Welcome along to this weeks sightings. A few new arrivals this week with some we can expect to see more and more of as Autumn progresses but others firmly in the 'right place, right time' category.
We'll start with the latter and two tiny birds that can easily be overlooked. The first was a stunning firecrest that I stumbled on while following my own advice and taking a wander to Tabb's Head on a very quiet afternoon of the 20th. It was tucked deep in a hawthorn and was loosely associating with a couple of blue tits. If you're not sure what a firecrest looks like check out the excellent 'Crest ID guide by the BTO below.
The second stripey stunner was a yellow-browed warbler seen the following day along the cross bank , again associating with a tit flock. A wander along the bank to see if I could see this wee beauty ( I didn't) also revealed several chiffchaff, blackcap and a turtle dove which I think is the first to be seen for several weeks. Good chance it might still be there.
A couple of stonechats have been flitting along fencelines. The first was a young female along the path to East Hide from the Reedbed Trail for a few days at the start of the wee and the second was a young male in the sea bank car park at the end of the week. A jack snipe in North Scrape on the 25th will hopefully be the first of many this winter as we are doing some management specifically to attract them in and more importantly make them accessible to you guys.
1. This may well be the last week that our special mining bees will be out in good numbers. The temperature is dropping and the sea aster is seeding so have a look for them while you can.
2. As our pools dry up the glossy ibis has moved away from pools and into the channels and locations above. Today it was right next to the sea bank car park and must have been 10m from the path!!
3. Raptors are being seen with more frequency as the wintering bird numbers build. We've had sparrowhawk, kestrel, merlin, peregrine, hobby, marsh harrier and buzzard this week as well as barn owl on the evening of the 24th.
4. The linnet flock continues to build in south scrape with them flocking to pools to bathe. A charm of nearly 200 goldfinch can be found around the cattle corral near North Scrape and it's worth checking through them as both whinchat and stonechat were in the mix at the weekend.
5. The jack snipe was flushed from this area on the morning of the 25th. I have been cutting vegetation at various places on the scrapes to provide good feeding conditions so worth checking all stubbly vegetation. This now takes Frampton to a record equaling 29 species for the month and 32 for the year. We share the monthly record with ourself which we achieved last September. Still time for number 30.......
6. While the pink-footed goose trio haven't attracted any friends the brent geese flock is just shy of 50 and will be added to this weekend I'm sure.
7. Like the brent geese our wigeon numbers are really starting to pick up with 900 now on site. Anyone fancy finding an American one? :)
8. Birds are still out there to be found but with westerly winds till next week it may be a bit bare bones out towards Tabbs Head. The shelter offered by the Cross Bank may offer more reward but do look through the pipits on the grassland and sea banks for late moving yellow wagtails and the first rock pipits.
I have briefly retired waders from the sightings map this week as the numbers have dropped a little from previous weeks. Black-tailed godwits are loving the reservoir at Freiston with over 4,000 being recorded there so may well be worth an early morning visit this weekend. Frampton has help 7 little stint this week and over 100 ruff. With the tides being low, food resources in The Wash have been too big a draw and we haven't had the numbers we usually do but hopefully the next couple of tides will change that.
High tides are very favourable this weekend peaking at 08:30 tomorrow and 9am on Sunday meaning you can have breakfast before you pop down. Double win :)
That's all from me this week. Enjoy your weekend everyone, and if you can't wait 7 days to know what's going on here, keep your finger on the Lincolnshire Wash Reserves pulse by following us on Twitter and giving us a ‘like’ on Facebook.
The more you're out the more you see - https://twitter.com/BoyWonderBirder