Howdy folks! Welcome back to a slightly abbreviated weekly sightings blog. With me, Chris the Visitor Guy.
Yes, I'm afraid we are missing a few maps this week, including from last weekend. Still, some good stuff on the maps we do have, so let's crack on with Monday's effort.
Yes, Monday was Lincolnshire Day! Not heard of it? Well basically it is a celebration of the county, on the anniversary of an uprising of Lincolnshire catholics against Henry VIII. Which didn't do very well, the ringleaders meeting sticky ends.
In terms of the wildlife, a late turtle dove was loitering in the hedge near the car park. And favourabe winds allowed sea-watchers with BIG telescopes to see a pretty impressive movement of birds off the river mouth.
No map for Tuesday I'm afraid
Wednesday revealed most things in their usual spots, though the dowitcher was hiding once more...
So yes, the dowitcher was back on the Thursday. A stoat on the access road is missing from the map
And friday really was a pretty good day. Turtle dove right in the middle of the reserve was quite a surprise, and getting very late now.
Going back to the dowitcher for a minute, David Walsh got some good footage of it feeding on Friday
Right, onto the photos. And we'll start with some from regular contributor Jeremy Eyeons. Here we have a little grebe and a red admiral butterfly
Dale Ayres got a very nice shot of a ruff
And Kevin Mayhew got this goldfinch
Finally Mark Sargeant captured both this blue tit, and also what the scene can look like on the reedbed at the moment when the black-tailed godwits come flocking in.
That's a lot of birds!
You will notice from the maps that the scrapes are really not seeing any action at the moment. This is because they are very dry, a fact that several of you have been commenting on. For an explanation, please see yesterday's blog.
So that is it for another week. 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!
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.