Today started off with the compulsory cup of tea, and some searching through some harrier records for the winter for an hour, before Graham (Warden) and I hit the road.
First stop the workshop to load up all the kit we needed for the day...then the Visitor centre to check Dave (Volunteer) was Ok, and start the generator. I also ventured over to the barn owl box to change the battery, disturbing a barn owl that flew out over my head – a great sight! Enjoyed by visitors in the car park as well! We are planning to get a solar charger so we will not be disturbing the birds in this way on a regular basis.
The news of the morning, as I stopped on the arrivals board whilst in the Visitor centre was the first wheatear of the year! So the next stop of the day for Graham and I was a detour down to the double gates onto Roads Farm wet grassland to see if we could see the wheatear that had just been reported. To our pleasure it was sat on the cattle trough just inside the gates before flying onto the corral. A lovely little bird, and another sign of spring!
Photo: Wheatear (Neil Smith)
Then off we set to the pump hut, from where we pump water onto the reserve from the IDB drain before it flows into the River Witham and out into the Wash. The pump had stopped again overnight, this has been happening a lot over the last few days so we felt it was time to check that there was nothing obscuring it. This involves taking the pump head out of the water and removing and cleaning the basket which protects it before repositioning it in the middle of the ditch. It is a bit of a fiddly job but between us we completed it and left the pump running well.
Our next stop was Freiston Shore, which is just the other side of the River Witham from Frampton Marsh. We spent the rest of our day there, building a fence around in a new gateway. Its a lovely site, and worth a visit (just follow the brown tourist signs from the A52).
The sun has shone all day, and it has definitely been ‘ice cream’ weather! For those enjoying a walk and some birdwatching at Frampton Marsh, some of the birds enjoying the sunshine were the wheatear, corn buntings, avocets, twite and ruff. The little owl was visible from its nest box in the trees by the barn on Marsh Farm. There were also visits by both a peregrine and a buzzard. So whilst the reserve is bathed in sunlight and looking at its best, do come and share in the joys of Frampton Marsh.