Howdy folks! Welcome back to the RSPB Frampton recent sightings. With me, Chris the visitor guy!
The bitingly cold days of a couple of week ago seem a distant memory now, as we've had a lovely sunny spell. Though I've probably jinxed it now and we'll be back to ice soon! But what creatures have been about? Cue the maps...
Well, the dowitcher is still with us!
The female scaup hadn't been seen for a while but reappeared on Sunday (or another turned up). Albeit briefly.
The golden plover flock is looking pretty good at the moment, probably in the order of 5000 of them.
And water rails are popping up from time to time. As are bearded tits...
Oh, and as you might tell from the lighting effects, we've had some good sunsets too. Which is when the whooper swans come in to roost. Still 80 or so of them, though no reports of the Bewick's for a while.
Now, as you may know we often like to show off some of your photos. Well this week we have some absolute belters! We can start with reserve regular, Jeremy Eyeons. This week he sends us a pair of mallards, a hovering kestrel and a portrait of a house sparrow.
Not to be outdone, Sean Browne adds a yellowhammer, a reed bunting and a marsh harrier.
Mark Sargeant caught this meadow pipit in a spot of sunshine
And Matthew Farrugia has done splendidly with this goldfinch and a close-up of a singing dunnock.
Wow, how about that!
If you look at photos like these and wish you could take them too, we have a Improve Your Photography course on 24 February. Follow this link to secure your place.
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. 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!
Chris