A busy weekend with some glorious weather, finally! Starting with Friday 15th, there was very little coverage of the harbour with only a Hen Harrier at the Wytch Causeway, 3 Waxwing in Poole and a male Manderine Duck and 3 Snipe at Holmebridge reported. Interestingly a Smooth Snake was seen on Upton Heath, which is an exceptionally early record for this species. Saturday the 16th saw much more coverage with Brownsea holding 4 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 200 Avocet, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and 17 Black-necked Grebe off the southern shore was a great record. An evening watch at Lytchett Bay produced 14 Little Egret, 19 Snipe, 50+ Avocet, 1 Med Gull and 4 Water Rail. Best at Middlebere was a Hen Harrier and 2 Barn Owls. Finally, Sunday the 17th was a glorious day with Swineham seeing most attention with 2 Marsh Harrier, a Bittern, 2 Firecrest, 11 Spoonbill, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, Water Pipit, 4 Spotted Redshank, a Peregrine and 2 Med Gulls being the highlights. Another great record was a flock of 20 Barnacle Geese flew northeast over Lytchett Bay, also there a Tawny Owl and 2 Woodcock. Middlebere saw 9 Spoonbill (same flock recorded at Swineham in the morning), 4 Knot, 17 Grey Plover and 13 Black-tailed Godwit.