A very flooded Middlebere produced c400 Avocet, c500 Black-tailed Godwit, 76 lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 37 Curlew, 5 Spotted Redshank, 47 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 19 Pintail numerous Redshank and a male Marsh Harrier. A flock of 20 Fieldfare and hundreds of Starling were feeding among the surrounding hedges. A count of c150 Dark-bellied Brent Goose were recorded at the mouth of Middlebere Lake.

Lytchett Fields harboured a minimum of 3 Water Pipit, 2 Spotted Redshank, 103 Lapwing and 4 Tufted Duck. A Firecrest was observed at Holton Lee today, while the Pools logged a single Green Sandpiper. Holes Bay South featured a Kingfisher early afternoon and a Grey Wagtail from the cycle path along Holes Bay East. A Black Redstart was reported on Brownsea Island this afternoon.

Sightings were a bit thin on the ground today, with Wareham Common and Swineham some of the few areas covered. The floods next to Wareham Bypass on Wareham Common held 2 Egyptian Goose and 163 Black-tailed Godwit. There was a Grey Wagtail at North Mill. On the Big Pit at Swineham there were 4 Pochard and 1 Pintail, but no sign of the Phalarope.

There was also no sign of the Phalarope on the pools, however, there were three species of wader on the Curlews Pool namely Lapwing 7, Curlew 10 and 4 Black-tailed Godwit. On Stilt pool there were 160 Canada Goose and a single Black-tailed Godwit.

Outside the recording area a Pomerine Skua flew past Durlston Country Park and a Hoopoe was also reported.

By far the most significant sighting today has been over 12,000 Wood Pigeon moving over the harbour, however this was halted when low cloud cover came in. Flying high over Brownsea c6000 were sighted whilst 2725w were seen over Lytchett around 09.20 and 7925 were also seen heading SW over Alum Chine Road between 07.15 and 09.00.  

A guillemot was also seen in Brands Bay, whilst a Firecrest was noted at Middlebere. A pair of Shoveler were also seen at Hatch Pond along with an increasing roost of 143 Magpie. Sunnyside is seeing a variety of species including a Snipe, 14 Lapwing and a Kingfisher.

There were plenty of Meadow Pipit seen at Holten Lee today as well as Little Egret. Clear visibility allowed sites of 2 Sandwich Tern and 2 Brent Geese over at Studland.

A count at Lytchett revealed 9 Avocet, 2 Dunlin, 7 Green sandpiper, 21 Lapwing, 8 Snipe, 120 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Greenshank, 100 Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 34 Curlew, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Little Grebe.

A chilly high of 11°C and calm winds of 9mph brought a wintery crisp feel to the day today.  The Brownsea Lagoon webcam focused on a flock of c40 Avocet with most of them dispersing throughout the afternoon. Curlew, Grey Plover and Redshank were also present, and the Peregrine was back over on its usual island in the late afternoon.

Lytchett Fields recorded 1 Marsh Harrier and 3 Water Pipit were spotted from Frenches Farm viewing platform this morning.

The Coombe Heath hide at Arne provided views of c200 Avocet, flocks of Black–tailed Godwit, Wigeon and Teal, all of which were spooked by a low flying Marsh Harrier along the Middlebere Channel.

Slepe Heath saw a flurry of Bird of Prey activity with 4 Marsh Harrier, 8 Buzzard and 1 Kestrel observed.  3 Raven, 1 Dartford Warbler, 4 Redwing, 8 Skylark, 1 Rock Pipit, c20 Meadow Pipit and 2 Lesser Redpoll were also logged at this location.

Swineham had a wide variety of species recorded today with 10 Bearded Tit over on the reeds, 3 Reed Bunting, 36 Gadwall, 3 Tufted Duck, 6 Great Crested Grebe, c100 Coot and 3 Marsh Harrier. A Phalarope (sp. presumed Grey) was also recorded at Swineham’s main Pit, whilst over at Swineham Scrape, 2 Black–tailed Godwit, 10 Lapwing, 2 Stonechat and 2 Curlew were spotted.  

Other notable sightings were a Hawfinch on the edge of Holten Heath, a lone Redshank on Holes Bay, 2 Nuthatch on the Holton Lee webcam and a Black Redstart visiting a garden feeder in Parkstone.

Not may reports trickled in today unsurprisingly – a miserable day all round! A visit to Middlebere produced small numbers. A total of 32 Avocet, 1 Curlew, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, c90 Teal, 40 Wigeon, 3 Pintail and 31 Canada Geese were recorded.

Many waders seemed to try and find some form of shelter on Brownsea Lagoon and a scan with the webcams revealed a large Avocet flock of c350 individuals. Black-tailed Godwit and common wildfowl were also numerous.