If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I wrote about the upcoming Big Birding Bash. The attempt to see as many birds as possible from within the reserve boundaries in a single day. So how did we get on? Well are you sitting comfortable? Then we’ll begin....
Chris and Dan go to the Nature Reserve
It is very early on Saturday morning. Very, very early. Chris opens his eyes and looks at his alarm clock. It says 3 am
“Well golly gosh”, says Chris “It is very early”
Chris is excited. Today is a special day. He is going to a fantastic nature reserve to see lots of lovely birds. He gets dressed, puts some food in his backpack and off he drives.
Before too long, Chris is at his friend Dan’s house. Dan is waiting outside
“Hello Dan!” says Chris, “Gosh, isn’t it early?”
Chris does not quite understand what Dan says in reply. Dan uses several words that Chris has not heard before. But he does take it to mean that Dan also thinks it is very early.
Chris and Dan arrive at the nature reserve, which is called Frampton Marsh. The sun is just peeping into view. Lots of birds are singing, and Chris and Dan set to work trying to work out what they all are. There are lovely songs from birds like blackbirds, robins and wrens. There are also black-headed gulls...
Before long, they have already seen or heard a dozen birds. “Cripes!” says Chris “Aren’t we doing well?”
Chris and Dan decide to go for a walk around the reserve to try to see more birds. They especially want to see a rare bird called a black-winged stilt which had been on the reserve the previous day. They walk along the Grassland Trail to a good place to look for it, but it is nowhere to be seen. Dan says some more words that Chris does not understand. But they do see a lot of other birds, including a lot of greenshanks and two wood sandpipers. Chris and Dan have now been birdwatching for an hour and have seen 40 different birds.
Chris and Dan walk onto another good place to try to see the stilt, but still cannot see it. They do see more wood sandpipers though, five in total. They keep hearing yet more birds too, and a bird of prey flies over. It looks very smart. Chris thinks it might have been a hobby at first, but Dan tells him it was a kestrel. Chris cannot see the string that Dan mentioned, but is glad he has a friend who is good at birdwatching.
Chris and Dan keep walking around the edge of the wet grassland. At a special secret place they stop and look for a little owl. Dan cannot not see it, and Chris is very happy when he sees it first. Dan says something about being ‘jammy’. Chris does not understand this, as he has not eaten his sandwiches yet. But gives his face a quick wipe with his handkerchief, just to be sure.
A bit further on a turtle dove is purring from a tree. This means they had now seen 50 birds in 2 hours.
Eventually Chris and Dan make it up to the sea bank. The tide is in and a lot of the saltmarsh is covered. Dan sees a short-eared owl sat on a post and then Chris sees a second one. Then Dan goes and hides in the bushes, saying something about needing to get a riddle from someone called Jimmy. Chris does not understand this either. But while he is waiting for Dan, he does hear a cuckoo.
As they walk along the seabank, Chris and Dan see lots more birds. Before long they have seen 70 different birds. They are both feeling a bit thirsty though, and so they decide to go to the visitor centre. Their friend Sarah is in charge and she might make them a cup of tea. On the way, they meet another friend, Ian, and stop to talk to him. As they are talking to Ian, there is a funny sound and a bird flies other. Both Ian and Dan say some strange words that Chris does not understand.
“Golly, that was a cockatiel!” says Chris. “Should we put it on the list?”
Dan gives Chris a very funny look. Chris decides that maybe he should not put the cockatiel on the day’s list. Even if it was a jolly unusual bird to see.
At the visitor centre they said hello to Sarah and get their cups of tea. Dan goes outside for “a breath of fresh air”. Chris is confused, they have been walking in the fresh air all morning. But instead he watches the birds on the centre feeder. Soon they have seen 82 birds.
(Dan and Sarah have fun looking for birds. Dan wears a special hat, so the birds think he is one of them!)
Chris and Dan have a discussion of where to go next. Chris says they should walk around the reedbed. The first bit is very quiet. They wonder if they have made a mistake. But then two birds fly off from under their feet. “Red-legged partridge” says Dan. “Grey partridge” says Chris. Dan gives Chris another funny look. But then they look at the birds again through his telescope. Chris decides he will have to buy a dictionary as he really does not understand half the words Dan is using. But he does feel smug that he was right.
After walking all the way around the Wash Trail they have not added many more birds, so Chris and Dan go back to see Sarah at the visitor centre. As they have their lunch, Chris reads out which birds they had seen. Dan seems rather upset they have not seen a dunnock. So they decide to go look for one in the hedgerow. They do not find one, but a tree sparrow flies past. Which is nice.
Chris and Dan then walk all the way around the Grassland trail again. It feels like a very long way. But when they get on top of the sea bank they do see a curlew sandpiper. This means they have seen 93 species of bird. Only two more for the record. But still no dunnock!
Chris and Dan go back to the visitor centre to see Sarah again. They like Sarah. Dan has forgotten to bring much food. Silly Dan! He has to call his parents to bring him a sandwich from the shops. Chris has remembered to bring food, and eats a big pork pie. Chris probably eats too many pork pies. As they are waiting for Dan’s sandwich to arrive Sarah tells them how many people are asking about what they were doing, and which birds they still needed to see. She does not believe they still need to see a dunnock either.
Dan’s father brings him an enormous sandwich, isn’t that kind? At the same time, their friend Les arrives. Les does not believe they still need to see a dunnock either. Chris and Dan feel very embarrassed by this.
Once Dan has eaten his sandwich, Chris, Dan and Les to walk down the hedgerow again. The find a mistle thrush singing. “94 birds” says Chris, “only one more for the record”
Chris texts John. John is an important man. He is called the ‘site manager’ for the nature reserve and is in charge. John does not believe they have not seen a dunnock either, and tells them to get on with it. He also says they should get 100 birds. Chris and Dan feel the pressure!
Chris, Dan and Les walk along the hedgerow. Then Chris hears something. Is it a dunnock? Chris asks Dan who says that yes, it is. Hurray for Chris and Dan! They have finally found a dunnock and got the record.
(A dunnock. Apparently quite hard to see. Photo by Grahame Madge, rspb-images.com)
Chris and Dan come to the edge of the hedgerow, catching up with Les who has walked on ahead. Les has found a jackdaw. This means there are 96 birds on the list. Chris recounts carefully. He has forgotten to include little ringed plover. Silly Chris! The list is 97.
Chris and Dan are very tired. Dan even falls asleep while sitting on the grass. Their friend Matt comes to talk to them. Dan wakes up, but Chris is so tired he can’t even talk properly. Sorry Matt, bad Chris!
Dan now gets a text from their friend Toby. Toby is the warden of the reserve. Toby thinks they are slacking. The tide is coming in and that means there will be lots of birds to be seen from the sea bank. Chris, Dan and Les walk back to the car park. Toby is playing with his family in the garden of the visitor centre. It is a lovely garden. He chivvies them along.
Chris, Dan and Les finally make it back onto the sea bank. The tide is in. It is a very big tide, most of the saltmarsh is covered. All the birds are sitting on just a few islands. This makes it easier to look at them. Dan and Les find a knot and a bar-tailed godwit. They are good at waders. Chris is rubbish at them, but is happy he has such good friends. Their friend Sarah joins them. It is nice watching the birds together.
Chris and Dan are now very tired. They have been birdwatching for over 14 hours straight. Dan wants to go home. Chris takes him back to his house. Chris starts to drive home, but then stops and thinks. Chris want to try to get just one more bird. So Chris drives back to the reserve, parks his car and winds down his window. He is listening for owls. He waits for 20 minutes, then an owl calls. That is bird 100!
(Chris shows off the day's list)
Chris is now very, very tired. Chris drives home and goes to bed. What a fun day!
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So there you have it. Nearly 15 hours, 11 miles and several cups of coffee later, we have a new record for the number of birds seen on the reserve. If you are interested the full list is:
Phew! Notable misses were peregrine, red-legged partridge, song thrush, stonechat, wheatear, woodpeckers and jays. So if you fancy having a go yourself, the total is quite beatable!
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.
Excellent.