With the temperature dropping it seems there has been a bit of a clear out of some bird species as frost became settled on many cars even before 9pm. A night monitoring session at a usually productive site for Common Snipe, Woodcock and Teal saw ZERO birds present suggesting they’d moved out (south?) for a short while. However with the still weather continuing, open water species continue to be easier to count/find with 17 Black-necked Grebe out in Studland Bay, 2 Great Northern Diver out in South Deep, 21 Goldeneye and 24 Spoonbill off Shiptal Point, Arne and 2 Sandwich Tern off Baiter. A ringtail Hen Harrier was at Slepe Heath and then later seen at Middlebere for a brief period and out on the salt marsh Brent Geese totals seem to be at peak numbers with many birds spread out across the southern shores of the harbour. The results from our December WeBS count should be through soon so we’ll publish the results when they’re through.