The downpours and wind today definitely brought an element of winter with it, but some stunning sunshine by mid-morning saw autumn return quite quickly. At Swineham the Cattle Egret was again with the cows on the ‘scrape fields’ along with a Marsh Harrier over there too and just 13 Lapwing and 2 Black-tailed Godwit being the only waders on the Stilt Pools with a Yellow-legged Gull. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were 3 Spoonbill and in Holes Bay 1270 Black-tailed Godwit with 407 Wigeon now, along with drake Pintail, Teal, Shoveler (and Wigeon) all starting to lose their eclipse plumage and starting to look a lot smarter. At Lytchett fields there was 348 Dunlin along with a Cattle Egret too. The first Rock Pipits are also now back along the shorelines on the Sandbanks side of the ferry.

Rock Pipit – Sandbanks – Nick Gadenne