randombirder

Another fabulous day at Frampton Marsh picking up the black stork from the car as I pulled up.  That never happens and particularly for this bird that has been typically mobile, it was great to have it in full view for a few hours. Not wanting to linger at the car park, I took a walk round the back of the reserve picking up a nice male merlin , a flyby green sandpiper and spotted redshank , and a little owl by the farm buildings.  The stork reappeared in amongst a group of little egret , preening and roosting during the morning.  This provided an opportunity to check out the pools and saltmarsh. A group of dunlin held a little stint with an another further along the seawall.  The pacific golden plover was still present but in far more advanced moult than the last visit to Frampton.  A short-eared owl was quartering over the saltmarsh.  There were plenty of decent sized post-breeding flocks of yellow wagtail and pulses of sand martin were moving t...

 Days at Frampton Marsh never disappoint and on a rare day where the sun was out - it felt like spring.  Dark clouds in the distance looked threatening, and with no immediate shelter around the reserve, there was a sense of foreboding that the weather could turn nasty. Thankfully, the storms evaded the reserve itself - fortunate as rumbles of thunder could be heard toward the east. A late start meant that I'd missed some early wader action but there was plenty of interest on the scrapes, most notably two temminck's stint  that remained feeding close to the eastern bank.  Once again I'd forgotten to replace the SD card in my camera - something I do with frustrating regularity.  Also, on the marsh were the breeding avocet , a single ruff , three dunlin  and three spoonbill . A distant  short-eared owl quartered the marsh on the seaward side and a little owl was sat out in the open next to the farm to the south of the reserve. A hobby shot over the reser...

One of the perks of the job is that survey work can take you to some lovely parts of southern England.  It felt a bit special being sent to Norfolk for an evening and on the warmest day of the year so far.  The evening held onto the humidity, and with clear skies, it was a privilege to have spent it in quiet solitude.  A Barn Owl was hunting over the maize field and a Tawny Owl hooted close by.  Muntjacs barked, and satellites cruised over while listening to plenty of bat activity. The following day was booked as annual leave and having observed the heavy traffic creeping south along the A149 the previous evening, there wasn't a chance of joining the throngs of people presumably headed to the pristine beaches of the north norfolk coast.  Thinking better of it, I headed over to Frampton Marsh.   With barely half a dozen people there, it was perfect.  The heat however was still a factor with temperatures exceeding thirty degrees. I w...

Days at Frampton are seldom dull, and at this time of year when wader migration is reaching its zenith, this east-coast area of mature saltmarsh typifies the landmass providing an oasis for wading birds as they arrow south from their arctic breeding grounds. The sunflower meadow close to the visitor centre was really eyecatching. It was a humid afternoon but with a keen breeze that made scoping across the marsh challenging at times.  Particularly in the ultimately successful attempt at connecting with the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that eventually showed itself associating with a group of linearly dispersed Lapwing distantly across the marsh. A mere fifteen minutes earlier, the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher was seen roosting close to the sea wall with a Black-tailed Godwit , of which at least a hundred were spread widely across the marsh. There were plenty of wader highlights with two Wood Sandpiper seen adjacent from the top car park, two Curlew Sandpiper on pool...

Starting the year off at Welney WWT where the array of wildfowl as viewed from the main observatory is always an impressive sight.  Along with plenty of our common wintering species of duck was a roosting adult drake Ring-necked Duck .   There were good numbers of Bewick Swan , Whooper Swan , and a scattering of Pintail .  At least a thousand Black-tailed Godwit were congregated on the exposed mud.  Heading further north to Frampton Marsh and despite being unable to located the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher, a sparkling adult male Hen Harrier and a quartering Short-eared Owl were present on the marsh. A juvenile male Merlin was causing havoc among decent numbers of Starling , Lapwing , and Golden Plover dashing its way over the floods before settling on a post by the farmhouse. The fields were rammed full with wildlife particularly Wigeon and Dark-bellied Brent Goose.

Cashing in on some wader action at Frampton Marsh RSPB.  Such a fabulous reserve full of waders with 20 species in total seen comprised of the following; two  Curlew Sandpiper in summer moult , two  Little Stint, two  Wood Sandpiper, four  Spotted Redshank with one in summer plumage and the rest moulting adults , five  Green Sandpiper, six  Common Sandpiper, two  Greenshank, a single  Whimbrel that called high over during the evening,   500+ Black-tailed Godwit dominating the reserve, 50 Knot with around 10 still in summer plumage,   100+ Avocet,  50+ Dunlin the majority still in summer plumage,   30 Ruff , 25 Redshank ,   15 Little Ringed Plover , 10 Ringed Plover , 25 Common Snipe , 15 Lapwing , one lonely Golden Plover in summer plumage, and eight  Oystercatcher . A juvenile Spoonbill was roosting well into the morning.  It was then seen flying and settling onto ...

This was my first visit to Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire.  I'd heard positive things about it so I knew it was going to be good.  It was great!  A sweeping manageable reserve with defined paths that lead up to the saltmarsh, open fields, and a massive sky, all made for an environment that was teaming with birds. The undoubted highlight was the majestic male  Hen Harrier  that moved low along the marsh as viewed from the ridge that spreads out onto The Wash.  It exuded pure class as it made slow but purposeful progress to the south. The fields were a chorus of yapping  Dark-bellied Brent Goose ,  Wigeon , and  Teal .  The pools held a few smart drake  Pintail . A  Merlin  was zipping around causing havoc amongst the birds congregated on the flood. Merlin The skies were alive with birds.  Clouds of Golden Plover and Lapwing , a good selection of waders that included four wintering...