Happily it seems few people managed to get out and spot some birds before the rain set in this morning! At Holme Lane Gravel Pit there was 1 Barnacle Goose, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, and 1 Yellow Legged Gull, the latter of which there was another in Lytchett Bay. At Middlebere on the rising tide there were 2 Spotted Redshank rapidly losing their summer plumage, 2 Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Green Sandpiper, 6 Common Tern & a distant Great Great White Egret. In Holes Bay NW there were 2 Whimbrel present alongside a Curlew for helpful comparison, alongside 120+ Black-tailed Godwit. On Brownsea Lagoon the 3 Avocet chicks were still present, along with 4 Spoonbill, building numbers of Dunlin and Redshank, and an encouraging 25 Sandwich Tern and 60+ Common Tern fledglings. Speaking of which the third and final Osprey chick (female 5H5) fledged this morning, copying her two younger brothers by flying up to the camera perch, but quickly returning to the nest when the next feeding opportunity arrived. A Goshawk was also seen distantly over the nest site.

Curlew (left) and Whimbrel (right) – Holes Bay NW – Holes Bay Nature (@bayholes on Twitter)