A stunning morning welcomed us in today, with a huge low tide just after dawn where there were plenty of waders out across the mudflats. Curlew numbers were at 100+ in the Wareham Channel this morning along with 20+ Redshank, c30 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Whimbrel, plus a few juvenile Lapwing were on Giggers Island with a Great White Egret in the mouth of the River Piddle. Also in evidence were the first returning sinensis Cormorant with a small group feeding in the Wareham Channel on the low tide. Brands Bay also saw a good return on the low tide with 7 Lapwing, 67 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, 13 Black-tailed Godwit and 52 Redshank. The Spotted Redshank was still on Lytchett Fields along with the patches first Common Sandpiper of the autumn. This evening a White-tailed Eagle stole prey off a Marsh Harrier on the Gull Islands in the Wareham Channel, and an Osprey was hunting between Shipstal and Lytchett Bay.

Measuring the gular pouch of a Wareham Channel Cormorant this AM highlighting a likely sinensis Cormorant