If the last few days are anything to go by this could well be the best weekend of the year to visit the reserve. With high tides at comfortable times for those not keen on a dawn start, Frampton could well be THE place to visit this weekend.
A view of some of the 3,000 black-tailed godwit from the 360 Hide - Toby Collett
As the high tide built towards it's peak on Friday morning, the end of the week was the most productive. As can be seen in the picture above, the birds have been not only been incredible in numbers but also incredibly accessible. We've had some fantastic comments throughout the week from visitors who have enjoyed seeing everything so close to the hides and paths. Thank you very much for the feedback, we like to think we're doing things right but to hear it from the people we're doing it for is really gratifying.
Anyway.... onto our sightings....
Once again it has been all about the waders. Select peak counts from the week include 10 little ringed plover, 500 ringed plover, 28 golden plover, single little stint, just into double figures of curlew sandpiper, 400 dunlin, 60 ruff, obvious increase in snipe numbers to 30, 3,000 black-tailed godwit, 5 (4 adult and 1 juvenile) spotted redshank, 7 greenshank, 6 green sandpiper, solitary wood sandpiper on the wet grassland and a couple of common sandpiper on the reedbed. Numbers of avocet have dropped of sharply and there were odds of oystercatcher knot, grey plover, bar-tailed godwit, turnstone and curlew in amongst the throng of black-tailed godwit. Is there a collective noun for black-tailed godwit? Answers on a postcard, in reply to this blog post or tweet us at @RSPBNorfolkLinc using #RSPBFrampton.
Juvenile curlew sandpiper - Neil Smith
It's really tricky to not only see all these waders in among the islands and pools but also count them, but there is one way. Make sure you coincide your visit with one of these.....
Juvenile male peregrine on the hunt - Toby Collett
Several raptors have been attracted to the heaving mass of waterbirds on the reserve. The trio of merlin, hobby and peregrine have been seen this week. These speedy pursuit hunters are just mesmerizing to watch, combining incredible pace and agility as they chase down their prey. The first sign of one of these magnificent falcons is the alert, upright heads up stance of the waders, they may all suddenly go silent, then start to chatter before rising in unison. This 'safety in numbers' approach can be a nightmare if halfway through a count, but can also be a great way to get an idea of just how many birds are about as they all group together, hoping to avoid the fate of being lunch. Each of these falcons will have evolved to hunt a select few species but at the same time can't afford to be fussy. Estuaries are a great place to see all three due to the abundance and variety of species, especially at this time of year as we start to see the gathering and departure of summer species and the arrival of wintering birds. Other raptors recorded this week include marsh harrier (juvenile and adult male), a family of buzzards and a very tatty looking male hen harrier on the evening of the 20th. This last sighting is particularly pertinent given the sombre news of their demise as a breeding species in England.
Sand martins gathering on the reed bed - Toby Collett
We've seen huge numbers of swallow and sand martin around the reserve with over 500 of the latter resting on the exposed mud of the reed bed. It is no coincidence that when anyone reports a hobby, there are good numbers of martins and swallows about. But they aren't the only summer movers. Two lesser whitethroat were in the car park bushes on the 21st while whinchat have been seen at both Frampton (2) and Freiston (1) this week. Yellow wagtail numbers have been incredible with over 30 seen and heard moving around the reserve. Other summer stragglers to keep an eye out for this weekend are garganey, turtle dove and swift which have all been picked up in the last few days.
With a high tide walk at Freiston tomorrow and the monthly Webs count on Sunday, we look forward to even bigger numbers and even more variety in next weeks round up.
The more you're out the more you see - https://twitter.com/BoyWonderBirder
Toby, thanks for the information. It is appreciated and keeps us in touch from afar. We took your advice and arrived in time for the morning high tide on Saturday morning- just. Couldn't believe how many godwit were present what a fantastic sight. We were lucky to have a very bedraggled Merlin pointed out to us by
a kind birder in 360 hide. It sat on a post for ages drying itself out. At high tide there were dozens of ringed plover and dunlin on the reserve too. We saw a gorgeous male Wheater and 5 Greenshank during our visit in addition to all of the obvious characters. This was probably at least our 14th visit to Frampton Marsh and easily our best.
regards
Ian