Holes Bay Nature Park
Birds, Wildlife and Ecology
About the Nature Park
The 286 hectare (707 acre) Holes Bay Nature Park stretches from Asda (opposite Poole Railway Station) to Upton Country Park and Hamworthy.
The Nature Park was launched in March 2015 as a new initiative to bring together landowners, local communities and local businesses to enjoy and help to look after this very special place.
It is one of the best places to enjoy the wildlife of Poole Harbour. The saltmarsh and intertidal mudflats are a haven for wetland birds, many of which feed on the rich invertebrate life of Poole Harbour’s mud.
Species found here include the black-tailed godwit, little egret, redshank, kingfisher, oystercatcher, curlew, avocet, teal, wigeon, red-breasted merganser, spoonbill; bass, mullet, flounder, corkwing wrasse, gobies, clams and cockles; more than 80 species of marine invertebrates including king ragworm; woodland ground flora, saltmarsh plants and grassland with orchids.
In 2020 a local group, inspired by the long-established Lytchett Bay report, came together to produce an annual Holes Bay Nature Park report with the aim of promoting Holes Bay, Upton Country Park and the surrounding farm fields as a haven for nature, to record and share wildlife sightings, and to encourage more records. The group’s first report includes a fascinating introduction to the area, some extracts from which are included below together with the full annual reports which are available to download.
The Lookout
The area of Holes Bay north of the railway bridge, including Pergins Island, is a designated Nature Reserve and Bird Sensitive Area due to its use by internationally significant numbers of feeding and roosting birds; there is no public access to this area.
However, there are excellent views across that area from The Lookout (the new bird hide at Upton Country Park) which is located on the Shoreline Path.
A brief introduction to the birds of Holes Bay Nature Park
by Martin Adams
Holes Bay Nature Park is a haven for wildlife in an urban environment, a site where wildlife thrives despite being surrounded by human activity. We use Holes Bay and the land around it for transport, housing, retail and industry, as well as for leisure activities such as boating, cycling, fishing, dog walking, and of course birdwatching.
Despite all this, Holes Bay is a thriving and arguably improving habitat for nature. The Nature Park is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) primarily for its importance to wintering birds, and the area north of the railway bridge is classified as a Bird Sensitive Area. However, the site’s importance is rather underrated: not just by the public but even by birders. The section of the A35 that runs past The Bay is the busiest road in Poole, and many birders understandably prefer more sedate sites like Arne or Brownsea. This is a shame, because Holes Bay is equal to anywhere in Dorset in the right season in terms of birds alone, especially for sheer numbers. Besides, when you are focused just on the birds, everything else just melts away, and even the noise of all that traffic can’t drown out the Curlew’s cry.
Many people – incomprehensibly to birders – don’t focus on the birds at all, or even notice them. A Peregrine Falcon can often be seen roosting on the concrete of the Asda building, casting a cold majestic eye over the passing pigeons, and the occasional indifferent glance at us humans. Yet the key phrase here is that it can be seen: Often it isn’t. Most shoppers passing by below are completely unaware that they are in the presence of the fastest creature on Earth.
Commuters speed by in the trains rushing over the embankment that bisects the bay, yet most are blissfully unaware that when the tide & time is right they could glance up and see thousands of winter wildfowl & waders.
Kingfisher roosting © Mark Wright
Drivers in the cars that grind along the busy roads around The Bay don’t even have the chance of this brief view, and have no way of knowing that a Kingfisher might be roosting in the underpass beneath them. Even walkers and cyclists might not look up and see a Kingfisher flashing by, or Osprey hunting overhead as they pass by.
Many people enjoying a relaxing day out in Upton Country Park will stop to enjoy the breath-taking views, and they can’t help but notice the birdlife in winter. These distant views however don’t always allow them to appreciate the full beauty of a close up view of a drake Teal or Wigeon, the true importance of the site to the birds, or the incredible journeys that they make to reach it.
Poole Harbour hosts nationally and internationally important numbers of wintering birds. 25,000 birds winter in Poole Harbour, and more pass through on the way to their wintering grounds. These birds come from as far afield as Russia, Scandinavian, Continental Europe, Northern & Eastern Britain, Iceland and even the high arctic of Greenland and Canada.
To give one example, on September 28th 2020 there were 1290 Black-tailed Godwit in Holes Bay. The Black-tailed Godwit (or Blackwit) that over-winter in Britain are Icelandic breeding birds, so they have travelled a distance of over 1100 miles to feed on the mud of Holes Bay. However, some of these birds are just passing through on an even longer journey to Southern Europe or Africa.
Black-tailed Godwit © Martin Adams
Black-tailed Godwit © Martin Adams
Poole Harbour hosts nationally and internationally important numbers of wintering birds. 25,000 birds winter in Poole Harbour, and more pass through on the way to their wintering grounds. These birds come from as far afield as Russia, Scandinavian, Continental Europe, Northern & Eastern Britain, Iceland and even the high arctic of Greenland and Canada.
To give one example, on September 28th 2020 there were 1290 Black-tailed Godwit in Holes Bay. The Black-tailed Godwit (or Blackwit) that over-winter in Britain are Icelandic breeding birds, so they have travelled a distance of over 1100 miles to feed on the mud of Holes Bay. However, some of these birds are just passing through on an even longer journey to Southern Europe or Africa.
Spoonbill © René Goad
Holes Bay is used as both a roost and a feeding area for birds. It is the warmest part of Poole Harbour, with so many streams feeding into it, it is relatively sheltered, and it offers the birds 360° views – crucial for them to spot potential predators. Further erosion though, and rising sea levels, could potentially mean those roosts are lost and The Bay would become a less attractive habitat.
For now however, we are blessed with an extraordinary habitat. As the wildlife is habituated to people it allows for extraordinarily close views of birds that would usually bolt at the first sign of human activity, making Holes Bay a place where nature thrives close to us, whilst also allowing us to get closer to nature.
Holes Bay Nature Park Birds and Wildlife Reports
The birds, wildlife and ecology of Holes Bay and Upton Country Park
The information included above are short extracts from Martin Adam’s overview of the history and ecology of the area in the first (2020) annual Holes Bay Nature Park Birds and Wildlife Report. These reports cover an area that takes in Holes Bay and Upton Country Park incl. the surrounding farm fields, and from 2021 are expanded to encompass flora and fauna.
All reports published to date are made available below:
Goldcrest © Martin Adams
Goldcrest © Martin Adams
Holes Bay Nature Park Birds and Wildlife Reports
The birds, wildlife and ecology of Holes Bay and Upton Country Park
The information included above are short extracts from Martin Adam’s overview of the history and ecology of the area in the first (2020) annual Birds and Wildlife Report. Surveys & observations cover an area that takes in Holes Bay and Upton Country Park incl. the surrounding farm fields, and from 2021 are expanded to encompass flora and fauna.
All reports published to date are all made available below:
2023 Report - contents
- Introduction
- Birds recorded in Holes Bay and Upton Country Park in 2023
- Bats in and around Upton Country Park – a historical review
- Fungi recorded in Upton Country Park and Holes Bay in 2023
- 100 pages, 190 photographs & other images
Download the 2023 report (PDF, 3MB)
2022 Report - contents
- The Birds of Holes Bay, a monthly round-up for 2022
- Birds recorded in Holes Bay and Upton Country Park in 2022
- Holes Bay Bird Checklist
- Vascular plants of Holes Bay between the eastern gate of Upton Country Park and Sterte, April-July 2022
- Flora recorded around Bascombe’s Wood and Pond in 2022
- Moths recorded in Upton Country Park and Holes Bay in 2022
- The moths of Upton Country Park, a monthly round-up for 2022
- Dragonflies of Upton Country Park and Holes Bay
- Some changes in the shoreline fauna at Upton Country Park between 1988 and 2018
- 202 pages, 336 photographs & other images
Download the 2022 report (PDF, 7MB)
2021 Report - contents
- The Birds of Holes Bay, a monthly round-up for 2021
- Birds recorded in Holes Bay and Upton Country Park in 2021
- Peregrins at Holes Bay – history, prey selection and future prospects
- Notable Fungi at Upton Country Park
- Vascular plants of Holes Bay between the eastern gate of Upton Country Park and Sterte, April-June 2021
- The moths of Upton Country Park – moths recorded in 2020-2021
- Patterns of tension and harmony between architecture and nature within Holes Bay – can architecture offer a solution to one of the greatest problems of out time?
- 165 pages, 306 photographs & other images
Download the 2021 report (PDF, 6MB)
2020 Report - contents
- Introduction to Holes Bay by Martin Adams
- Birds recorded in Holes Bay and Upton Country Park in 2020
- The Wetland Survey (WeBS counts) in Holes Bay
- Spartina, birds and bird watching in Holes Bay
- Reptiles and landscape changes around Holes Bay
- 80 pages, 109 photographs & other images
Download the 2020 report (PDF, 6MB)
Get involved! Sightings can be shared via the group’s Holes Bay Nature Twitter account @Bayholes, or e-mailed to Nick Woods
Map below for mobile & tablet only