• Sightings 27/05/11

    Simon Wilson

    Hello,

    It has been a bright but breezy day today at RSPB Frampfon Marsh.

    Highlights have included:

    Pink – footed goose 2

    Ruddy duck 1 drake

    Garganey pair

    Pochard 2

    Quail 1 heard only

    Black-tailed godwit 16

    Little stint 1

    Red – necked phalarope 1 stunning female

    Little ringed plover 8

     

    Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, if you get the chance, why not drop in and have a walk around our cracking…

  • Positive things!

    Jenny

    A short blog today but I just wanted to share two of the positive things that happened to me today!

    The first occurred at the beginning of the day, when Graham (Warden) and I went to check on the pump, which needed a clean before being switched on. Two kingfishers flew out from the weir as we descended the bank. I pointed at the first as the flash of blue flew away from me, only for Graham to gesture that their was a…

  • A WeBS count

    Jenny

    As I’m out-of-town for the next couple of days, I thought I’d get a blog written early this week. I’m off on a ‘Working Together’ course in Bedford…so might return having learnt something?

    Saturday morning was an enjoyable time for me. It was the monthly WeBS count (nothing to do with spiders but a bird survey!), and I recently started doing the Frampton South sector, something I…

  • Sightings 20/05/11

    Simon Wilson

    Hello,

    It has been a warm but windy day today at RSPB Frampton Marsh. Visitors were treated to some excellent views of watervoles and some of the season’s first dragonflies.

    Highlights have included:

    Dark-bellied brent goose 140

    Marsh harrier 1

    Avocet 16

    Little ringed plover 8

    Ringed plover 50

    Temminck’s stint 1

    Dunlin 20

    Black-tailed godwit 40

    Greenshank 2

    Wood sandpiper 1

    Turtle dove 2

    Cuckoo…

  • Birdwatching Boat Trips!

    Jasmine

     

    Hello!

    The new community pages are up! What does everyone think?

    So, I haven't had a chance to tell you all about my mega exciting boat trip last week!.... Tony (who was doing the commentary) very kindly brought me along to one of the South Lincs RSPB Local Group Bird Watching Cruises so I could see what they’re all about and recommend them to everyone. With the first mention of me getting the chance to go on a boat…

  • The F Word

    John Badley

    That's F for Frampton btw.

    It's the weekend and the rest of the F Team staff are off gallivanting around the country. Gordon Ramsey's kitchen is in fact not their preferred destination.....their weekend activity mash-up is a sustainable housing project stag weekend on a motorbike! Sounds good, but I was deputising as both warden and visitor officer and it was awesome. Being Site Manager I generally get to do more office-based…

  • Sightings 13/05/11

    Simon Wilson
    Hello!
    As always it has been a lovely day at RSPB Frampton Marsh. The wind has picked up a little this afternoon, but the showers that were predicted have stayed away.
    Today’s highlights have included:
    Garganey 2 drakes
    Marsh harrier 1
    Hobby 2
    Avocet 25
    Little ringed plover 8
    Temminck’s stint 7
    Black-tailed godwit 36
    Whimbrel 6
    Greenshank 6
    Common sandpiper 1
    Red-necked phalarope 1
    Turtle dove…

  • Motorcycle bay - 'Coming Soon'

    Jenny
    As always there is a bit more work to do...today the work party team did a sterling job helping with tasks around the hedgerow outside the Visitor centre and in the car park.
    We were weeding and watering (they needed lots after the dry spring we’ve had!), and then laying bark chips down as a mulch around the hedging plants.
    When the car park being re-laid the material that was removed was put into a section of bank…

  • My week of RSPB site visits!

    Jasmine
     
    Hello
     
    I’ve been here a month now! Can’t believe how quick it’s gone! Last week was great as I got the chance to visit two other RSPB sites. On Wednesday I went to Snettisham with John, our site manager and Simon, our visitor and publicity officer. We had a walk around and Jim the warden at Snettisham joined us and explained all about the area. The site is quite different to Frampton as it does…

  • 21 species of wader found!

    Simon Wilson

    Hello!

    As I mentioned in my last blog earlier, I went for a walk on to the reserve to look for a 21st species of wader for the day. I predicted a green sandpiper or a turnstone.

    After watching the red-necked phalarope, spotted redshank and some lekking ruff, I decided that I really should go back and continue with my work. As I stood to leave the 360 hide, there it was, species no. 21. It flew up in to the air, gave…

  • 20 species of wader on site! Come and have a look!

    Simon Wilson

    Hi!

    RSPB Frampton Marsh is your one stop location to see 20 species of wader in just one day (or just one hour if you get a move on!)

    Where else in the UK can this spring spectacle be witnessed?

    Waders on site today:

    1. Oystercatcher
    2. Avocet
    3. Little ringed plover
    4. Ringed plover
    5. Golden plover
    6. Lapwing
    7. Little stint
    8. Temminck's stint
    9. Dunlin
    10. Ruff
    11. Black-tailed godwit
    12. Whimbrel
    13. Curlew
    14. Spotted redshank
    15. Redsh…

  • Waders galore! Come and see them!

    Simon Wilson
    Hello!
    What a fantastic day it has been! The sun has been shining all day long, keeping the temperature up towards 20c, and there have been loads of awesome birds for our visitors to see. Migrant waders have been dropping in all over the place. It really is hard to get any work done at a place like this if you are interested in birds! Sometimes, you have to forget that you are a birder until after 5.15pm! This is almost…

  • Hunting along the ditch edges!

    Jenny
    This morning I was out with Lindsay (volunteer) crawling around at the edge of ditches...what could we have been looking for?
    Well, the answer is signs of water vole activity. With so many sightings on the ditch bordering the scrape we were hopeful that we’d find lots of evidence of their presence on the opposite side of the road too. So we headed down to the ditch near the crossbank steps and began our search.…

  • A good Stint...

    John Badley

    When will this wind abate? It's not doing my immaculately coiffured hairdo any good at all. Still at least it's sunny. 

    Now we're into May I'm raising the bird watching forecast from 'Interesting' to 'Exciting'. There's only one level above and you really don't want to go there. When I was a keen 'twitcher' I lived in this upper tier. It was exhilarating at times, but it was a bit…

  • Wind, Walks and Wood Sandpipers!

    Jasmine

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    Hi!

     

    Although last week was a short week I got lots done! If you go for a walk around the reserve soon you may see three new A-boards…

  • Reflector

    Toby Collett

    This is what you can see today

  • A morning full of wildlife!

    Jenny
    It was  a morning full of wildlife for me today, with my wildlife moments started off before I even got to work today as on the ride down to the reserve, I almost had to stop to allow a deer to cross the road. A nice surprise and just shows how much wildlife there is to see in this area of Lincolnshire.
    On arriving at the reserve, I headed off for a walk round the reedbed and scrapes to do a survey, and it was a lovely…

  • Another beautiful week!

    Jasmine

     

     

    Hello!

     

    What a gorgeous week we had last week, and I was very busy! I had my first day in the visitor centre which was great, it was lovely chatting to everyone and finding out what they had seen and done at Frampton. I was very excited to find out that we have water voles on the reserve and that they are apparently quite easy to spot, although I have yet to see them. I can’t wait to get out on to the reserve again…

  • 26/4/2011

    Jenny
    The highlight of this morning was a pectoral sandpiper outside the Visitor centre. The kestrel remains sat on her eggs, and is visible on the TV screen in the Visitor centre.
    For the wardening team, its been a day of vegetation maintenance jobs. I walked down to the reserve via the hedgerow with the mower to cut the vegetation along the edges of the paths, this helps to control the vegetation and also benefits the clover…

  • Hot egg hunt and sightings

    Simon Wilson
    Hello,
     
    I hope you have enjoyed your Easter weekend. It has been very hot at RSPB Frampton Marsh for the last couple of days. We have enjoyed the company of lots of visitors, many taking part in our Easter egg hunt. If you are around tomorrow, why not drop in and have a go yourself?

    Today's wildlife highlights have included:

    Dark-bellied brent goose 350
    Garganey 3 drakes
    Marsh harrier 1 female
    Kestrel (viewed on…

  • Sightings 21/04/11

    Simon Wilson
    Hello!
     
    It has been so hot today at RSPB Frampton Marsh! Our first Family Fun Day of the year was as popular as ever, and as always, there was lots of wildlife for our visitors to see.
    Highlights included:
    Dark-bellied brent goose 350
    Kestrel (viewed on TV screen in visitor centre. Now with 2 eggs)
    Avocet 28
    Little ringed plover 8
    Dunlin 40
    Whimbrel 3
    Green sandpiper 2
    Common sandpiper 1
    Common tern 3
    Sedge…

  • The joys of nature and some strimming!

    Jenny
    The glorious weather continues here at Frampton Marsh, and despite the odd remark about the need for rain from the wardening team, we have been enjoying it! And where better to than at Frampton Marsh?
     
    With the spring weather comes the breeding season, which equals survey work for us staff. This is probably one of the best parts of my job as assistant warden, as it means I get to spend time out on the habitats counting…

  • A big hello!!

    Jasmine
    Hello!
     
    As the new Visitor Services Trainee I thought I’d say hello and introduce myself. My name’s Jasmine and I started 2 weeks ago although I haven’t been around much as I’ve been off in Sandy at the RSPB headquarters all of last week!
     
    My first 2 weeks have been amazing, everyone is so welcoming and I’ve learnt a lot about our reserves as well as how the RSPB works and been introduced…

  • 15/4/2011

    Jenny
    I am sat in the quiet of the office, and after a busy day its nice to sit down, and have a peaceful end to the day before the weekend begins.
    I started today by popping into the Visitor centre to say ‘hello’ to the volunteers, and grab the broom to sweep the worst of the stones off the road at the entrance to the main car park. One visitor smiled at me as he passed me at this task, commenting that it would be as bad…

  • Out and about at Frampton Marsh

    Jenny
    This morning, I popped into the Visitor centre to ensure everything was hunky dory. I was pleasantly surprised to find our Lead Field Teacher, Simon, with his two granddaughters about to go for a walk. They were armed with a bird bingo card, a ‘what’s that bird?’ scorecard, and a piece of paper for the day’s bird list. When, I later came across them in 360 hide, they had found a number of species, including a…