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.

Avocet – Wareham Channel from Winter Safari Cruise – John Thorpe