You know, I really shouldn't know some of these cultural references. I'm much younger than that!
But what a stonking weekend. OK, Saturday was a bit grey and cloudy. But wasn't Sunday a lovely day? Great to see so many people out on the reserve enjoying it.
The birds did their part too, with some exciting sightings. And yes, the Temminck's stint was amongst them. Plus five of its mates. We had six stints, all feeding away in the pools on the wet grassland behind the east hide. Not quite beating last year's record of seven. But who knows what the week ahead will bring.
Also weighing in, on Sunday there was a Montagu's harrier spotted over the saltmarsh. The reservoir on the wet grasslands had wood sandpiper, common sandpiper and whinchat all hanging around it. The turtle doves in the hedgerow were being vocal and a spoonbill spent a lot of Saturday wading around the freshwater scrapes. The scrapes were also playing host to two little gulls (still being pestered by the black-headed gulls).
In other exciting news, we are now the proud landlords of some very cute chicks. Both avocets and lapwings hatched out at the weekend. You are most likely to see the little balls of fluff from the east hide, as they look for food shepherded around by proud (if anxious ) parents. The avocets particularly tend to be very protective, trying to drive away anything that comes close to their little darlings.
Photo by Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.