Well, thats February over and done with. A soggy end, but a step closer to a warmer, spring time period of new arrivals and new birds. We saw out February with a low-tide cruise this afternoon and with the water 15cm lower than it should have been, then a short time aground seemed inevitable. However, despite what seemed like fewer birds during WeBS yesterday, there certainly still seemed to be reasonable numbers of Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit dark-bellied Brent Geese, Wigeon and Teal. Avocet were definitely down on numbers with only 2 in the Wareham Channel and c300 on the Brownsea Lagoon. Red-breasted Merganser were still in triple figures with c120 seen and Great Crested Grebe suddenly seemed a bit more numerous again having been quite sparse this winter. There were 3 Guillemot off Poole Quay/Port and Med Gulls were gathering in small numbers on the Brownsea Lagoon. At Lytchett Bay 3 Brambling are now using the feeders at the end of Slough Lane and at Swineham the 3 Tundra Bean Geese were still in the paddocks next to the B&B (view only from public footpath).

Tundra Bean Goose – Swineham – Peter Moore