This afternoon saw our last boat trip of the year. With that in mind, we’d like to say a HUGE thank you to anyone and everyone thats been on one (or many) of our trips/events this year. It’s made all the difference to have such great support from the public and we promise that 2023 will be no different. Todays boat trip was a great final sign off for the year and quite fitting that the final bird we saw before heading back to the quay was a stunning White-tailed Eagle sat in a tree only 200 yards off the side of the boat, lit up by the fading evening sunlight as it got mobbed by a crow. As Mark Wrights incredible photo below shows, it was 2 year old G812, the male that seems to have taken a liking to the harbour, along with female G866 who we also saw during the trip, but sat distantly in a tree. Other highlights included 6 Eider, with 5 off the NW Brownsea shore and an adult male off the Brownsea south shore. In the Wareham Channel a Spotted Redshank was feeding with 6 Knot and c900 Dunlin. In South Deep a flock of 29 Goldeneye alighted and settled near Goathorn and a single Black-necked Grebe was located. Frustratingly divers kept their distance but there were 2 Great Northern Diver off Hamworthy beach, 2 off Shipstal and another 2 off Jerry’s Point. What we lacked in close divers we made up for in close feeding Avocet, dark-bellied Brent Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank along the south harbour shore and in the Wareham Channel. Marsh Harrier numbers seem well down with only 2-3 seen at Swineham. Out on the open harbour decent numbers of Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe now seem present and Swineham GP had decent numbers of duck on it including Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Mallard. Spoonbill were logged in the Wareham Channel and in Middlebere. There were 2 Cattle Egret on Wareham Common again with a single Spotted Redshank seen at Lytchett Fields. Elsewhere a ringtail Hen Harrier was on a post viewed out from the Middlebere Lookout at Arne, a Purple Sandpiper was on the ledge in front of the Haven Hotel, in the PCW Drain a Cetti’s Warbler was seen and there were 5+ Common Chiffchaff and a Firecrest. 

Male White-tailed Eagle G812 – Wareham Channel – Mark Wright