Wow, we haven’t seen a good storm like this for a while. Well, not for at least a few weeks!

The birding that was carried out today seemed to have been from the comfort of a hide or car it seems. At Baiter there were 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 11 Turnstone, 114 Brent Geese and 92 Oystercatcher. From Branksome Chine a very brief sea watched produced 1 Common Scoter, 1 Gannet and 4 Brent Geese all flew east. On the main Poole Park boating lake there were 4 Goldeneye (3 males and 1 female). From the hide at Brands Bay, Studland there were 62 Pintail, 74 Shelduck, 160 Brent Geese, 2 Goldeneye, 47 Great Crested Grebe, 300+ Wigeon, 8 Red-breasted Merganser, 8 Grey Plover, 5 Avocet, 4 Common Gull, 11 Great Black-backed Gull, 65 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit and a Knot.

As soon as things calm down a bit over the next 12-48 hours it would be well worth scanning the harbour for any blown in waif and strays such as Little Auk, more sea duck such as Long-tailed Duck, Velvet Scoter and Eider. Plus we could see higher than normal totals of species such as Great Northern Diver and even the odd Black-throated or Red-throated Diver.

Greenshank – Baiter – Paul Morton