The wind had built during the course of the morning making viewing open water species a tad tricky. Saying that, there were 2 Great Northern Diver off Hamworthy Beach and another 2 off Baiter along with the Red-necked Grebe near the house on stilts structure. Although its likely they’ve been present the whole time, the Cattle Egrets hadn’t been reported for a while, so it was nice to see 8 still along Holme Lane. On Shipstal 18 Spoonbill were present and there were 2 Eider in Bramble Bush Bay. Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye totals seem to be way down this winter, with only small groups out in open bodies of the harbour. Across the whole harbour yesterday we only counted around 10 and mergansers were around 75-100. At Middlebere a male Hen Harrier flew across in front of the hide and the ringtail was again seen out from Swineham Point.

Great Northern Diver – Off Baiter – Simon Kidner