It was a red letter day in the harbour today that started off with an early morning foggy and very (very) brief Glossy Ibis at Lytchett Fields then the Pectoral Sandpiper was re-found on the ‘Stilt Pools’ at Swineham, however you could have been forgiven in thinking you’d gone cross-eyed when there was suddenly two all of a sudden! A ‘Pec Sand’ alone is rare enough in Poole Harbour but two together is exceptional, although not the first. In 1992 there was another occurrence of two at Swineham. Anyway, the scarcity hat-trick was completed when a Wryneck was found along the Raptor Trail walk at Arne and photographed by Andy Hirst. It’s funny how in the space of 2 years Cattle Egret are no longer considered ‘hot’ enough to make it on to a days scarcity list, but hey ho, we’ll still mention there were 2 at Swineham today. The weather forecast over the next week or so is mouth watering with east/north-easterly/south-easterly winds settling for a decent period of time. The wind had already swung by dawn today and look what it delivered! Osprey were seen with 2 at Lytchett Bay and another in Middlebere and Marsh Harrier were seen at both sites. Willow Warbler seem to have all but moved through now with Chiffchaff now dominating the phyllosc abundance. On Ballard there were 2 Wheatear and a Whinchat. In Brands Bay there was a Curlew Sandpiper, c160 Black-tailed godwit, 22 Dunlin and 2 Greenshank. There was also a Ruff at Lytchett Fields along with 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat and 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Two Pectoral Sandpiper – Swineham – David Foster

Wryneck – Coombe Heath, Arne – Andy Hirst