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| Snow Bunting - Hamworthy, Dorset 14.1.25 |
If like me you play the game of trying to see as many birds as possible in a year, then January is an exciting time. After a good birding year (200 UK species plus a couple of overseas trips), I had made a loose New Year's resolution to take things easier in 2025. So when I returned from celebrating Hogmanay with friends in Scotland and discovered that a Snow Bunting had been reported at Hamworthy Park in Poole I didn't immediately take the bait.
However, the bird, which had first been sighted on 30 December last year, showed no desire to move away, and so this morning I finally cracked and headed over for a look.
At first sight, Hamworthy Park looks like an unlikely place for a Snow Bunting to decide to spend the winter months. Although sited on the harbour edge, where the waterside walkway was being enjoyed by a lot of dog walkers this morning, the park's close mown grass flanked by a line of beach huts hardly adds up to a slice of prime habitat. And while Poole Harbour has a history of hosting the occasional Snow Bunting, they generally favour its wilder corners, such as the one at Redhorn Quay on Studland in November 2021 (below).
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| Snow Bunting (2021) on the wilder side of Poole Harbour - Studland, Dorset |
The 2021 Studland Snow Bunting was a flighty thing, rarely settling in one place and easily spooked by passing people. I was one of two or three birders watching it that day, and we took care to keep our distance. Not so at Hamworthy Park this morning. This Snow Bunting was perched on a noticeboard just metres away from a small group of admiring locals, whose dogs ran cheerfully around chasing balls and paying the bird no attention whatsoever. The Snow Bunting was so close to these people that I'd almost walked past before I realised what they were looking at. I had mistakenly assumed that the bird would be avoiding passers-by. In contrast, it seemed to almost be enjoying the attention. My 400 lens felt like an overkill - I could probably have used my phone camera to similar effect.
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| Snow Bunting - Hamworthy 14.1.25 |
I had a chat with the people watching the bird. None were birders, and all seemed very pleased that it had chosen their park to spend the winter in. They were especially interested in where it might have come from. You can't say for sure of course, but I did mention that wintering Snow Buntings were regularly seen on the UK's coasts, albeit more commonly on the east coasts of Scotland and England, and that the species did breed in small numbers in the Scottish Highlands - where I've seen small flocks on several Munros (Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet). However, most of the UK's Snow Bunting winter visitors are likely to be migrants from the continent, breeding in northern Scandinavia and Arctic Russia.
Doing some subsequent research, I see that while large flocks of wintering Snow Buntings have been reported on eastern English coasts in the past, there are large variations in numbers depending on weather variations in the near continent (Brown & Grice, 2005). In Dorset, where the species is described as a scarce passage migrant and rare winter visitor, recent records have been single individuals onl,y with (for example) fewer than 10 birds recorded on passage in 2023 (Dorset Bird Club, 2024). This accords with my experience: I've never seen more than a one bird at any one time on the coasts of either England or Scotland.
The Hamworthy Snow Bunting fits in with this pattern, although its presence in a single location for over two weeks is unusual. One of the locals that I spoke to suggested that food may be being put out for it, which would perhaps explain why it seemed so relaxed in the company of people. However, I saw no evidence of seeds or other bird food lying around.
I left feeling both positive about the obviously warm welcome that the Snow Bunting has received in Hamworthy and apprehensive about its future in a location with so little natural cover. It will be interesting to see whether the bird stays on here - and if so, for how long.
But in the meantime, I'm enjoying reflecting on these fantastic views of such an attractive winter visitor.
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| Snow Bunting - Hamworthy, Dorset 14.1.25 |
References
Brown, A. & Grice, P. (2005) Birds in England. London: T & AD Poyser
Dorset Biird Club (2024) Dorset Bird Report 2023.
