom, but it tapers to a narrow point at the Northern end at South Haven, which is the Southern side of the Poole Harbour mouth. The land area is about 4.5 square miles, but there can be a lot of exposed mud at low tide, especially in Brands Bay and there are extensive bay & sea views from the Studland peninsula & Ballard Down. This makes the overall area considerably larger, but like the PWC rules, I'm happy to count Birds seen from inside the patch boundaries, even if the Bird is outside the boundary (e.g. on Furzey Island or closer to Brownsea than Studland). Given it is possible to see a long way out to sea from Old Harry & Ballard Down, then it seems inconsistent to have a fairly narrow boundary on the inner boundaries.

Red-necked Grebe: A species I would expect to see sometime in the year on the patch, but they are erratic & I've often had to wait till late Autumn/early Winter to see one. Typically there is only one individual a Winter, so to have had up to three individuals around on the between South Haven & South Beach for most of Jan is excellent (Jan 15)

Despite its relatively small size, the variation in habitats within the patch is impressive. There are tidal mudlflats, sandy beaches, a freshwater lake known as Littlesea, with a couple of smaller lakes. These are surrounded by heathland, dunes, deciduous & coniferous woodland and wet marshy areas. Greenlands Farm is mainly grassy fields, which through grazing has been changed to grassland from the surrounding Godlingston Heath (heathland). Ballard Down is a mixture of chalk grassland, farmland and chalk sea cliffs. There is also the small urban development of Studland village, albeit it is a very leafy village. Overall, it has micro versions of nearly all of the habitats found in Poole Harbour, with the exception of open wet fields for Waders & dense urban sprawl (not surprisingly I don't miss that, although it would make Waxwing a potentially easier species). As a result, it is easily the best local patch within Poole Harbour.

Spoonbill: Another erratic species with usually about one wayward individual in Brands Bay for a few days in a year. Some years, I've only got them on the Studland patch Year List, by seeing Spoonbills flying in or out of Brownsea. But this year, Spoonbills have been regular feeding visitors to Brands Bay with a peak of six individuals on 20 Jan 15 representing a new Studland record count. Brands Bay (22 Jan 15)

Another reason to try for a patch Year List was the presence of some good species on the patch in late December: the wintering Great White Egret, an erratic & rarely seen Black Guillemot & the Green-winged Teal found on New Years Eve. Unfortunately, despite spending an hour or two on a near daily basis scanning & rescanning the Teal flock in Brands Bay, I was unable to refind the Green-winged Teal. Previous individuals have been elusive in Poole Harbour, but a couple of previous Poole Harbour individuals have been relocated in different locations (to their original location) in Poole Harbour, so perhaps it is still lurking somewhere else locally.

Great Grey Shrike: Easily the Bird of Jan on the patch. Only the second record in the last 25 years (the other being in Mar 11). Godlingston Heath (24 Mar 11)

As I was running out of new species to add to the Year List, one that I was struggling to find was Grey Wagtail. Whilst being an erratic Winter visitor, I have usually seen one in Jan. But I hadn't been able to track any down at their usual haunts, so I thought I had missed it. Finally, I found a lone individual feeding quietly on a frozen, flooded pool on the Littlesea Nature Trail.

Grey Wagtail: It would be hard to miss this in a Year List, but I was glad to get it in Jan. Littlesea (23 Jan 15)

I finished on 123 species in Jan (BOU of course), not counting some distantly scoped Crap Pigeons flying over Poole. I had expected that it should have been possible to get to 120 species & had set myself an ambitious Jan target of 125. So to get 123 was an excellent Jan total given how small the area is. I am already over 2/3rds of the way to my end of the year total of 180 species. It will now get difficult to add more than one or two species before the Spring migrants arrive.

Peacock: I've also started the Butterfly patch list, although I won't be keeping a patch Year List. At some point, I will probably see the completely untickable & feathered Indian Peacock as they occasionally appear on the Brownsea shoreline. Greenlands Farm (Jan 15)

I managed to miss Kittiwake & Redpoll. Additionally, there was also a pager report of a Velvet Scoter at the South Haven (from an unknown observer on one occasion, but the news was slow getting out & it had moved on by the time I looked soon after hearing). There were a handful of other potential species that could have occurred including Eider, Spotted Redshank (only about one or two records a year), Golden Plover (generally only a cold weather species in the Winter, but also an erratic Autumn visitor), Siskin & Crossbill. Potentially, the Green-winged Teal could have put in another appearance, so the 125 total could have been feasible.

31 Jan 15 - Deciding To Do A Studland/Ballard Patch Year List

In a spur of the minute decision at the end of 2014, I decided I have neglected the Studland/Ballard patch in recent years and I would do a 2015 patch year list. I had some intensive years of patch birding in 2008, 2009 & 2011 and since then I needed a bit of time Birding other sites as well as the Studland/Ballard patch. So there was a bit more UK & some foreign Birding. But I also spent time looking at other groups of wildlife & some time focusing more on photography. Having said that most of the UK Birding since 2011 has still been within Poole Harbour. It is ironic in some ways that having decided I had neglected the patch in recent years, that I had found more on the patch in 2014 than in any previous year. Especially when I hadn't been there that much, compared to the more intensive years. The 2014 goodies I found were:-

Hoopoe: Greenlands Farm. Amazingly I found this Hoopoe as I was going to twitch a Richard's Pipit found by Graham Armstrong. Two patch ticks added in less than an hour (24 Apr 14)

Grey-headed Wagtail: Female. First for Poole Harbour & seventh for Dorset of this race of Yellow Wagtail (31 May 14)

Yellow-browed Warbler: One of three different individuals found: one was North of Knoll Beach car park, one between Knoll & Middle Beach & one at South Beach (10 Oct 14)

I also found my first Studland Grey Phalarope at South Haven and a refind of a Black Guillemot off Old Harry (over a week after it was seen at the harbour mouth): but the photos of both species were too crap to keep.

Green-winged Teal: finding this Male in Brands Bay on New Years Eve was a great way to end the year

At this point, I should probably display a map of the area & draw a border on it. The easy option would have been to copy a map & draw a border on it. But that would have broken somebodies copyright (I strongly disapprove of those bloggers who put anybody else's material on their dreary Blogs to make them look better, especially when they don't even acknowledge the owner). So I've had to hand draw a map & add a few labels myself. This is best compared with an OS map to see the missing detail.

The Studland/Ballard Down patch boundaries

The patch is about 3 miles from top to bottom and about 3 miles from East to West at the bottom, but it tapers to a narrow point at the Northern end at South Haven, which is the Southern side of the Poole Harbour mouth. The Eastern side is Studland Bay which is the sea side of the patch. The North Western side from South Haven to Brands Bay is a tidal area with varying amounts of mud depending on the tidal strength. There is a freshwater lake known as Littlesea surrounded by heathland, dunes, woodland & wet marshy areas. Greenlands Farm is mainly grassy fields which through grazing has been changed to grassland from the surrounding Godlingston Heath (heathland). Ballard Down is a mixture of chalk grassland & farmland. An overall view of the patch from Ballard Down forms the banner photo for the Blog. Crucially, I count species seen within the boundaries, but also seen from inside these boundaries. Thus, Birds seen in Poole Harbour or Studland Bay are acceptable. Here are a few more photos of the patch.

South Haven: Looking towards Pilots Point (6 Oct 14)

Brands Bay: Low tide (21 April 14)

Brands Bay: The inner bay is partially enclosed by Redhorn Quay (21 April 14)

Brands Bay: Looking left from the hide (21 April 14)

Greenlands Farm: With Godlingston Heath in the background (25 May 14)

Studland Bay from Middle Beach: Looking towards Pilots Point on a stormy day (10 Feb 13)

South Beach: The sheltered Southerly end of South Beach with Old Harry in the background (7 Oct 14)

Old Harry: (1 June 14)

My Studland/Ballard patch list is 215 species, plus Nightingale heard. I've seen, but do not, count Crap (Feral) Pigeon. The varied habitats all help to ensure there is a wide range of species on the list. A full copy of my Studland/Ballard list can be found on Bubo.

There are plenty more great views of the patch, but I will have to photograph them & add them to the Blog over the next year. Anyway, in the next Post, I will provide a summary of my first month of the Patch Year List. It has been a great start to the patch Year List.

24 Jan 15 - A Patch Rare

Having had a relatively quiet day on the Studland/Ballard Patch, I was ready to head for home mid afternoon, when I had a call from one of the locals, Steve Morrison. He had just seen the breaking news of a Great Grey Shrike on Godlingston Heath. This is the South West corner of the patch, but is the most underwatched part of my patch, after the nudist beach area. The details were vague, just a text from a friend of a friend saying there was a Great Grey Shrike seen whilst walking somewhere on Godlingston Heath. There was no opportunity to check where it was, so Steve and I met up & started scanning from the high hide part of Studland. It is easily 1/2 mile to the nearest part of the heath & well over a mile to the Southern end. Looking into the light didn't help. After 20 minutes, I suggested Plan B, to look from the top of the heath. There is a good, but more restricted view. No joy in the first 15 minutes of scanning & I was about to suggest moving to a different viewpoint, to check the rest of the heath, when Steve said he had found it. It was about 200 metres away from us, sitting on the heath. Not great shots, but better than nothing. We were lucky it was so close, given how large Godlingston Heath is.

Godlingston Heath: Viewed from Greenlands Farm. Godlingston Heath is the heathland area which continues for about 3/4 mile until the heath gives way to the higher pastural fields. This is only the Western side of Godlingston Heath, the Eastern side is even larger

Great Grey Shrike: Only my second individual on the patch, having twitched the only other record in the last 25 years on 24 Mar 11

Great Grey Shrike: Another record shot

Great Grey Shrike: The uncropped original from the SX60

There are only 14 records involving 11 individuals between 1952 and 1989 on the Studland patch. Since that date, there has only been one more record: an individual seen on 24 & 28 Mar 11 on Godlingston Heath. So despite being more or less annual within Poole Harbour, it has become a very rare Bird on the Studland patch. Most Poole Harbour records have been around the Hartland Moor/Arne part of the harbour.

16 Jan 15 - Is It Spring Yet?

Today, the forecast was for light, but steady, rain for most of the morning with it clearing up for the afternoon. About 09:00 it was overcast, but that cleared later into the morning to leave a great mild, sunny day & crucially little wind. So a lot better than forecast. It felt very Spring like from late morning onwards in the sun. Early afternoon saw me heading out to Greenlands Farm area of Studland in the hope of adding Fieldfare to the Studland/Ballard Down patch year list (which I did with a flock of 12). But as I walked along the track leading to Greenlands Farm, I bumped into my first Butterfly of the year, flying around & sitting in the sun.

Peacock: A regular overwintering species which can appear on the right conditions before resuming its hibernation

This was my second earliest UK Butterfly. My earliest is a Red Admiral in the nearby Rempstone Forest on 11 Jan 13 which is another regular over-wintering species. Unfortunately, about 2 hours later from seeing the Peacock, the weather started to change to overcast conditions with a cold wind getting up. Hopefully, the Peacock was back in a warm roost spot by that time.

This year has also seen my earliest Bumblebee, when I had a Bumblebee fly through the garden on the 6 Jan without stopping. This beat my earliest previous record of a Bumblebee sp at Swineham on 26 Jan 13 by nearly three weeks. Is it Spring yet?

11 Jan 15 - Great White Egret Still On The Studland Patch

This year I have decided I will go for a Studland/Ballard Down patch year list. My best Studland/Ballard Down patch year list is 176 in 2009 (following BOU taxonomy). This excludes Crap or Feral Pigeon which I saw, but I ignore all of the feral crap/racing pigeon individuals I see in the UK. This shows how good the area can be given its only about 3 miles long at the Southerly base & 3 miles from the base to the Northern boundary at the Poole Harbour mouth. It has been a few years since I have tried for a patch year list & as a result I have found I haven't been as motivated to get out onto the Studland/Ballard Down patch as often as I could have in recent years. So to incentivise myself, I've decided on another patch year list. I won't be registering for the Patchwork Challenge as it is too large a patch & I don't want to narrow my attention down even further. I won't be competing against anybody other than my younger self (from previous years). I will aim for monthly patch updates on the Blog as to how the year list is going, but will put occasional extra Posts in when good birds warrant them.

But the year started well with catching up on the first of the month with the wintering Great White Egret on Littlesea. More recently, I've seen it well on a couple of occasions, whilst out looking for Coot on the patch. It is perhaps ironic, as well as sad, that I'm now regularly seeing Great White Egrets on the patch since 2 individuals turned up in Autumn 14 (now down to 1 individual), whereas Coot has more or less died out. Coot had a small resident population on Littlesea lake up to 2011, which swelled every Winter to about 120 individuals. Since that date this population has disappeared & I've only seen a couple of sightings on the small South Haven pool. Unfortunately, Carp has somehow become established in Littlesea in recent years & I suspect the disappearance of the Coot, is largely a result of the impacts of the many large Carp on the freshwater weed that the Coot used to feeding on.

Coot: Sadly, along with the Diving Duck they virtually all disappeared from Studland in the last 4 years. As they have gone from Studland, I've had to use a photo from Blashford Lakes (3 Oct 14)

Great White Egret: 1st Winter. With a roosting Cormorant

This is the same First Winter individual with the buff edges to the median & greater secondary coverts that was photographed back in Sep 14 around Littlesea, Studland & Brands Bay which is part of the Studland patch. I've not seen the second pure First Winter white individual since mid Oct 14.