27.1.08

Haven't posted anything for a while, but then I haven't been up to very much really! A few weekends back in the Studland area I saw 3 Eiders, the first time I'd seen them in Poole Harbour, as well as 4 Black-necked Grebes, 1 Great Northern Diver and some large groups of displaying Goldeneye. Haven't had too much going on in the garden but a couple of Sparrowhawk visits and a Bullfinch have been good to see. Yesterday I spent a short time at Keyhaven Marshes where there were lots of Brent Geese as well as some Wigeon, Pintail, Teal, Shoveler, Golden Plover, Lapwing and Skylarks.

Today I got out to Arne in the afternoon, there were huge numbers of people there so I went on the birdwatchers trail which was a bit quieter. In the pine trees there were some very noisy Coal Tits and there were lots of Sika Deer footprints on the path, although strangely I didn't see any today. While looking over the saltmarshes there was a distant gunshot which scared up all the resting birds. It was a very impressive sight, with large flocks of Brent Geese, then Shelduck, then Teal and finally Avocets flickering past heading towards Poole Harbour. Further round the path I caught up with these birds which were now resting on the mudflats, mostly Brent Geese and Avocets.

Although the numbers of birds for todays big garden birdwatch were low I had 2 very well-timed visitors. Firstly a pair of Siskins, which I hadn't seen in the garden for about 6 months, and secondly a Grey Wagtail, which hadn't been seen for about 2 months. Strange that they picked this day to show up on!

I will put on a couple of shots of yesterdays Brent Geese a bit later on.