It seems to have been a long day...but what a beautiful one! The sun was out and the reedbed looked glorious. The birds were looking wonderful too, especially the group of whooper swans (41) and Bewick’s swans (4) enjoying the sunshine in the centre of the reedbed. Then so graceful as they took off a group at the end of the day, as I drove off up the entrance road.
After a morning of trials, from re-organising work parties to trying to get into the workshop after the door has expanded in the warm weather after getting wet during the winter (thank you to one star volunteer for helping me with that one!) – I was glad to escape for a walk to sweep out 360 and reedbed hides before the weekend.
One of the great joys of Frampton Marsh is the people you meet and the conversations you have. I do not mean the ‘when do you lock up the toilets?’ questions. But being able to share others experiences, like passing one visitor just after he’d seen a scaup and had got it in his scope, or discussing how wonderful the swans are with local couple as I made my way back to the Visitor centre.
But as typical, I missed the highlight of the day...the first 3 avocets of the spring! Fingers crossed they will be back tomorrow! And please come and join us this weekend, and share your experiences of Frampton Marsh.
Other highlights today included:
Black tailed godwit – 80
Goldeneye
Golden plover
Pintail
Pochard
Greenshank – 1
Spotted redshank – 1
Dunlin - 40
Scaup - 2