Well, here we are a few hours before November and there was still an Osprey in the harbour this morning, there were a few crickets/grasshoppers still ‘chirping’ last night, plenty of bats were out hunting at dusk this evening and this afternoon a few small dragonflies were out on the wing, most likely Common Darter. With the mild weather set to continue is there a chance we could have November records for each of the taxa mentioned above, potentially making November the new September?! Thankfully there was an element of autumn/winter today with a Barnacle Goose in Brands Bay this evening and now 23 Red-breasted Merganser there too with 21 Great Crested Grebe and now 121 Pintail. A Common Sandpiper was in Holes Bay this morning, suggesting it’s likely to over-winter there seeing as the passage period for this species finished about a month ago. There were 3 Firecrest in scrub below Constitution Hill viewpoint and Short-eared Owl flew over Purbeck Golf Course this evening. The White-tailed Eagle pair were moving between Brands Bay and the Wareham Channel and a Great White Egret was in Middlebere. Early this morning a Brambling was sound recorded over Oakdale, Poole.

Avocet – Black-tailed Godwit and Pintail – Middlebere – Kate Plater