An early morning visit to Middlebere following a sighting of a Great White Egret, but sounds like it was just a fly over bird. Still a rare visitor to Poole Harbour & as they never stick for more than a few minutes, it's still a much awaited harbour tick for me.
But the tide was just perfect for the main hide. It's one of the last places in the harbour to flood & the water levels were not too high to stop a large flock of over 800 Black-tailed Godwits & 270+ Avocets from roosting or feeding in front of the hide &occasionally getting spooked by the local Peregrine & Marsh Harrier.
Not to be out done there was an Icelandic female Blackwit, which is an old friend of Poole Harbour who has been visiting for a number of years in the last decade. The details have come back on this bird & she is at least 11 years old & it's interesting to see her returning so faithfully to Dorset in the Winter. The full colour scheme was left leg (light green over green) & right leg (red over orange), simply known as LG-RO. She was last seen in the Wareham channel at the start of November by my good friend, Peter Moore (petermooreblog). Peter has also pointed out the similarity to the birding legend, LGRE: she must have flow as many miles in her life as he apparently drives for a year list. Below are all the places she has been to over the years:-
LG-RO 27.06.02 Langhús, Fljót, N Iceland
Another visitor from outside Dorset was this Spotted Redshank, but I'm not sure where the Poole Harbour wintering birds are from.
But the tide was just perfect for the main hide. It's one of the last places in the harbour to flood & the water levels were not too high to stop a large flock of over 800 Black-tailed Godwits & 270+ Avocets from roosting or feeding in front of the hide &occasionally getting spooked by the local Peregrine & Marsh Harrier.
Avocets: Part of the flock with a few Blackwits at the bottom
As the water started to slowly drop & the Avocets started to move around, I could see at least 8 were colour ringed, including 2 or 3 birds with a single large ring with 3 bands of colours on one leg & 2 rings on the other leg. But frustratingly, the bulk of the Avocets were still roosting & only standing on one leg. Unless you can see both legs you can't confirm the individual. I'm still waiting for confirmation as to where the Avocets were from, but sounds like 2 were French birds & another 2 were British ringed.Not to be out done there was an Icelandic female Blackwit, which is an old friend of Poole Harbour who has been visiting for a number of years in the last decade. The details have come back on this bird & she is at least 11 years old & it's interesting to see her returning so faithfully to Dorset in the Winter. The full colour scheme was left leg (light green over green) & right leg (red over orange), simply known as LG-RO. She was last seen in the Wareham channel at the start of November by my good friend, Peter Moore (petermooreblog). Peter has also pointed out the similarity to the birding legend, LGRE: she must have flow as many miles in her life as he apparently drives for a year list. Below are all the places she has been to over the years:-
LG-RO 27.06.02 Langhús, Fljót, N Iceland
LG-RO 12.01.03 Avon Valley, Hampshire, S England
LG-RO 01.03.03 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 03.04.03 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 26.06.03 Langhús, Fljót, N Iceland
LG-RO 30.07.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 09.08.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 15.08.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 17.08.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 23.08.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 25.08.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 26.08.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 07.09.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 08.09.03 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 08.02.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 14.03.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 12.08.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 23.08.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 02.09.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 12.09.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 19.09.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 20.09.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 26.09.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 04.10.04 Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 03.11.04 Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
LG-RO 01.04.06 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 10.04.06 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 24.04.06 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 26.11.06 Mont-Saint-Michel, Manche, Ille et Vilanine, W France
LG-RO 20.12.06 Mont-Saint-Michel, Manche, Ille et Vilanine, W France
LG-RO 19.01.07 Mont-Saint-Michel, Manche, Ille et Vilanine, W France
LG-RO 25.01.07 Mont-Saint-Michel, Manche, Ille et Vilanine, W France
LG-RO 02.03.07 Avon Valley, Hampshire, S Eng
LG-RO 06.04.07 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S. England
LG-RO 10.10.07 Arne Bay - Poole Harbour - Dorset,
LG-RO 10.11.07 Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 01.01.08 Alhos Vedros Ota Prata, Tejo Estuary, Setúbal, W Portugal
LG-RO 06.04.08 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S. England
LG-RO 08.04.08 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S. England
LG-RO 30.04.08 Höfn, Hornafjörður, Austur-Skaftafellssýsla, E Iceland
LG-RO 01.05.08 Stekká, Höfn, Hornafjörður, Austur-Skaftafellssýsla, E Iceland
LG-RO 14.09.08 Middlebere, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 01.02.09 Buckenham Marshes RSPB, Norfolk, E England
LG-RO 19.02.09 Hucklesbrook, Avon Valley, Hampshire, S England
LG-RO 27.02.09 Hucklesbrook, Avon Valley, Hampshire, S England
LG-RO 29.09.09 Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 30.09.09 Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 01.10.09 Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 22.08.10 Middlebere, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 16.07.11 Llanelli WWT, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK
LG-RO 22.09.11 Pontorson(Ardevon), Normandy, NW France
LG-RO 28.09.11 Pontorson(Ardevon), Normandy, NW France
LG-RO 20.10.11 Pontorson(Ardevon), Normandy, NW France
LG-RO 30.08.12 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 16.09.12 Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 12.10.12 Wareham, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 12.01.13 Bisterne, Avon Valley, Hampshire, S England
LG-RO 13.01.13 Bisterne, Avon Valley, Hampshire, S England
LG-RO 08.08.13 Lytchett Bay, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 2.11.13 Wareham, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
LG-RO 20.11.13 Middlebere, Poole Harbour, Dorset, S England
Black-tailed Godwits: They were calmer today than the Avocets
Spotted Redshank: They do seem to be happier swimming than Redshanks
Spotted Redshank: Out of the water & showing the red legs
Keeping a close eye out for a weak bird was this Yellow-legged Gull. I saw one successfully kill a Teal here last year & they regularly spook the Waders & Wildfowl: which I've yet to see the local Herring Gulls do. This is almost certainly a European bird from the near continent, but just possibly a local bird as a single pair have bred locally in Poole Harbour in recent years. There are usually one or two birds hanging around in the Autumn &Winter at Middlebere, but more appear close to dusk to roost especially in the Autumn.
Yellow-legged Gull
Finally, this Green Woodpecker is probably a local bird. It's not unusual to see 2 or 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers migrating in the Autumn in a morning at my Studland visible migration site, but I've yet to see a Green Woodpecker migrating there, so I'm assuming the Dorset birds are fairly static.
Green Woodpecker: The red moustachial stripe makes this a male (females have black instead)