Black plumage seems to be the fashion on the Frampton bird-walk this season. With black-winged stilts parading the reserve for almost three weeks now and a black-necked grebe arriving this week I'm expected black vulture and black kite any day now...
Ok, so maybe not, but there monochrome madness is spreading to other parts of the reserve as well. Blackcaps can be heard singing in the hedgerows, dozens of black-headed gulls are nesting on the reedbed islands and if you look under the eaves on the left hand side of the Visitor Centre you'll see a nest of swallows!
This explains all the swallow-action we've been seeing around the VC lately; the parents are busy hunting insects to feed their young. I can't wait to see them fledge and take their first flight into this scary world of ours. At least they'll be starting life at Frampton, where there's plenty of food and lovely habitat for them. Maybe they'll come back to Frampton after their first winter migration to sub-Saharan Africa!
Come on down to the reserve to enjoy the sunshine, see our gothic wonders and some colourful birds too, and have a chat with our friendly volunteers and staff.
Image by Christopher Upson April 2012