Howdy folks! And welcome back to the Frampton Marsh recent sightings blog. With me, Chris the visitor guy.
Well, as you may have heard if you get BBC Look North news, or follow us on twitter (@RSPBNorfolkLinc) we've had an exciting week. All things in good time though, so lets begin at the beginning...
Birdfair weekend meant lots of people were over at Rutland Water. But anyone who did make the trip would have found the usual array of good waders to be found.
And a definite feeling of autumn migration, with those wheatears and all those yellow wagtails. Starting to see the golden plovers returning too.
Whinchats are another great autumn bird.
Not just golden plovers returning, the odd grey is popping up as well.
And now, brace for impact.....
Woooooooah! That's a fantastic bird, right there. Almost full adult plumage stilt sandpiper, all the way over from North America. Unsurprisingly, it has proved very popular since.
And then it was joined by a red-necked phalarope (fifth for the site this year). Double bubble. But wait, it just keeps getting better....
Long-billed dowitcher! OK, this one didn't hang about (worse luck) but that is superb to have three great birds like that all at once. Great supporting cast too!
So, what does this special bird look like then? Here's a photo by Ted Smith
That's it in the front, with some black-tailed godwits behind. It seems to like to sleep with the godwits (rather than the fishes) on the reedbed, then feed on North Scrape. Note the barred front, head pattern and long, slightly drooping bill.
Of course, Big Boss John had to go one better. Well, it is his reserve after all. You can find a video he took here, with both the sandpiper and the phalarope!
Other good photos from the week include...
Sedge warbler by Neil Hilton
Wood sandpiper, sea aster mining bee and a small tortoiseshell by Brian Lawrence
Willow emerald damselfly by John Badley. Only half a dozen records for Lincolnshire!
So there you go, good stuff all round. 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, worth also mentioning that the roads down to the reserve are narrow and have blind bends. Please take care and drive carefully, doubly so if passing by houses. No bird, not even a stilt sandpiper, is worth causing an accident for.
So that is it from me. Hope you all have a great week, stay safe, and I'll catch you next time!
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.