About the wildlife in the area

Wildlife

There is a huge diversity of wildlife in Poole harbour.  These include around 800 moths and butterflies, 450 plant species and all six British reptiles.   Among the many mammals found here there are otters, water voles, harbour seals, sika, roe and muntjac deer and on some islands, red squirrels.  This diversity is partly due to the large variety of habitat found here which include wet woodland, reedbed, coastal saltmarsh, heathland and seagrass.  By far the greater percentage of its shoreline is completely undeveloped and unspoilt - this is obviously of huge benefit to wildlife.

Poole harbour and the surrounding area supports hundreds of bird species and is Nationally and Internationally important for many.  The following lists of water birds commonly found here have indicators in brackets after the birds name: an ‘I’ for species that are Internationally important i.e. the harbour regularly supports at least 1% of the Worlds population; an ‘N’ for those where at least 1% of the British population are supported.

Poole harbour also has many bird species that are ‘amber listed’ or ‘red listed’ according to the J.U.C.N. criteria.  An ‘A’ in brackets indicates it is an amber listed species, an ‘R’ in brackets indicates it is a red listed bird.

‘Amber listed’

means:   1. Those birds with an unfavourable conservation status in Europe.  2. Those whose range or status has declined moderately in recent years.  3. Those whose populations have declined historically but made a substantial recent recovery.  4.   Rare breeders.  5. Those species with localised or Internationally important populations.

‘Red listed’

means:  1. Those species that are globally threatened. 2. Those whose population or range has declined rapidly in recent years. 3. Those that have declined historically and do not show substantial recent recovery

YOUR HELP WANTED! - Photographs of wildlife in the region

We would like to eventually provide a thorough library of photographs of all the wildlife in this region.  If you are in a position to provide suitable photographs we would greatly appreciate your contribution, for which you will be recognised on or near the photos as the contributor.  If you can provide a large volume of them, then some suitable reward may be negotiated.  Please call or email Steve Hall if you think you may be able to help.  Please refer to the Contact Us page.

Ducks, Geese & Swan

Shelduck (I.A.) Resident.  Around 10 pairs breed on Brownsea lagoon annually.  Winter  No's around 1,000 in harbour, though counts have exceeded 3,000.

Long-tailed duck (A) Regular Winter visitor, usually less than 10.

Common Scoter (R) Normally an open sea duck, up to 20 sometimes seen in the harbour entrance and off studland in the Winter.

Shoveller (N.A.) Can exceed 100 birds in Winter, often half those numbers.

Pochard (N.A.) Winter populations can be more than 400.

Tufted duck - 1 or 2 pairs breed annually on Brownseas’ freshwater lakes and No's may reach three figures in the harbour during Winter.

Wigeon (A) Winter visitor with over a 1000 in November and december

Gadwall (A) Regular, but usually in fairly small Nos – around 20 to30 Winter.  Has bred on Brownsea in recent years.

Teal (A) Common Winter visitor with counts over 1,000  birds in Nov/Dec.

Pintail (A) Rarely more than 100 birds in winter.

Goldeneye (N.A.) Sometimes around 200 in Winter, though more often only about 100.

Mallard - Resident and breeding, increasing to more than 500 in Winter.

Red Breasted Merganser (N) The 4^th most important Wintering site in the U.K., No's can reach 300 to 400 birds.

Great Northern Diver (A) Regular in Winter in small No's

Red Throated and Black Throated divers (A) Usually just a couple of Wintering birds.

Little grebe - 2 or 3 pairs nest on Brownsea, small No's throughout the year.

Great Crested Grebe - Exceptional counts of 50 to 100 birds in the Winter.

Brent goose (N.A.) Dark-bellied form can reach over 1,000 birds in Winter.

Grey Lag Goose - Rare visitor, but feral birds present all year breeding in Poole park.

Canada Goose - Can reach 400 birds, 50 or so breed on Brownsea each year.  Resident.

Mute swan (A) Resident and breeding.  Can be over 100 in Holes Bay in Wintertime.

Spoonbill (A) 1 or 2 all year round, often in lagoon.  Usually more in winter.

Little egret (A) 1^st ever successful UK breeding on Brownsea in 1996 with breeding No's reaching 40 pairs by 2004.  Now common in the area all year round.

Grey Heron - Resident and breeding, though Brownsea No's decreased to about 20 pairs.

Cormorant (N.A.) Common resident: up to 250 roost on lagoon; up to 400 on harbour where they are frequently seen fishing communally in quite large Nos.

Shag (A) Less common than cormorant, though usually seen near harbour entrance.

 

Waders

Avocet (N.A.) Largest Wintering flock in Britain with over 1300 birds usually on the lagoon.  Unsuccessful breeding on Brownsea by 1 or 2 pairs in recent years.

Black Tailed Godwit (I.R.) 4^th most important UK Wintering site with up to 1,200 birds.

Bar Tailed Godwit (A) Much smaller No's than Black Tailed, normally less than 100.

Oystercatcher (A) Resident and breeds in small No's around harbour shores and 25 pairs in lagoon – the most important nesting site.  Over 1,000 Winter here.

Ringed Plover (A) Pair bred on Brownsea 1^st time in 2004.  Autumn No's often 50+.

Grey plover (A) Passage and Winter visitor.  Varying No's with around 300 in 2004.

Lapwing (A) Flocks seen usually over Western (Wareham) end of harbour in Winter.

Dunlin (N.A.) Counts sometimes more than 5,000 with 2,000 to 3,000 on Brownsea.

Knot (A) Passage migrant in Spring and Autumn in fairly small No's.

Sanderling - Passage migrant and Winter visitor, rarely exceeds 10 in number.

Little Stint - Passage migrant of only handful of birds.

Curlew Sandpiper - Passage migrant usually in Autumn and usually not more than 12.

Whimbrel (A) Spring and Autumn passage migrant of a half dozen birds.

Curlew (N.A.) Counts of over 1,000 birds have been made.

Spotted Redshank (A) Passage migrant and Winter visitor, normally less than 7 or 8.

Redshank (N.A.) Small No's breed, though over 1,000 can be here over Winter

Greenshank – Regular passage migrant and Winter visitor, not normally more than 30.

Common Sandpiper – Mainly an Autumn passage migrant of around 20 birds.

Turnstone – Winter visitor and passage migrant numbering around 25 to 30.

Gulls and Terns

Meditterranean Gull (A) Breeding attempted on Brownsea Island, may have bred in harbour.  Usually migrant, some all year round and up to 30 in Spring 2006.

Little Gull – Rare passage and Winter visitor.  Usually single birds in the Autumn.

Black-headed Gull (A) Resident with several breeding sites around the harbour.

Common Gull (A) Migrant and visitor that often exceeds 1,000 birds in Winter.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (A) Small No's during breeding season increasing in Winter.

Herring gull (A) Present all year round with a few breeding in the harbour and 2,000 to 3,000 outside breeding season.

Yellow-legged Gull (A) All year round in Poole harbour.

Great Black-backed Gull – A few pairs try to breed on lagoon each year.  200 to 300 Winter.

Kittiwake (A) The odd bird seen in the harbour during the Winter.

Sandwich Tern (A) 200 pairs return early March each year to nest on Brownsea lagoon.

Common Tern (N) 200 to 300 pairs return mid to late March to nest on islands in lagoon.

Little Tern (A) Do not breed in Brownsea lagoon, though a few birds occur most years at the end of the breeding season.

Auks

Guillemot (A) Breeds along the Purbeck coast.  A few birds are found in the harbour from the Autumn through to Spring.

Razorbill (A) As with Guillemot, though only around 30 pairs as opposed to 800 pairs.