Hellooooo :D Hope everyone's well and gearing up for their Bank Holiday Weekend. A whole extra day of birding at the Lincolnshire Wash Reserves. It's what a Monday off work was made for.
Things have been a little more settled this week. The main migrant rush is over and arrivals are now settling into their territories and will be in full voice this weekend, hence why International Dawn Chorus Day is on Sunday the 4th. If you can't get out to an event near you then just set your alarm that little bit earlier (you can catch up with sleep on Monday) and let the sound of bird song fill your ears.
The only two new summer arrivals this week were a Reed Warbler near the Marsh Farm reservoir on the 27th and several Swift over the Visitor Centre on the 1st of May.
Highlights this week were the adult Spoonbill on the scrapes, the Garganey finally settling down on the Frampton wet grassland (with another pair briefly at Freiston), a first summer Little Gull on the reedbed and Curlew Sandpiper at Freiston with a Little Stint at Frampton on the last day of the month taking our April wader tally to 23.
Spoonbill - Neil Smith
Garganey - Ian Ellis
Little Gull- Ian Ellis
Curlew Sandpiper - Paul Sullivan
Brent Geese continue to hang around in good number, with several hundred dropping onto middle scrape regularly. The Australian Wood Duck from many moons ago continues to frequent the wet grassland looking very confused and a bit bewildered, probably wondering where the 2,000+ Wigeon it was making friends with 2 months ago have gone. A couple of Pintail are still hanging on and we've got a few Pochard in the reedbed (not including the Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid from last weeks sightings) which we hope will make baby Pochards for the second consecutive year after their breeding debut in 2013.
Raptors have dropped right off the radar this week with the occasional Peregrine and Marsh Harrier being seen over the saltmarsh. A Montagu's Harrier was seen up the coast at Gibraltar Point on the 28th so we'll keep our fingers crossed that one may drift past here soon.
We have had a record count of Avocet nests on the scrapes with over 40 counted this week. Most of these are settled on the new islands we created on North Scrape with a handful on the small island right in front of East Hide, cameras at the ready for those fellas in a couple of weeks.
We've got several Lapwing chicks dispersed across the reserve, the nearest trio can be seen on the left of the path heading towards the sea bank from the old car park. This is also one of the best places to see both Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers with three of the latter displaying together or against each other in that corner on the 1st. Ringed Plover numbers increase on a high tide and up to 30 have been roaming the Roads Farm grasslands on the last few mornings. A few stunningly splendid Golden Plover have been feeding on the Frampton wet grassland, while Grey Plovers are bossing the 'wow' factor at Freiston.
Dunlin are also looking super smart too with black tummies and russet mantles all breaking through the plain grey winter plumage. In fact ALL our waders are starting to look brilliant. The Turnstone and Knot gathering on the high tide at Freiston are a feast of the eyes with the former's pied appearance lit up by bright orange braces on its back and the larger Knot showing why they are also know as Red Knot, developing their rich summer hues. Am I hiding my bias well? I LOVE WADERS!! :D
We had a fantastic day for Whimbrel on the 28th with over 100 on Marsh Farm, including a group of 50. This was nearly mirrored at Freiston with 70+ on the saltmarsh alone. Black-tailed Godwit (300+), Ruff (60+) and a single Bar-tailed Godwit added some jabs of colour and contrast to the rich greens of our flourishing grass. While the godwits moult from winter greys into summer reds, the ruff go from a more patterned winter plumage into every combination of chestnut, black, brown, white and ginger imaginable. ACE!!
Whimbrel - Ian Ellis
Bar-tailed Godwit - Neil Smith
Black-tailed Godwit - Toby Collett
The above bird is clearly ringed and the details are as follows.
Adult, femaleRY-WX 13.07.11 Siglufjordur, N IcelandRY-WX 14.07.11 Siglufjörður, N IcelandRY-WX 19.07.11 Cley, Norfolk, E EnglandRY-WX 20.07.11 Cley, Norfolk, E EnglandRY-WX 17.03.13 Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, Shapwick, Somerset, SW EnglandRY-WX 20.03.13 Shapwick Heath , Shapwick, Somerset, SW EnglandRY-WX 10.04.13 Alkborough Flats, Humber, North Lincolnshire, E EnglandRY-WX 17.04.13 Alkborough Flats, Humber, North Lincolnshire, E EnglandRY-WX 21.04.14 Stiffkey Fen, Norfolk, E EnglandRY-WX 24.04.14 Frampton RSPB, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E EnglandRY-WX 26.04.14 Frampton RSPB, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E EnglandRY-WX 26.04.14 Frampton RSPB, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
A few more colour ringed birds were seen this week.
Black-tailed Godwit x2
Ringed as chick
RG-GYflag 26.06.12 Kaldaðarnes, Árnessýsla, S IcelandRG-GYflag 21.09.12 Killingholme, Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E EnglandRG-GYflag 29.09.12 Killingholme, Humber estuary, Lincolnshire, E EnglandRG-GYflag 17.05.13 Cley, Norfolk, E England toRG-GYflag 27.06.13 Cley, Norfolk, E EnglandRG-GYflag 11.08.13 Frampton Marsh, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E EnglandRG-GYflag 12.02.14 Paxton Pits, Cambridgeshire, E EnglandRG-GYflag 16.02.14 Paxton Pits, Cambridgeshire, E EnglandRG-GYflag 26.04.14 Frampton RSPB, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
and
RW-WN 11.07.13 Vatnsholt, Grímsnes, Árnessýsla, S IcelandRW-WN 24.04.14 Frampton RSPB, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England
We also had a colour ringed Avocet this week.
Ringing details of Avocet D5 - courtesy of Dunkirk Avocets
Waders are one of the last families to move to breeding grounds so may is a great time to pick up birds heading north and with them some colour rings too. Sightings help give us an insight into the birds migration strategies and may help us map out future reserves and management so please keep an eye out and do report them.
Rounding off the weeks waders we've had regular Greenshank sightings on Marsh Farm, the Frampton saltmarsh, Freiston realignment Freiston wet grassland and a single Spotted Redshank on the Frampton scrapes. Two Redshank surveys on the Frampton saltmarsh produced a Jack Snipe each, result!
Greenshank - Ian Ellis
Mediterranean Gulls continue to be seen around the reserve with mating seen taking place on the 30th. Could this be the first year we see baby Meds? There's also been an increase in Common Tern at both reserves with several Sandwich Terns off Cut End at the start of the week.
Last weeks Cuckoo was seen and heard around the Marsh Farm reservoir during the week and a big surprise was a Short-eared Owl over the sea bank on the 26th, though a bit of research shows one in the same place on the same date last year!
Our last birdy update concerns one that was mentioned last week but gave lots of visitors the run around as it proved very elusive this week. The Turtle Dove has not yet settled into a regular purring patter yet but if you are coming to look for them, make sure you slow down as you pass the farm yard on your right (in front of the big grain barns) as you head to Frampton reserve as one has been seen feeding on spilled grain several times this week.
Turtle Dove - Toby Collett
If they aren't in the yard then walk along the public footpath and through the hedgerow towards Marsh Farm and then along the cross bank as this was where they were most seen and heard last year.
We'll finish as we usually do on some non-avian gems. All too often our eyes can be drawn to the hundreds of birds we have here but take time to look down as well as up.
Field Horsetail - Neil Smith
Furrow Orbweaver - Neil Smith
Nursery Web Spider - Neil Smith
Long-jawed Spider - Neil Smith
If there are any arachnid addicts out there, or if you know someone who is, that can fill in the name blanks then do please get in touch. - EDIT The blanks have been filled in, so thank you to those that let us know. Much appreciated :)
High tides this weekend are both before 10am so an early start could well be rewarded.
Have a good weekend and good birding.
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