Brownsea Island 25th August 2016

Brownsea Island 25th August 2016

Our boat trip to Brownsea Island was fairly uneventful though there were a few Sandwich Terns flying around the bay. On the island we mainly concentrated on the Dorset Wildlife Trust part of the island which includes the lagoon. Away from that we did see some woodland birds and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. However the lagoon was the main attraction and we would have been mightily impressed with the Spoonbills there had we not seen so many recenty so close to home at Burton Mere Wetlands.

As it happened they only had three Spoonbills anongst the more numerousLittle Egrets. Another bird that they are proud of (but then again we get a lot of these at BMW as well) are the Avocets and there were good numbers of these. There were good numbers of Black-tailed GOdwits as well. On the various islands and scrapes there were Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper and Redshank. Probably the best sighting on the island came later in the visit when I found a Whimbrel on one of the scrapes.

Oddly enough we did not see a single Red Squirrel on our walk around the island which was curious. This was not the best we have seen Brownsea Island but it is just a little late in the year for some birds and maybe just a little early for some of the more interesting migrants passing through. Nevertheless, we had a really nice trip out there and it is always worth a look.

Bird Sightings : Brownsea Island