The weather was back to its more traditional April format today with wind and light rain setting in by mid afternoon but waders still seem to be coming through  in small numbers. In Middlebere there were 5 Grey Plover, 8 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Whimbrel and 3 partial summer plumaged Spotted Redshank. On Brownsea Dunlin numbers reach 42 and there were 2 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, c200 Black-tailed Godwit and still 11 winter plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit. Common Tern numbers are still building slowly but we hope there’ll be a steady arrival of birds over the coming week in which they should then start using the tern islands in front of the hides. At Lytchett Bay there were 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Whimbrel, 813 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 House Martin and 4 Swallow. The first Swifts were over Swineham GP and 1 flew west past Slepe Heath mid morning. Another search for reptiles during the second day of our Dorset Discovery tour turned up a nice ‘pile’ of Adder at a survey spot near Arne. 

Slow Worms and Adders – Hartland