There’s no sign of this ‘big freeze’ the papers keep referring too, in fact the words overly mild seem more appropriate. On Brownsea the pretty sedentary 32 Spoonbill remained along with a Great White Egret early morning and 12 Spotted Redshank. The 2 Common Scoter were again in Holes Bay and they were joined by a Common Sandpiper on the railway bridge. In Brands Bay a Short-eared Owl was hunting and there were finally a few Grey Plover with 5 present along with 5 Red-breasted Merganser, 96 Brent Geese 39 Avocet. There was another Short-eared Owl hunting on Otter Island in Lytchett Bay. There was another Black Redstart on the roof of the farm buildings at Arne, and no less than 4 Brambling were underneath the feeders outside the visitors center. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen in Middlebere and another (or the same) out over Swineham. There was a minimum of 5 Marsh Harrier in and around the Wareham Channel area.

The full moon that occurs during this time period is also known as the Woodcock moon, for the obvious reason that Woodcock start to arrive in bigger numbers during this period, but its not only Woodcock that advantage of the bright clear nights at the end of October. We could also see bigger numbers of Red-breasted Merganser arriving and the first Goldeneyes of the winter too.

ARNE FORGARE FESTIVAL – This Saturday, October 31^st is the sixth Arne Forage Festival to be held at Arne RSPB Reserve. The festival starts at 11am (although get there early for parking) and finishes at 4pm. We’ll be there hosting a ringing demo in partnership with The Stour Ringing Group from 10am – 2pm, so come along and see some of our most familiar garden and woodland birds up close for a fascinating insight in to their lives.