Avocets at Middlebere Lake
Walking out to Shipstall Point we past a number of stag Sika deer, still clearly intent on rounding up the last hinds.
An odd purplish patch on a tree stump turned out to be a cup fungus known as Purple Jellydisc, or Ascocoryne sarcoides.
Reaching the shores of Poole Harbour we searched the choppy waters for grebes and soon found our first Slavonian Grebe of the autumn.
From the hide we could see large numbers of roosting waders and wildfowl including Grey Plovers, Black-tailed Godwits, Wigeon and Pintail.
In the Birch wood
After lunch we drove out to Middlebere Farm and sheltered from the rain in what must be one of the best situated hides in the country. Several hundred Avocets were feeding just in front of us, periodically taking flight when a Yellow-legged Gull flew over. We waited patiently for a Hen Harrier to arrive but sadly it didn't so we walked back through the rapidly worsening weather past fields with giant Parasol Mushrooms.