Howdy folks! And welcome to the Frampton Marsh recent sightings. With me, Chris the visitor guy. And do we have some sightings for you?
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Er, yes, actually we do! But first, a bit of a correction. You may remember last week we finished off with a white-rumped sandpiper. Er, we aren't sure about that any more. Some observers were very postiive, but as yet we've seen no photographic evidence and there was a lot of confusion with a juvenile dunlin. So if anyone *did* see it last week and either wants to send us a photo or provide a description, we'd love to hear from you. Either way, there was no report after 8am on the Friday.
Right, that out of the way, what about this week? Well, we'll start with last weekend. "Hang on Chris" you cry, "You always start with the most recent day! What gives?" Ah dear reader, stay with me and all will be revealed.
So Saturday...
Yes, that is a pectoral sandpiper on there! No sooner has one rare wader gone (or not) then another turns up.
What about Sunday?
Yes, that is a broad-billed sandpiper! These things are like buses.... (actually no, they are more like dunlin. But you get where I'm coming from)
The plane was pretty nice too!
So, Monday...
What, no new sandpiper? No, you are getting greedy now! The question was though, would the broad-billed sandpiper stay another day. You see, I'd been stick in the visitor centre on Sunday and so not been able to see it. And was away on the Monday. And I'd missed the two previous ones.....
Yes! It stayed, I got to see it. And as small dumpy brown waders go, it was quite nice...
(Photo by Ian Bollen)
The pectoral sandpiper wasn't bad either
And I suppose we ought to complete the set with a curlew sandpiper
(photo by Chris Butterfield)
On Wednesday the birds were still here, but the excitement was of another nature.
The first water scorpions ever found in the pond dipping pond. This was the last day the broad-billed and pectoral sandpipers were seen.
So Thursday...
Hang on.... white-rumped sandpiper? We've been here before. yes, but this one was definitely the genuine article.
And Friday
Another pond dipping day, and more interest there as there were a lot of brine shrimps. Some weeny, others much larger.
Fascinating creatures, almost see-through!
Right, that brings us up to date. Just two extra things to say.
Firstly we moth trapped again last weekend and had a wide range of species. Mullein, poplar hawk moth, ruby tiger, silver Y (the Ronaldo moth!), scalloped oak, coronet and many more. We'll be doing it again this weekend. Trap opening is at 10 am outside the centre on Saturday. on Sunday there is aprivate opening for those taking part in the Big Wild Slkeepiut, but I will hang onto anything particularly good to show off later that day.
And secondly, there will be some work going on over this coming week at Freiston Shore. We are improving the steps up to the sea bank, and to the viewing platform. Some path closures may result, please follow all signs and bear with us as we improve the site for you.
So that's about if from me. have a great weekend, take care, and i'll see you next time!
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.