Once again, it was another bird-packed day across the harbour recording area, with this morning seeing our first ‘Safari Cruise’ of 2026 which logged a great mix of winter species including the drake Scaup off Goathorn, 7 Black-necked Grebe out in South Deep, 4 Great Northern Diver spread across the harbour, 18 Spoonbill and c200 Avocet roosting on the Gull Islands in the Wareham Channel, 1 White-tailed Eagle in the Wareham Channel and 7 Marsh Harrier and 1 Merlin around Swineham. Other highlights from the day included the flock of c40 Russian White-fronted Geese moving between their favourite field at Ridge and RSPB Arne Moors, 1 Barnacle Goose at Swineham, the 10 Glossy Ibis were feeding in the mid-Frome Valley, just off the by-pass and later flew into Swineham to roost along with c50 Cattle Egret, 2 Great White Egret and a Bittern flew across the pit at dusk. There was also 1 Black-throated Diver that flew into the harbour at dawn and 1 Slavonian Grebe was off Jerry’s Point and a drake Pochard was on Swineham GP. Elsewhere there were 15 Tundra Bean Geese just outside the recording area between Holmebridge and Wool, just below Binnigar.

Female Merlin – Swineham GP from this mornings Winter Safari – Martin Wright