There’s no doubt Poole Harbour is easiest to bird than in winter with good numbers of a whole host of species dotted around various parts of the harbour. With yesterdays Long-tailed Duck and Scaup the winter vibe really picked up and it continued this morning too with a Velvet Scoter settled out in Brands Bay along with 9 Black-necked Grebe, 46 Red-breasted Merganser, 28 Great Crested Grebe and a Great Northern Diver was in Shell Bay. Around the Groynes of North Haven 3 Rock Pipit were feeding on cast seaweed and a few Meadow Pipit were moving overhead. Out in Whitley Lake, Sandbanks there were 108 Brent Geese, 8 Red-breasted Merganser, 7 Bar-tailed Godwit and 11 Turnstone. Off Branksome Chine 3 Sandwich Tern were feeding along the shoreline and 3 Common Scoter were settled on the water at the end of the day before alighting and headed into the harbour where they settled off Jerry’s Point with 2 Great Northern Diver which also flew in at dusk whilst 23 Shag left. At Lytchett Fields there were 4 Avocet, 6 Greenshank, 8 Dunlin, c70 Redshank, 1 Water Pipit and 1 Rock Pipit and out in Lytchett Bay 49 Brent Geese, c100 Cormorant, 3 Little Grebe and 1 Red-breasted Merganser were on the water with 2 Bearded Tit in the reedbed. The Sunnyside Scrape was pretty flooded but held good numbers of Lapwing, Teal, Gadwall and Mallard and in Poole Park there was no sign of the Scaup but 1 Red-breasted Merganser and 3 Little Grebe were logged.