It’s suddenly got colder as a strong easterly wind picked up during the course of the day, and with it delivered another new bird for the calendar year in the shape of a Short-eared Owl. However it may have actually been 4 Short-eared Owls, with a group of four ‘owls’ seen chasing each other across the Arne Road this evening, one of which definitely was a ‘Shortie’, so it stands to reason all four could have been. The Cirl Bunting flock was still at Old Harry, with 9 counted today, the 10 Glossy Ibis were on Wareham Common, as was a female Merlin and 53 Cattle Egret. At Sandbanks 3 Purple Sandpiper were on the angled groyne by North Haven with 35 Sanderling. At Lytchett Fields a Little Gull was still milling about, a Slavonian Grebe and 4 Great Northern Diver were off Jerry’s Point with another Slavonian Grebe in Studland Bay. The Siberian Chiffchaff was still at the PCW drain, 3 (Lesser) Redpoll were at Hatch Pond and Holes Bay held an amazing 4600+ Black-tailed Godwit.

Also we’d like to thank the RSPB Arne team for allowing us to install a new camera on a favoured perching branch we know many migrant Ospreys like to use, which will allow us to read ring numbers of local and passage birds during the Spring, Summer and Autumn of 2026. Today this Raven came and tested the camera out for us.

Raven on ‘Osprey perch’ 

Glossy Ibis flock – Wareham Common – Trevor Warwick