Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore recent sightings: 19 - 25 May 2018

Howdy folks! Welcome back to the Frampton Marsh recent sightings blog. With me, Chris the visitor guy.

Right, how about some maps, though no map for Saturday I'm afraid

Yes, the first of our avocet chicks have hatched. Awwwwww! Some decent other waders too, including the black-winged stilt back again. It seems to be roaming around the area. Sometimes at Rutland Water, sometimes the Nene Washes, sometimes other sites in the area.

Sorry, no map for the Tuesday.

The red-necked phalarope was a welcome, though sadly brief sighting first thing in the morning. The ruff lek is well worth trying to find, more on which later.

A quieter day on Thursday, but the first reserve record for glossy ibis at Freiston Shore was nice!

Ah yes, the ruff lek. To give you an idea, here are some photos by Neil Smith...

What a sight!

In fact, things are so good that this photo, as taken by Adrian Leybourne (@ady40 on Twitter) won BBC Wildlife magazine's photo of the week!

This really is pretty special. There are not many places that have lekking ruff in the UK. A lek being a display by males towards females, on a specific patch of ground. Grouse do such things, as do ruffs. But yes, this is not only unusual, it is also very easy to see, as they are not doing it too far from the paths. If you have never seen this, get yourself over here and enjoy the spectacle.

Of course there is more than just ruffs at Frampton. Plenty to see and hear. 

Macca captured the irregular black-winged stilt. No promises on when it will turn up next, but it does seem to be doing the rounds between a few local sites, so we may well see it again.

Richard Bailey found this reed warbler, singing from some.... reeds. While in comparison (and as can often be the case) the sedge warbler photographed by Kevin Mayhew was in a bush or small tree. Though they do also sing from reeds.

Kevin also got this yellowhammer to pose nicely!

Final picture of the week and we go back to Neil Smith, who was just in the right place at the right time for this skylark as it lifts off into a song flight

And there you have it!

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.

Finally, if you would like to give us an extra bit of support you can text to donate money to the reserve. Please text FRAM26 followed by £2, £5 or £10 (eg FRAM26£5) to 70070.

So, that is pretty much everything. I hope you all have a great week, stay safe, and I will catch you all next time!