Today I accomplished something I’ve never done in Poole Harbour before, and that is encountering all possible raptor species (including owls). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the harbour is a raptor magnet in the winter and you could encounter any of the following species at numerous places around the harbour from November through to march. The ten species included Kestrel x 1 by the Wareham bypass, 
Peregrine x 2 – 1 at Holme Bridge and 1 at Arne, Merlin x 2  – 1 at Middlebere and 1 on Hartland, Hen Harrier x 1 on Hartland Moor,
 Marsh Harrier x 8 around the Wareham Channel,
Common Buzzard at  Arne,
Sparrowhawk x 1 over Wareham,
Short-eared Owl x 1 on Hartland,
Barn Owl x 1 at Middlebere and Tawny Owl x 1 at Holton Lee.  A few big groups of Greylag Geese, around 50+ came in to roost just before dusk and settled at Swineham, it was too dark to make out any ‘scarcities’ but these are the kind of flocks that Pink-footed and White-fronted Geese like to tag on to so well worth checking if you come across any geese flocks. Middlebere looked superb late afternoon on a falling tide with 200+ Avocet, 300+ Lapwing, 100+ Dunlin, plus numerous Redshank, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, Teal, Wigeon and plenty of sharming Water Rail. There were 2 Spoonbill in Holes Bay and a Chiffchaff at the outflow. Finally, I was lucky enough to capture some footage of the Short-eared Owl on Hartland this afternoon, plus some video of a large Curlew flock on the flooded fields at Swineham and a Lapwing in the Frome Valley.  You can watch the videos HERE