Howdy folks! And welcome back to the Frampton Marsh recent sightings. With me, Chris the Visitor Guy.
Now, there is a dreadful rumour that summer is a rubbish time for birdwatching. Nothing to see, all too hot. Some people go on holiday. Others turn their attention to things like dragonflies. Well, hopefully by the end of this blog I can persuade you that summer is a great time to go birdwatching, here at Frampton Marsh. Cue the maps!
Well, that's a reasonable start. Still hundreds of godwits, knot and dunlins about. Mostly on the scrapes and on the reedbed. Dropping water levels have exposed mud which the waders are taking full advantage of. And this mixed flock is a standard feature for the week.
Do note the positions marked over the next couple of days for turtle dove. Quite a few people are heading to the old viewing point, and coming away disappointed. The tree they used to perch in collapsed rather last winter. There are now new places to go, as shown by the maps. Or ask in the visitor centre.
That's getting to be a long list! The water rail entertained some lucky visitor by dashing back and forth, right outside the visitor centre. It even went for a swim, allowing unimpeded views. 22 species of wader were seen, but that was about to get better...
Yes, the fourth red-necked phalarope of the year turned up on the Monday. Also a black tern sat on the reedbed for most of the afternoon, and a curlew sandpiper loitered on the scrapes. Wader species were up to 23.
The board was quieter on the Tuesday, though that may reflect that there were fewer visitors, and so less eyes to spot things. I say this because the following day...
The phalarope reappeared, as did the curlew sandpiper (in the remnants of breeding colours). Interestingly we now have TWO whooper swans. Yes, 'Hula' our lone swan appears to have found a friend! 24 wader species were about.
And on Thursday we hit the quarter ton. 25 species of wader, feet down on the reserve. It really does show how good Frampton is. The phalarope was key among them, but in there too was our first pectoral sandpiper of the year. And not one but two curlew sandpipers.
And yes, ready for the weekend everything is still pretty much there!
Apologies, but no photos this week. What? Oh go on, just the one then. Jeremy Eyeons providing this lovely snipe shot
If you are coming to visit us, you can keep up to date with the sightings by following our Twitter account. No need to have an account yourself, we make it so everyone can see it. If you do tweet yourself, please remember to use #RSPBframpton so we can see what you are posting, and also ideally mention @RSPBNorfolkLinc. If you have any good photos (or video, or even artwork) we'd love to see that too. Tweet it, or share it on our Facebook page or our Flickr account. It may also be useful for you to know the weather and tide times for the site, which may well have an impact on what is showing.
So that is it from me. Hope you all have a great week, stay safe, and I'll catch you next time!
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.