Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore recent sightings, 15 - 22 August 2014

And here we go with sightings MKII. Alas MKI fell foul of 'the system' last night and after spending my blog writing time yesterday in the throes of frustration and exasperation, untangling 500 metres of electric fence (I got the better of it and amazingly no expletives uttered) I had to leave the blog till this morning so I could calm down.

So here we are and here we go. This weeks blog will be very light on pictures (ie none) as I'm away from my picture database at work but will try and link to sites and pictures where possible.

1. This patch of wet grassland has been very productive since we started to drain it in July. The pectoral sandpiper that was very well found in the distant haze on Wednesday is the latest wader to be attracted in and is our first for the year, taking our 2014 wader total to 31 and monthly total to 27.

2. As hopefully most of you are aware, Frampton's first ever glossy ibis also notched another first. The pair that were here briefly in the summer became the first glossy ibis' to make a nest in the UK! The remaining bird is pretty faithful to the above locations.

3. There has been an obvious increase in ruff and snipe numbers thanks to young birds arriving from breeding grounds. Ruffs like to feed in open pools and shallower edges where snipe prefer the vegetated fringes.

4. Our two young spoonbills are the best hide and seekers on the reserve. As easy to see as they are elusive. Turn your back and they're gone, scan again and you can't believe you missed them.

5. This is THE week for yellow wagtails, they seem to be everywhere! Look out for them feeding around the pools and also among the feet of our cows and sheep. Worth learning the call too.

6. The sacrificial crop on south scrape is bringing in the finches big time. Over 50 linnets have taken up residence with charms of goldfinches flitting around too.

7. Middle Scrape is drawing down nicely (with North Scrape to follow) and several little stints have been seen this week. Check dunlin flocks for curlew sandpipers too.

8. We've had a pretty good week for raptors with the viewpoint providing 2 merlins, peregrine, hobby, 3 buzzards and numerous marsh harriers, with several of these straying, albeit briefly, onto the main reserve.

And there we have it. Apologies for the brevity of the post but hopefully enough to be of interest and tempt you down.

Some recent pictures can be found here and also worth checking the always excellent Lincolnshire Bird Club photo pages.

For those on Facebook have a search for RSPB Lincolnshire and also check out the Lincolnshire Wildlife Photography.

Finally a roll up roll up call to all those wanting adventure on the high seas. There are a few spaces left on our fantastic Wash cruises on the 16th of September and 16th of October. September is a great time for terns and skuas to be picked up along with good wader numbers and in October you could be in the right place to see our wildfowl returning from the Arctic.

Enjoy your Bank Holiday Weekend everyone :)