Howdy folks, and welcome back to the Frampton Marsh recent sightings. With me, Chris the visitor guy.
Boy, was it busy today! We were graced by the presence of the folks from Birdwatching magazine (other publications are available...) and lots of other lovely birders all on their quest to see 200 bird species in a year. And there was good stuff for them to see too. But let's start in traditional fashion, with the maps from the start of the week.....
Not sure what happened to Sunday's map...
Winter visitors starting to build in number...
There was also a clouded yellow butterfly about. And a red-necked grebe on the grassland reservoir, as can be seen from the following day
The grebe would stay put for the next few days. It is a first for the reserve, though we have had them before over at Freiston Shore.
A slightly rain-battered map, sorry about that. Hopefully you get the gist of it
Yes, today was the autumn equinox. From now on the nights are longer than the days. Winter draws on!
So, if those are the birds, how about some nice photos? Well, star of the last week has been the great white egret. Though we think the local sticklebacks would prefer it if it wasn't about! (Photo by Neil Smith)
Mind you, it wasn't just the egret (or its smaller cousins) that the sticklebacks have to worry about. This spotted redshank wasn't averse to a fish dish either (photo by Mark Johnson)
Mind you, nothing to get in a flap over (curlew sandpiper by Kevin Mayhew)
Though it might turn a few heads (kestrel by Jeff Everett)
Or ruffle a few feathers (short-eared owl by Ian Bollen)
Oh, and since a fair number of you have asked what on earth a Jet Provost looks like, it was around again earlier in the week and here it is, captured by Neil Smith
If you are interested in such things, it is a Mark 52, the only one still flying. It started off with the South Yemen Air Force (in whose colours it is currently painted), before being transferred to the Singaporean Air Force. It is now operated by a private company.
So, that is about that. Some good morning high tides this weekend, ideal for getting up onto the seabank first thing.
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.
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.