It has been a glorious day here at Frampton Marsh! The sun has been shining on our beautiful little oasis on the edge of the Wash.
And lots of you have come to join us for a walk and some birdwatching, and you just couldn’t have chosen a nicer day, so I hope you all enjoyed yourself. Frampton Marsh was designed with both people and birds in mind, and its great to see it full of life (both types!)
On arriving at the Visitor centre this morning, I was treated to a wonderful sight on my first glimpse out of the windows. A lovely field of white feathers shining in the sun – a group of whooper swans in the centre of the reedbed. With a further group on the scrapes we have had 162 on site today. And what’s more, they were a sight that stayed all day!
Whooper swans on the reedbed (Photo: Jenny Boatwright, RSPB)
Black and white really show up in bright light, and the other birds which stood up in the sun were a group of sixteen avocets, there were a further three to be found on the scrapes. These birds are always popular, and for one of our visitors it was the first time he’s seen these birds, so a special moment. Though, they never seize to please me.
There was a little gull to be found among some black-headed gulls to the rear of the reedbed.
As we opened up, Tony (Volunteer) was keen to see if the little owl was visible in the trees near the Marsh farm barn, as he chatted away I was instructed to look for it, and on locating the tube-like box spotted one, and then the second behind it. However, as this was a distance from the Visitor centre, unless they come right to the front of the box, they are hard to locate.
Whilst, Tony has been encouraging everyone to find the first wheatear of the year, there have been signs of spring in today’s sightings. The most exciting was the first swallow of the year, seen flying across the rear of the reedbed by one visitor. Then, a sand martin was seen near the Visitor centre. And was chiffchaff is calling in the hedgerow. We have our very own arrivals board in the Visitor centre (just like Heathrow!), and we are recording the birds as they come in on spring migration, so please do come and let us know what you can see.
We had a guest in the Visitor centre this morning – a local artist, Paul Parnell, who carves beautiful sculptures out of wood. The detail involved down to the individual feathers was amazing.
I popped out at lunchtime to the pump as it had become covered with reed and a piece of plastic so stopped working. After switching it back on, I changed the direction the water was flowing from the reservoir at the end of the hedgerow on Marsh Farm, which is almost full, to the reedbed, where we hope to top water levels up a little before birds such as the great crested grebes start nesting.
It was nice to get out in the sunshine, and I love the fact that there is music all around me as I work – I especially enjoy the melody of the skylarks!
Back in the Visitor centre, and there was a visitor to the barn owl box on the tv screen. After the barn owl’s visit yesterday, the kestrels were back today. The male popped inside, whilst the female was on the ledge outside where you could get a lovely view of her through the scope from the Visitor centre, before she finally went into the box too.
Towards the end of the afternoon, a young lad ran into the centre shouting that there was a large bird of prey over the reedbed. It is always refreshing to see a youngster whose enthusiastic about nature. So we grabbed our binoculars and followed where he was pointing to find a peregrine up high in the sky. A brilliant sight, although it did cause a bit of disturbance to the birds below.
And in front of 360 hide, there were 39 twite reported. A pleasure to one lady who specifically wanted to see these birds again after lovely views of them last winter.
So come and enjoy a walk and some bird watching at Frampton Marsh. It is a brilliant place! - Ok, I might be biased but you should come and see for yourself what you think!
And why not visit our neighbouring reserve of Freiston Shore (just follow the brown tourist signs from the A52). Highlights there this morning included whooper swans (106), and white fronted geese (11).