A fine post-Christmas day off.......

28 Dec - at last, pink clouds and a fine sunrise. An early morning at Barbury Castle feeding station, and nice views of a male Brambling, also 2 Tree Sparrows and 2 Corn Buntings. A few photos of the Brambling, but on the gate not on the branches. A stop at Shorncote later in the morning was very wet......7 Snipe flushed from the field, 7 Little Egrets around, several Water Rails calling, 5-6 Cetti's Warblers and 4 Chiffchaffs - also 2 Grey Wagtails, a male Stonechat, 2 Yellowhammers, 2 Meadow Pipits and a Raven. A productive Boxing Day bank holiday.

Sunny day locally........

Dec 20 - At last, a sunny morning, and a productive hour at Shorncote. The first Golden Plover flock I have seen over here for several months, 80+ birds, together with a mobile flock of 150+ Lapwings, a Snipe in flight, and 3 Little Egrets outnumbering the one Grey Heron. Water Rails calling in the reedbeds numbered at least 6-7 birds, 20+ Teal were in the area - also Green Woodpecker calling, an obliging male Stonechat, 4 Cetti's Warblers singing and 3 Chiffchaffs along the stream, 10 Reed Buntings, a Goldcrest and a Grey Wagtail. 20+ Redwings wary as usual, 2 Yellowhammers (scarce here) and 4 Bullfinches in the hedgerow also seen. A beautiful sunny morning, a real treat, but flooding up to 9" deep by the hide. At dusk a quick look at Blakehill gave some distant views of the one wintering Short-eared Owl, but it remained too far away for the camera, despite the perfect light, and at 4pm flew high and dropped towards Purton Stoke. A male Stonechat was in the scrub, and Fieldfares and Redwings flew over.

Damp Waterhay

15 Dec - a murky morning at Waterhay and the usual suspects present....4 Water Rails heard, also Cetti's Warbler, and a Little Egret seen in flight. 2 Redpolls flew over and Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers seen. Also close views of Goldcrest, but Redwings as usual very elusive.

Poole Harbour and Brownsea........

13 Dec - An excellent day, with nice light for the camera, and little wind. The cruise round the harbour yielded 5 Great Northern Divers and good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, also a Black-necked Grebe and a Razorbill. The lagoon was fantastic with an impressive flock of no less than 32 Spoonbills loafing, and the usual fantastic selection of waders - 6 Spotted Redshanks, 10 Greenshanks, 6 Knot, and both Bar- and Black-tailed Godwits, not to mention 200 Avocets. Peregrine, Kingfisher and Water Rail also present, and a few dapper Red Squirrels running around. Late afternoon at Studland beach, adjacent to the ferry, produced a nice flock of 30 Sanderling running around, and 2 adult Med Gulls, one already going into summer plumage. Early morning at Holes Bay also revealed the female Smew still present, so a very good day......

Farmoor again.......

Dec 8 - A quick stop at Farmoor and the 2 Grey Phalaropes still present and very confiding, also close views (eventually) of the Great Northern Diver on F2, surprisingly elusive and riding very low in the water, and diving frequently. Definitely brightened the journey to my study day.

Bramblings..........

Dec 6 - A mixed finch flock reported near Daglingworth, and on a quick look the set- aside looks promising. Distant views of 2 perched male Bramblings with Chaffinches, also Goldfinches, Linnets and a pair of Stonechats.

Slimbridge.......weather forecast wrong!

A visit to WWT to try out the new 7D mark 2- rather duller and damper than forecast - good views of a family of Bewick's Swans with 3 young - 80 birds now in. Large numbers of Golden Plover and Lapwings wheeling over the estuary, and the 5 Greenland Whitefronts also seen on the Tack Piece.