Brownsea Island - Mon 12 Aug

I took a trip down to Brownsea Island today and had a wonderful time with the family. It was also pretty good for wildlife, especially on the butterfly front with loads on the wing. The highlight was without a doubt three sightings of Clouded Yellows, one on the northern beach and two together in the garden of the café (which also sold very nice ice cream!). Other butterflies seen today included Gatekeeper, Holly Blue and Speckled Wood.
Walking through the trees we were lucky enough to see two Red Squirrels.
On the bird front a visit to the DWT reserve enabled us access to the hides to scan the lagoon. A good number of waders were present including five Spotted Redshank:

 

A Greenshank, seven Avocet, a Common Sandpiper, a couple of Turnstone and large numbers of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit:

There were still loads of Common Terns and Sandwich Terns present and at least half a dozen Mediterranean Gulls were seen, mostly adults but some younger birds.
There were few woodland species noted, but a juvenile Green Woodpecker kept us entertained whilst we ate our picnic lunch.
After a wonderful time on the island I made a brief stop at Studland on the way home, but failed to see any Ring-necked Parakeets...guess I'll need to head this way again then!