How warm is it? With the forecast predicting 22 degrees today its no surprise many autumn vis-mig species are so low in numbers…they still think its mid-summer! Normally by now species such as Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Linnet and Siskin are passing in good numbers along Ballard and South Haven however numbers so far have been minimal. We really need a good cold snap to bring things back into sync and to prompt some birds to get moving. That said, a flock of 10 Barnacle Geese over Sunnyside Farm was a good record. The/a Cattle Egret was again near the Wareham Causeway, although further west towards the bypass. On Brownsea 8 Spoonbill were still present but later moved over to Arne and there were also 5 Spotted Redshank on Brownsea along with 26 Curlew, 11 Grey Plover, 10 Greenshank, 119 Black-tailed Godwit, 13 Bar-tailed Godwit, 397 Avocet, 18 Shoveler and 8 Wigeon. There was a Merlin on Coombe Heath and another (or the same) on Hartland Moor and a Firecrest in the Arne car park. There was a Wheatear at Lytchett Fields along with 1 Knot, 16 Dunlin and 200+ Redshank in Lytchett Bay. At Lytchett Heath a ringing session at dawn to monitor Bearded Tit numbers in the reedbed saw 23 caught (15 new and 8 re-traps).

Male and female Bearded Tit – Lytchett Heath – Paul Morton