Howdy folks! And after an enforced week's absence as the tech-team were updating the community pages, welcome back to the Frampton Marsh recent sightings blog. With me, Chris the visitor guy.
So, with no further ado, how about this week's maps?
So, the long-billed dowitcher is STILL around! Well over two months now. The smart money may well be on it over-wintering, assuming we don't have too harsh weather. Some other good stuff around too, such as the great white egret, water pipit and of course the hen harrier.
800+ starlings gave a bit of a display at dusk, though they don't seem quite sure what they are up to, often coming in small groups and settling rather than doing the big swirly mass. We can be hopeful though. A barn owl flew past the visitor centre at 4:45, a return of the "4 o'clock owl" from previous years?
After a bit of an absence, the ruddy shelduck shows itself again. The 'berry trail' as marked on the map is worth a look if you like your winter thrushes. Who knows, maybe one day a waxwing...?
No map for Wednesday or Thursday I'm afraid.
The tawny owl is being seen increasingly regularly, along the hedgerow between the road and the grassland reservoir.
Well, that should give you a flavour of what is about.... how about some lovely photos?
We will start off with a nice scenery shot from Pete Russell, with some lovely textures and colours.
Regular contributor Jeremy Eyeons caught this reed bunting
And centre volunteer Mark Sargeant caught up with two of the Egyptian geese
Paul Pateman was lucky to get a shot of one of the male hen harriers, on the hunt
And here Debsie Pickering shows just why starlings are not at all dull and boring, especially when you get the light on them!
Finally, Neil Smith found this peregrine having a spot of lunch!
So 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. Oh, and remember we do now sell filled rolls in the visitor centre for all your lunchtime needs. Also now, the tide tables for next year are in. Just £1 and you can plan your birdwatching trips to Frampton, Freiston, Titchwell and Snettisham for the entirety of 2019! Finally, if the weather turns out to be colder than you'd planned on, you can buy hats, scarves and gloves, lovingly knitted by our lovely volunteers, from the visitor centre.
All the best, take care, 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.