You know, I really felt tempted to add the word 'Grommit' at the end of that title....
So, what a busy weekend it was. We have our annual Easter Egg hunt running, and my word, didn't the people come. Great to see so many happy smiley children running around the reserve looking for clues. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and we certainly shifted a lot of chocolate eggs and rabbits as prizes! The hunt is still going on for the next two weeks, ending on 14 April. So still time to come along with your wee ones and have a go yourself!
On the wildlife front, the weekend brought in a couple of nice birds. A lovely male bearded tit was by the 'mound' watchpoint, at the junction of the reedbed and the freshwater scrapes. Local photographer Neil Smith saw it and managed to get some nice shots. We do know they come to us over the winter at times. Hopefully as the reedbed deepens and expands they will move in permanently.
Bearded Tit (Neil Smith)
Another good spot was a rock pipit, lurking with a group of meadow pipits, just over the sea wall from the east hide. Not a usual bird for these parts, they far prefer, well, rocky places. They live on rocky shorelines around a lot of the UK, but to have one here away from such landscape is quite unusual.
Rock Pipit (Neil Smith)
The weekend also brought in another new arrival. Our first two little ringed plovers arrived. Nice to see them back. But where is everything else? A distinct lack of summer birds. I did speak to a visitor who was just back from Portugal and who said that it is heaving with swallows, swifts and other migrants. Looks like they are waiting for the weather to improve before arriving here.
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.