As winter creeps in so do the wintery bird species looking to kick autumn into touch. A female Eider was off the Houseboats at Studland which is a good early winter record with 6 Goldeneye and out in Shell Bay there were 2 Black-necked Grebe and 9 Common Scoter. In Brands Bay there were a few decent wildfowl totals with 359 Wigeon, 40 Pintail and 149 Teal. In the Frome Valley 4 Cattle Egret were found about 300m east of Holmebridge which were tricky to see but had flown to the floodplain near High Tor 20 minutes after being found. At Holton Pools a flock of 31 Lesser Redpoll flew over the hide towards Lytchett Fields, there were 18 Teal and 8 Wigeon on the pools with a Greenshank and Green Sandpiper and later in the day a Marsh and Hen Harrier and Water Pipit were logged too. In Holes Bay NE a single Bar-tailed Godwit was with 300+ Black-tailed Godwit, 800+ Wigeon and 2 Avocet with 2 Rock Pipit along the cycle path. In the warm sunshine a common Chiffchaff was in full song along the PC World drain. At Middlebere 2 Marsh Harrier flew past the hide and there were another 2 near Ridge later in the day which could relate to the same birds.

We’ve also now published our end of season Osprey 2018 blog, which gives an update on the ups and downs our team experienced this year. It offers an honest overview but is filled with the positive aspects we can build on and look forward to next year – FULL BLOG HERE

Bar-tailed Godwit – Holes Bay NE – Ian Ballam