A cold NE wind which seemed to hold up a number of new arrivals, most notably 27 Sand Martin at Swineham with 2 Swallow. Plus 6 Spoonbill were seen leaving north at dusk over Swineham, possibly suggesting a departure of our over-wintering birds now heading back to breeding grounds. The Little Gull was still over the main pit and a Barn Owl was seen there at dusk. Plenty of Buzzard were displaying across the harbour and a Peregrine was over Corfe Castle. At Middlebere a ringtail Hen Harrier was seen and a Spotted Redshank was in the channel. At Little Sea the Great White Egret was still present and 2 Firecrest were near the Triangle Hide. A pair of Mandarin Duck were seen in the piddle Valley. Off Jerry’s Point there were 4 Slavonian Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Scaup, 4 Common Scoter, 225 Shelduck, 450 Black-tailed Godwit, 32 Bar-tailed Godwit, 105 Grey Plover and 37 Sanderling. It was also nice to see the first Sand Lizards emerging today on some of the local heaths, sheltering from the cold NE wind in little sun pockets tucked up amongst the heather.

Finally, yesterday we launched a fundraiser to raise the final amount needed to get the new Sunnyside Screen underway. Anticipating it to take at least a couple of weeks, we couldn’t believe it when we managed to raise the £450 needed in less than 24 hours. A huge thank you to everyone that donated and responded so quickly. We’re now aiming to hopefully have it completed by the end of March. Top work!

Sand Lizard – Hartland

Grey Seal – Brownsea Channel