With the arrival of a Red-footed Falcon in Wareham Forest today, and the next week seeing constant ESE winds its worth keeping an eye out for scarcer species such as Shrikes, Storks, scarcer wader species, Terns etc. It was around this time last year that Poole Harbours 9^th Red-footed Falcon arrived on Wareham Water Meadows and the harbours 4^th White-winged Black Tern arrived at Swineham GP. Today at Lytchett Bay there was a Cuckoo over near Otter Island, on the Holton Lee side, also 3 Garden Warbler around the Lytchett Fields with 1 Whitethroat, 1 Sedge Warbler, 18 Whimbrel, 1 Lapwing, 2 Greenshank and 2 displaying Redshank. At the PCW Drain there was 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler and 1 Lesser Whitethroat. At Arne a Nightjar was heard singing briefly and a Cuckoo was on the Coombe Heath side. At Challow Hill a Lesser Whitethroat was singing with a rather subdued Nightingale, 10+ Common Whitethroat, 5 Yellowhammer and 4 Swift over. In the Middlebere Channel there were a minimum of 10 Whimbrel and a single Ringed Plover and 11 Dunlin. And finally, quite amazingly the ringtail Hen Harrier is STILL here. According to records over a 40 year period there has never been such a long staying ‘over-wintering’ Hen Harrier here in Dorset or anywhere else for that matter.