Today was the third and final day of our Dorset Discovery Wildlife Tour, and what a day. With a visit to Brownsea, a harbour tour and a scout about the Studland Peninsular we were on to a good thing…and the harbour didn’t disappoint. Off Middle Beach at dawn there were 7 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Common Scoter and a single Great Northern Diver. From the Chain Ferry a single Sandwich Tern passed by. Brownsea Lagoon was looking amazing with a single Spoonbill, 1 female Merlin, 7 Spotted Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 6 Turnstone, 1 Snipe plus good counts of Dunlin, Grey Plover, Knot, Avocet, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and what seemed like hundreds of Red Squirrels. There were also 2 Firecrest near the Villa on Brownsea. Out on the water the Black Guillemot showed brilliantly off the SE corner of Brownsea, as did 7 Great Northern Diver. There was a first-winter male Eider off the west end of Brownsea with a Black-necked Grebe. On Shell Beach 22 Sanderling were counted and at Norden Sewage Works there was a single Chiffchaff and Firecrest.