It felt like spring today. The wildlife certainly seemed to think so as we had a couple of first sightings of the year;

Water vole - three were showing very well in the ditch on the way to the East Hide

Kingfisher - one was along the same ditch

Other sightings today;

Whooper swan - 8

White-fronted goose - 4

Golden plover - 2,500

Dunlin - 1,500

Ruff - 5

Peregrine - 2

Buzzard - 2

Marsh harrier - 1

Little owl…

Hello,

It has been very cold on the reserve today, with only the bravest of visitors venturing out. Those that did wrap up warm were treated to some nice wintery bird sightings. Highlights viewed from the warmth of the visitor centre included:

White-fronted goose 3

Snipe 8

Oystercatcher 2

Dunlin 26

Little owl 2

Hen harrier 1m

Marsh harrier 1f

Peregrine 2

Buzzard 1

Tree sparrow 28

Yellowhammer 15

Weather…

Ah, words to strike terror into the heart of any parent during a car journey. In this case though, 'there' is referring to spring. And you know, for a moment I thought we were there. Snowdrops are coming up lovely in the gardens surrounding the office here at Frampton Marsh. But no, we are back instead to snowflakes. Currently it is snowing outside and a bitter wind from the east is blowing.

But hey, no whinging…

Er, not boat. I meant carpark. (This being Frampton Marsh and not Amity island)

My word, it was busy out there on Sunday. With a large groups of both birdwatchers and a local rambling group visiting us, the car park was pushed to bursting point. We even had people parking on the grass verges of the road. Which is obviously something we try to avoid as much as possible. Great to see so many people, out and about in the…

This is not an observation about the weather on this occasion, rather that we've just placed an order for 10kw of solar panels for our visitor centre! The panels will signifcantly reduce our reliance on a generator to provide power for the centre.  Installation is due to start on 15th April, we're very grateful to the Environment Agency for funding this project. Because of the government's feed in tariff we'll actually…

No, not a comment on the footy. More a reflection on the change in weather between Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was lovely, wasn't it? Not quite time to break out the "What a Scorcher!" headlines in the tabloids, but all rather pleasant. Warm(ish) for the time of year and sunny. Sunday on the other hand was grey and cold and the easterly wind was what is often described as a 'lazy wind'. In other words it didn't want…

Hello all,

Apologies for the hiatus in recent sightings, we should be back on track again.

So, something of a cold week. Meaning it has only been the hardy folk coming out to us. But some good sightings still. And a first recent sightings posting for me, Chris, the new Visitor Services Officer. What can I offer you as what we have seen so far this week:

Marsh harrier – a female has been hunting over the salt marsh…

Hello all!

I'm Chris, the brand shiny new Visitor Services Officer here at Frampton. Just a week into the role. Though not new to the RSPB. If you have visited the old Top Lodge shop down in Fineshade Woods, Northamptonshire you may remember me. I was the Visitor and Promotions Officer there for the past 5 years. Before that I was both working and volunteering up in Scotland.

As the Visitor Services Officer it is…

If so, up to five are showing as close as three metres away from the Visitor Centre windows daily.....well worth a look if you've not seen them before, as they're such colourful little birds.

John

I had a couple of really nice walks around Frampton over the weekend. It's great being incognito sometimes because you get to hear honest and I have to say usually very complimentary discussion by visitors about Frampton Marsh! It's funny though as I got thinking about some of the species I saw over the weekend, actually how many of them were really 'wild'....A few weeks ago a little tiny Canada Goose turned up. This…

Sorry to pinch Johns' phrase but it's too late in the day to start thinking for myself. The visitor centre at Frampton will remain shut tomorrow (tuesday 22nd) when we will review the situation for the rest of the week, but with temperatures due to increase ever so slightly towards the weekend we might begin to see a thaw, good news all round. As we enter a second week of snow and ice, conditions are really tough out…

That's what I'm calling a combination of Snow and Ice. Sounds great doesn't it, but it's already becoming a bit of a chore. For one the temperatures have been so cold the battery in our generator seems to be really struggling, which means we've had problems getting the Visitor Centre power on. I feel a bit sorry for the wildlife too, walking around this morning I saw two groups of whooper swans fly over and carry on going…

Hello,

10 Bewick's swans (5 adult, 5 juv) dropped in onto the reedbed today at around 1515. All 10 were still present as dark fell, so hopefully, they will roost on the reserve over night.

Other highlights included:

European white-fronted goose 2
Scaup 4
Marsh harrier 1m
Hen harrier 1m
Peregrine 1f
Merlin 1f.

Cheers,

Simon.

Hello,

volunteer warden Jimmy Shaw and I have had a day of collecting Christmas litter, repairing water pumps and my favourite job of all, counting birds!

Today's highlights have included:

Mute swan 13
Dark-bellied brent goose 680
Pale-bellied brent goose 4
Pink-footed goose 450
European white-fronted goose 2
Greylag goose 24
Little grebe 12
Little egret 9
Moorhen 29
Mallard 118
Shoveler 43
Pintail 21
Gadwall 36
Wigeon 19…

Hi,

a quick march around the reedbed, sxcrapes and wet grassland at Frampton Marsh produced:

Mute swan 9
Brent goose 860
Greylag goose 36
Mallard 137
Shoveler 26
Gadwall 67
Pintail 21
Wigeon 123
Teal 666
Tufted duck 26
Pochard 5
Goldeneye 3
Lapwing 1130
Golden plover 3000+
Redshank 1
Hen harrier 1 (m)
Peregrine 2 (m&f)

an even quicker march around the wetland at Freiston produced:

Whooper swan 1 (over)
Brent goose 350+
Mallard…

One of our objectives at Frampton Marsh was to create a reedbed that would one day be home to some spectacular wildlife. Now, three and a half years after the first reeds went into the ground we're starting to see some action. A very brief visit by a bittern last year has been surpassed by regular sightings of small numbers of bearded tits over the last few weeks. Although it looks like they might not have hung around for…

This will be the last blog post from me as I’m moving on to work at the RSPB regional office in Norwich but don’t worry, the rest of the team have promised to keep you updated with what’s going on. Thanks for all the friendly comments from visitors who read the blog...here’s the final edition...

This weekend promises to be a cold one, but that’s no excuse not to wrap up warm and visit Frampton…

We've had some pretty heavy rain in the last few days so there are more puddles on the trails than usual.

It's tricky to get round to the East Hide without Wellington boots at the moment and the sea bank is very squelchy so watch out.

It's definitely worth getting your boots on though, as we've have hundreds of pink footed geese and thousand of golden plover on the reserve today.

The warden team are…

We will be closing the Visitor Centre 1 hour early tomorrow to give us time to steam clean the carpets and let them dry over night.

Toilet facilities will still be available but the main Visitor Centre and catering area will be closed from 3pm.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and we appreciate your patience while we get the Visitor Centre looking spick-and-span again.

Photgraph by Paul French

Ok, so the weather has been mixed this week and yesterday was a bit grim, but the bright blue sky and chilly sunshine on the reserve today just go to show that you shouldn't hide indoors all winter!
 
Lovely for a stroll around the trails and there's lots of great wildlife around too. Here's a summary of this week's highlights:

Curlew by Neil Smith

Golden plover - thousands on the fresh water scrapes this…

Well, what a fantastic week for wildlife on the reserve! After a few months of seeing not-very-much on the reedbed (all the good stuff’s been on the scrapes, wet grassland and saltmarsh), it was looking good again this morning.  Pintail, shoveler and more than 50 lapwings in front of the Visitor Centre and bearded tits in the reedbed.

Here’s what else has been seen this week:

Bearded tit by Andy Hay (rspb…

...to have your photo displayed at Oldrids and in the new Boston Visitor Guide!

The Boston Photography Competition closing date is the 30th of November.

Don't you think Frampton Marsh or Freiston Shore would be the perfect setting for an entry into the 'Nature' category?

Do: Take the ‘Connection to Nature’ Survey at www.rspb.org.uk/getoutdoors

Give: Gift membership – the perfect present for a nature lover this Christmas

Volunteer: Become a Campaigns Champion – for more info visit www.rspb.org.uk/volunteering

Campaign: CAP e-action – help protect the future of wildlife-friendly farming across Europe at www.rspg.org.uk/steppingup/campaign

We're forecast sunshine this weekend and we all know there's nothing as cheering as a bright wintery day spent at a beautiful nature reserve.

Frampton is just that, and there's loads to see (plus hot chocolate and snacks to warm up with) so why not make time to visit this weekend?

Here's an update on what wildlife is around, what the tides are doing and how the weather is behaving:

Golden plover by…