A busy weekend with some glorious weather, finally! Starting with Friday 15th, there was very little coverage of the harbour with only a Hen Harrier at the Wytch Causeway, 3 Waxwing in Poole and a male Manderine Duck and 3 Snipe at Holmebridge reported. Interestingly a Smooth Snake was seen on Upton Heath, which is an exceptionally early record for this species. Saturday the 16th saw much more coverage with Brownsea holding 4 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 100+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 200 Avocet, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and 17 Black-necked Grebe off the southern shore was a great record. An evening watch at Lytchett Bay produced 14 Little Egret, 19 Snipe, 50+ Avocet, 1 Med Gull and 4 Water Rail. Best at Middlebere was a Hen Harrier and 2 Barn Owls. Finally, Sunday the 17th was a glorious day with Swineham seeing most attention with 2 Marsh Harrier, a Bittern, 2 Firecrest, 11 Spoonbill, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, Water Pipit, 4 Spotted Redshank, a Peregrine and 2 Med Gulls being the highlights. Another great record was a flock of 20 Barnacle Geese flew northeast over Lytchett Bay, also there a Tawny Owl and 2 Woodcock. Middlebere saw 9 Spoonbill (same flock recorded at Swineham in the morning), 4 Knot, 17 Grey Plover and 13 Black-tailed Godwit.
What started off as a promising day, with overcast sky’s and an easterly air flow, soon descended into…
Find out moreDespite the rain, which ended up lasting aaaallllllll day, there was still plenty of great birding top be…
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