It isn't often I talk about Freiston Shore on here. This is the Frampton Marsh blog after all. But we do sometimes run events there, and last night it was a high tide walk.
Freiston Shore is our sister reserve, the other side of Boston and another great place to see wading birds. The sea comes in closer at Freiston than it does at Frampton, and on high tides waders get pushed right up off the mudflats on The Wash and onto the reserve. So we often run walks to go see this. The best spectacles are in the autumn, when the peak of migration is occurring, but we still run them during the spring and summer too.
Well, last night myself and a group were up on the sea bank, watching the water come in. And what should come in with it? Two seals. One much larger than the other, so I am thinking it was a female common seal and her pup. They came in pretty close, splashing and playing together, and taking time to look at us. Just like we were looking back at them.
There are two species of seal that live in the UK. The common seal is the smaller of the two, and mothers give birth in June to pups which can swim almost immediately. in contrast grey seals give birth in late autumn to pups covered in downy white fur. they need to stay on land in colonies called 'rookeries' until they are weaned. Donna Nook, up the Lincolnshire coast is one such site.
Common seal at Freiston (photo by Paul Sullivan)
Elsewhere over the weekend, we had up to 9 green sandpipers at Frampton, and up to 4 spotted redshanks. So windy though, that most birds stayed hunkered down and were difficult to see. Except for the lovely male marsh harrier that was enjoying riding the wind over the fields near the car park.
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.