Howdy folks! And welcome back to the Frampton marsh recent sightings. With me, Chris the visitor guy.
What? Yes, I know this is a day late. I was on a day off yesterday and couldn't get online to do it. So instead I am doing it today. Best crack on with the maps then!
Yes, that is a black kite on there! Apparently it scooted over at 11-ish and headed off inland, never to be seen again. Of course, I was elsewhere...
Two good signs of summer. Migrant moths like the silver Y appearing. And more unusual planes overhead as the airshow season starts!
Yes, that cattle egret is still hanging about. No clue what happened to the second (or if this is a totally different bird) or indeed where it disappears off to.
Ah yes, Tuesday was a bit on the damp side. Still some good birds about mind!
As so often, the day after rain good stuff comes in. First pectoral sandpiper of the year (did I see it? Of course not!), and a bonus crane too. Garganey also reappears from wherever they have been hiding.
And the day after it goes quiet again... Well, relatively so.
The pectoral sandpiper was briefly back on Friday before disappearing again. Could still be out there of course.
Well, at this point I normally add in some lovely pin-sharp photographs. In a change from that, here are a couple I took myself...
Yes, as you can see both the great-crested and the little grebe have chicks, which are doing the whole riding around on mum's back thing. Both these pictures were taken from the visitor centre (through the scopes) so they are also giving close views.
Right, how about something more professional looking?
Ruddy darter female, by Chris Thornton
Common darter by Roy Zoubritskiy
With warmer weather, and in sheltered spots to get out of that (in)famous Frampton breeze, the dragonflies are showing nicely.
Of course it isn't just dragonflies, there are butterflies and moths too. Here Simon Andrews (no known relation) captures a narrow-bordered five spot burnet on wild sweet pea
Of course it wouldn't be a series of Frampton photos without at least one by Neil Smith. Here a redshank gives an eye-level flight view.
Though Neil does have his humorous side too!
Any ideas for a caption?
Oh, and for a bit of video, Ian Ellis caught this footage of the regular two spoonbills being bothered by a third one. A youngster from the local nesting site?
So, there you have it! If you are going to visit us, you can keep up to day 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.
I hope you all have a great week, take care, have fun, and I will catch you next time.
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.