A bit of rain first thing but the recent wind and rain seems to have brought in some new arrivals into the harbour. 1 Black-throated Diver and 1 Red-throated Diver were seen flying in through the harbour entrance this morning, along with still large numbers of Shag (127). From our Winter Safari Cruise this morning we also had 2 Great Northern Diver in South Deep, 2 Common Scoter in central harbour and 5 Black-necked Grebe sheltering on the north side of Furzey Island. There were c700 Avocet on the Brownsea Lagoon, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit and 16 Greenshank. 11 Glossy Ibis were showing well at Swineham, viewed from both the boat and the two rivers walk. There were also 3 Marsh Harrier, c300 Avocet (no doubt overlap with Brownsea birds), 3 Grey Plover and 1 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel on the low tide. 1 Merlin was seen flying over Wareham Common this afternoon. 20 Spoonbill were at Shipstal point, RSPB Arne.

A rather breezy and showery day in the harbour, and a bit quiet on the birding front! This morning 1 Black-throated Diver flew in through the harbour entrance. The usual group of 12 Glossy Ibis were still around, having flown over Swineham Gravel Pits and then settling at Curlew Pools, although being temporarily flushed by 1 Marsh Harrier. On the rising tide this morning at Middlebere, there were 8 Grey Plover, 104 Redshank, 120 Avocet, 157 Dunlin, 351 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Spotted Redshank, and 1 Merlin. In the Lower Piddle Valley, there were 316 Greylag Geese and 1 Red Kite. At Swineham, there were 460 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Firecrest, and 1 male Marsh Harrier. This morning in Holes Bay, there were 220 Dunlin, 186 Shoveler, and 9 Avocet.

A cracking boat this morning as we took out teams from Natural England’s south-west strategy launch and saw 3 White-tailed Eagles, including 2 adults and 1 juvenile, just 30 minutes of leaving Poole Quay! A fantastic example of species recovery in action. We also saw 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 Red Kite, 15 Spoonbill, and 6 Cattle Egret. Elsewhere in the harbour, 33 Dunlin, 66 Lapwing, and 3 Grey Plover were at RSPB Lytchett Fields, with 1 adult and 1 juvenile White-tailed Eagle flying over low and heading towards the Bakers Arms as well as 1 Brambling flying over the feeding station. c2500 Gulls roosted on Brownsea Lagoon this evening, mostly made up of Herring Gull, c200 Great Black-backed Gull, and a dozen Lesser-black Backed Gulls.

It felt like it could have been a good Wood Pigeon morning this morning, with the last big final migration of the year often taking place during this period. Although weather conditions were ‘ok’, it didn’t build up to the massive movement we were hoping for. Still, a grand total of 13,055 were counted from Sea View at Constitution Hill, Poole, along with other highlights being 2 Woodlark, 2 Brambling, 2 Lesser Redpoll and c10 Redwing. At the harbour entrance this morning a Black-throated Diver flew into the harbour along with 1 Common Scoter, 5 Red-breasted Merganser and 133 European Shag. In and around the Wareham Channel there were 3 White-tailed Eagle and 4 Marsh Harrier, plus another White-tailed Eagle flew low over the Bakers Arms this afternoon. The Swineham area was busy with wetland birds including 8 Glossy Ibis over Swineham Point, 4 Great White Egret and 5 Spotted Redshank were in the Lower Piddle Valley, c50 Cattle Egret were around the Bestwall floods. At Shipstal Point, RSPB Arne 15 Spoonbill were roosting. An adult male Hen Harrier flew down the Piddle Valley this morning and was seen at Swineham this afternoon.

It was shaping up to possibly be a Wood Pigeon morning with logged 4390 over Upton, but as soon as a few flocks got going, a large blanket of cloud appeared from the west and killed off, meaning mo more decided to leave. However, tomorrow morning looks perfect and could see a strong passage from dawn, with calm, clear sky’s, which make for perfect conditions for large numbers of Wood Pigeon to move. A Brambling also flew over Upton. There were 3 different White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel area and 3 Marsh Harrier were at Swineham. There were 2 Spotted Redshank in the Lower Piddle Valley along with masses of Greylag and Canada Geese, hence why it looks like the eagles are hanging around so much.

A Black Redstart in Wareham was a nice arrival in a slightly calmer day in the harbour. It was showing at Bells Orchard Lane on the rooves on the north side. The 12 Glossy Ibis were still frequenting the fields around Sunnyside, this time 2 fields over to the West. On the Brownsea Lagoon from our School Bird Boat there were 38 Spoonbill, 10 Grey Plover, 2 Knot, c500 Avocet and c10 Bar-tailed Godwit. 1 Water Pipit was at Lytchett Fields RSPB. A huge number of Black-tailed Godwit were on Pools field at Lytchett with 826 counted, a record count for this field.