Despite the rain, which ended up lasting aaaallllllll day, there was still plenty of great birding top be had. The rain saw birds literally falling out of the sky, and from this mornings Osprey cruise there were several flocks of Common Snipe arriving in from high over Swinheam including a flock of 21, soon followed by a flock of 17 Knot which came down on Swineham. A Great White Egret also arrived in down the Frome before settling on Giggers Island. The White-tailed Eagle pair were doing their usual morning mooch around with male G463 on the Arne peninsular and female G466 on a pole off Shag Looe Bar. There’s still no shortage of Osprey with 3 in Middlebere this AM and a minimum of 7 in the Wareham Channel this afternoon plus 1 over the Brownsea Lagoon and there were 2 different Marsh Harrier in the area too. On the Brownsea Lagoon there were now up to 43 Spoonbill, and 2 Curlew Sandpiper were hiding in amongst the Dunlin. The lagoon also hosted 7 Greenshank, c40 Ringed Plover, c20 Avocet, 3 Knot, c15 Sanderling and decent numbers of Common Redshank, Teal and Curlew. The river valley’s are looking nice and flooded again and in the Lower Piddle Valley a Wood Sandpiper was feeding. Lytchett Fields was also busy with waders and saw high counts of 328 Teal and 319 Black-tailed Godwit, also 1 Ruff, 14 Dunlin , 1 Spotted Redshank, 15+ Redshank, 70+ Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Lapwing and lots of Common Snipe. Also at Lytchett Fields 2 Whinchat, c25 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Wheatear and 3 Firecrest. In the PCW Drain a Pied Flycatcher was opposite KCC at Wessex Gate Retail Park and there was also 1 Common Redstart, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 5 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, c20 Common Chiffchaff, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Common Sandpiper along the channel.

Great White Egret – Swineham, from Osprey Cruise this AM – John Thorpe

Spoonbill – Wareham Channel, from Osprey Cruise this AM – John Thorpe

White-tailed Eagle – Wareham Channel, from Osprey Cruise this AM – John Thorpe