Another beautifully stunning winter day, with a sprinkling of frost covering almost all parts of the harbour at dawn. Yesterday the 3 Eider were out in central harbour again with the adult male still present. There were 2 ringtail Hen Harrier logged at an undisclosed site yesterday evening and a Goshawk was seen in Middlebere this afternoon. At Swineham 4 Great White Egret were roosting on the edge of the gravel pit and there was a definite arrival of Tufted Duck with 136 present. Also around Swineham a Goshawk (possibly the Middlebere bird) and 8 Marsh Harrier were hunting/active in the area on the Barclays Building 2 Peregrine were roosting together. Off Jerry’s Point 1 Great Northern Diver and 2 Red-throated Diver were feeding and in Shell Bay 4 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 2 Common Scoter were out in the bay. On the Brownsea Lagoon, we were playing around with the webcam at lunchtime, testing it’s capabilities on a close Avocet when a colour-ringed individual walked on by. We managed to find the scheme and it’s a Dutch ringed individual from the Wadden Sea area, although exact details are yet to be received.

Dutch Colour-ringed Avocet and un-ringed Avocet – Video grab from Brownsea Webcam