A distinctly patterned black and white wader with a long up-curved beak (RSPB website). The most common locations for this species are Brownsea lagoon on a high tide where almost the entire wintering flock can be found in one roost. Another common location is the Wych and Middlebere Channels mid-tide from November to February where they feed along the channel. Other feeding areas include Lytchett Bay, Holes Bay and Arne Bay. Birds start arriving in the Harbour in late July with numbers peaking by September. The bird start to leave again through February and into March (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/avocet/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=A

A large wading bird which has a bright orangey-brown chest and belly in summer but are more greyish-brown in winter. They have long beaks and legs with black and white stripes on their wings. Females are larger and heavier than males with a noticeably longer beak (RSPB website). Brownsea lagoon and Middlebere are common locations for this species mid-winter. Other large flocks can be found in Brands Bay, Lytchett Bay, Holes Bay and Arne Bay (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/black-tailed-godwit/
https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=B

A silvery-grey and white bird with a long tail. They exhibit buoyant, graceful flight and frequently hover over water before plunging for a fish, they are noisy in a group and breed in colonies (RSPB website). Brownsea Island is the only breeding site in the Harbour for this species. Can often be seen heading out of the harbour mouth to feed (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/common-tern/
https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=C

A large, black and conspicuous waterbird with a long neck, often seen standing with its wings held out to dry (RSPB website). This species is common at many sites around the harbour later in the year but numbers increase in autumn and winter where they occasionally join large rafts off Shipstal, Brownsea Island and the Wareham Channel. Juveniles of the sinensis species are found in large numbers on Brownsea in August and September and can form large rafts by later October in the centre of the harbour. Spring adults of the sinensis species can be seen in the Wareham Channel or on Brownsea lagoon (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/cormorant/
https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=C

The largest European wading bird with a long, downcurved bill, brown upperparts, long legs and a distinctive call (RSPB website). Common throughout the harbour, especially during winter spread through the southern and western bays. On a low tide during winter they can be found on almost any exposed mud around the harbour (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/curlew/
https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=C

A small, dark goose of similar size to a mallard. It has a black head and neck and a grey-brown back with a dark belly. Adults have a small white neck patch (RSPB website). The species arrives in the Harbour in October and feeds in various locations. Individuals have been noted to linger into the spring and, occasionally through the summer although these are believed to be sick birds. The largest flocks can be seen at Middlebere, Newton Bay and Baiter. Smaller flocks have been observed at Evening Hill, Studland Bay and Brands Bay (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/brent-goose/
https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=D

This species is the most common small wader found along the coast. It has a slightly down-curved bill and a distinctive black belly patch in breeding plumage (RSPB website). Brownsea lagoon, Arne, Lytchett Fields and various yacht clubs around the Harbour have all be noted as roost locations for Dunlin with arrival of individuals in autumn (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/dunlin/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=D

Tall white waterbirds with long spatulate black bills and long black legs (RSPB website). Spoonbill can be seen on Brownsea Lagoon (Aug-Oct), Shipstal Point, Arne (Oct-Mar), the Wareham Channel at low tide (Oct-Mar), in the Middlebere Channel depending on the tide (Aug-Apr), the sand spit in front of Shipstal, Brands Bay, Lytchett Bay and Holes Bay during severe cold weather (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/spoonbill/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=S

A medium sized diving duck. Males are black and white with a greenish black head and a circular white patch in front of the yellow eye. Females are smaller and are mottled grey with a chocolate brown head. A large area of white is shown in the inner wing during flight (RSPB website). This species can be seen anywhere across the open water area of the Harbour during winter. Shipstal Point at Arne, the Wareham Channel and Brands Bay are also common sites for this species.

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/goldeneye/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=G

A medium-sized slim wader with a dark grey back and white underparts. Individuals have long green legs and a slightly upturned bill which distinguishes it from other waders (RSPB website). This species can be present in the Harbour every month of the year with peak numbers in August – October. Brownsea Island, Lytchett Fields and Middlebere are the key sites for this species (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/greenshank/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/page/2/?letter=G

A small white heron with white plumes on the crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet. A species which overwinters in Poole Harbour, arriving late summer. Often seen on Brownsea Island and at the north-west end of Little Sea where the birds arrive in the evening up to two hours before dusk (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/little-egret/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=L

The Mediterranean gull has an all-black head in the breeding season and is slightly larger than a black-headed gull. Adults have white wing tips and under wings and younger birds have more wing markings. The beak is large and slightly drooped and is bright red in adults (RSPB website). Flight to and from feeding sites takes birds over the north-west of the Harbour with highest numbers recorded in Lytchett Bay and the Wareham Channel. In winter birds can be seen feeding off the beaches at Studland and in the summer along the shoreline of Whitley Lake and Baiter beach at low tide (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/mediterranean-gull/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=M

Male pochards are very distinctive in winter and spring with a bright reddish-brown head, a black breast and tail and a pale grey body. Females are brown with a greyish body and pale cheeks and are more easily confused with other species. When the species grows new feathers males and females look similar (RSPB website). The majority of the wintering population have been found at Little Sea with smaller numbers at Brownsea Island and in Poole Park (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/pochard/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=P

This species of diving duck has a long-serrated bill with males and females having different identifying features depending on sex, age, and season. Information on these identifying features can be found on the RSPB website. This species can be seen in large rafts on open water throughout the Harbour. A large evening roost occurs between Furzey Island and Round Island where the birds mix with Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe. Other locations where this species is found in the winter are Brands Bay, Bramble Bush Bay and the outer bays of the Harbour (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/red-breasted-merganser/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=R

A very white tern, with a black cap on its head, a long black bill with a yellow tip and short black legs (RSPB website). Spring migrants arrive from mid-March and nesting begins in late April. See sporadically around the harbour during the nesting period with birds keeping nearer the harbour mouth as they go out and feed (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/sandwich-tern/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=S

A big, colourful duck, bigger than a mallard but smaller than a goose. Both sexes have a dark green head and neck, a chestnut belly stripe and a red bill (RSPB website). Adults arrive in the harbour in October. Breeding is over by July at which point local creches of youngsters can be seen and the balance of adults leave the harbour. They have been found to breed at Brownsea Island, Arne, Lytchett Bay, Green Island, Brands Bay, Goathorn Point, Newton Bay, Fitzworth and Studland (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/shelduck/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=S

A medium sized elegant wading bird, slightly larger than a redshank. In summer plumage the adults are almost entirely black, save for some white ‘spotting’ on the wings, a white ‘wedge’ on the back showing clearly in flight and a barred tail. In winder they have a grey back and paler under parts with a more prominent eye stripe than a redshank and lacking the white wing bars (RSPB website). Traditional wintering site in the north-east corner of Holes Bay and Brownsea Lagoon from Oct-Mar. Birds on passage can be seen at Middlebere, Brands Bay and Arne Bay (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/spotted-redshank/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=S

Teal are small dabbling ducks. Males have a chestnut-coloured head with broad green eye patches, a spotted chest, grey flanks, and a black edged yellow tail. Females are a mottled brown colour. Both males and females show bright green wing patches during flight (RSPB website). Displaying teal can be found at Little Sea or Holes Bay around dawn in March and early April. Breeding is known to occur in Poole Harbour although the specific location is not always known. Breeding pairs have been observed at Brownsea Island, Studland, Ham Lake, Lytchett and Arne (Birds of Poole Harbour website).

Measurements:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/teal/ https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/birds/?letter=T

The common seal is smaller than the grey seal and has a shorter head and a more concave forehead. The nostrils are v-shaped and vary in colour from blonde to black but are generally grey with dark spots. They are found in sheltered shores and estuaries where they haul out on sandbanks and beaches (Dorset Wildlife Trust website).

Measurements:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/marine-mammals-and-sea-turtles/common-seal

The grey seal is the larger of the two UK seal species and have a longer head with a distinctive ‘roman nose’ profile. Their nostrils are parallel rather than v-shaped and they are mainly grey in colour, with the pattern of darker blotches and spots being used to identify individual animals. As with the common seal they can be seen hauled out on beaches (Dorset Wildlife Trust website).

Measurements:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/marine-mammals-and-sea-turtles/grey-seal

Long-snouted seahorses have a longer snout than the short-snouted seahorses. They also have fleshy protuberances along the back which looks like a horse’s mane or small spines. It has an angular body framed by tubercles, a prehensile tail and is usually a greenish-yellow colour. They live in shallow coastal waters and rely on the prehensile tail to attach to seaweed and seagrass (Dorset Wildlife Trust website).

Measurements:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/fish-sharks-skates-and-rays/long-snouted-seahorse

Short-snouted seahorses are found in shallow waters, commonly in estuaries or areas of seagrass. This species has a short, upturned snout which is less then 1/3 of the length of the head. The body is curved with an angled head and a curled, prehensile tail. Unlike other seahorse species, the short-snouted seahorse does not have a mane. Colouration varies from light brown to mottled purple (Wildlife Trust website).

Measurements:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/fish-sharks-skates-and-rays/short-snouted-seahorse