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Recent sightings

• 19 May 2012

  Saturday - continuing the gothic theme...

  On the down side: the black-winged stilt has not been seen today.

  On the up side: the black-necked grebe is still about, as are the curlew sandpipers and wood sandpipers (2 around today) and at about 4.30 this afternoon 2 black terns arrived on the reserve, in full summer plumage. Beautiful!

  

  Posted by Laura Harpham

• 18 May 2012

  Recent sightings, weekend weather and next week's tides

  Hello from Frampton,

  We’ve had a windy day on the reserve, with north-easterly winds reaching 15mph at times.

  Having said that, the wildlife hasn’t been blown away and there’s plenty to see.

  Today’s sighting highlights include:

  Black-winged stilt x 1

  Black-necked grebe x 1

  Curlew sandpiper x 25 (The highest British spring count on one site for at least 11 years)

  Greenshank x 1

  Garganey x 2

  Dunlin x 100

  Avocet x 60+ (including nesting birds)

  Little gull x 9

  Sanderling x 1

  Black tailed godwit x 30 (in lovely breeding plumage)

  Little stint x 1

  Wood sandpiper x 1

  Turtle dove x 1 (Have you heard about our recently launched campaign to save ‘the only British bird that purrs’ from extinction in the UK?)

  Weekend weather:

  Saturday’s forecast is cloudy but mainly dry with lighter winds.
  Sunday brings the risk of showers in the afternoon and slightly stronger winds.
  You may need to wrap up warmly but you never know which birds the wind will blow in!

  Next week’s tides:

  

  Posted by Laura Harpham

• 15 May 2012

  Frampton's Going Gothic

  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

  Posted by Laura Harpham

• 5 May 2012

  Double vision: two black-winged stillts on the reserve

  No, I haven't been having a sneaky tipple before opening up the Visitor Centre..and my binoculars are not broken either...

  You may have heard that a black-winged stilt which arrived at Frampton Marsh a couple of weeks ago has been hanging around, giving great views to visitors.

  You may also have heard that last night he scooted off; a leggy white dot receeding into the distance.

  Well he's back! And he's brought a friend!

  We suspect they're a Mr and Mrs from the slightly browner back on the new-comer, but why not come down this bank holiday weekend and take a look for yourself?

  We've also had a great skua causing havoc on the wet grassland, a drake scaup in the reedbed pool and a female hen harrier hunting over head (what a lot of Hs).

  Which would you rather; catch up on spring cleaning or spend a fantastic day at south Lincolnshire's premier RSPB reserve? I know which I'll choose!

  Posted by Laura Harpham

• 4 May 2012

  Friday sightings, weekend weather and next week's tides.

  Hello,

  We have had another busy day at RSPB Frampton Marsh. With breeding bird surveys, cows escaping and blogs to write, the day has been full of variety!

  Today's sightings highlights:

  Dark- bellied brent goose 600+

  Scaup 1 drake

  Garganey 1 drake

  Goldeneye 2

  Marsh harrier 1 male

  Avocet 60+

  Black-tailed godwit 29

  Whimbrel 19

  Curlew 52

  Little ringed plover 2

  Ruff 18

  Sort-eared owl 1

  Swift 25+

  Swallow 20+

  House martin 4

  Sand martin 5

  Yellow wagtail 3

  White wagtail 2

  Sedge warbler 5

  Reed warbler 3

  Yellowhammer 2

  Corn bunting 2

   

  Weekend weather:

  Saturday is predicted to be cloudy with sunny spells. The temperature could reach 9C or it may drop to as low as 1C. The wind will be a north easterly of 15mph.

  Sunday is predicted to be exactly the same, but with slightly slower winds of 7mph

  Next week's tides:

  Date	Day	AM Tides	Height (m)	PM Tides	Height (m)
  5	Sat	05.58	7.3	18.10	7.6
  6	Sun	06.43	7.5	18.59	7.9
  7	Mon	07.27	7.7	19.49	7.9
  8	Tue	08.11	7.7	20.39	7.8
  9	Wed	08.54	7.6	21.29	7.4
  10	Thu	09.39	7.3	22.21	6.9
  11	Fri	10.26	7.0	23.19	6.4

  Have a nice bank holiday,

   

  Simon.

   

   

  Posted by Simon Wilson

• 28 April 2012

  Saturday sightings,weekend weather and next week's tides.

  Hello,

  It has been a wet day so far today, on the reserve. Despite the rain (forecast said fine!) lots of visitors have spent the day with us, seeing some great birds along the way.

  Today's sightings

  Highlights have included:

  Brent goose 600+

  Scaup (drake) 1

  Garganey (drake) 1

  Fulmar 1

  Common tern 1

  Arctic tern 3

  Avocet 66

  Black-tailed godwit 120

  Bar-tailed godwit 1

  Black-winged stilt 1

  Whimbrel 1

  Swift 15+

  Swallow 30+

  Sand martin 4

  House martin 6

  Merlin (f) 1

  Marsh harrier (f) 1

  Hen harrier (f) 1

  Wheatear 3

  Water pipit 1

  Yellow wagtail 4

  White wagtail 6

  Weekend weather

  Sunday will be wet all day. The high temp will be a max of 10C, while the low temp will only reach 6C. The wind will come from the north east at a speed of 22mph.

  Monday will have some long awaited sunny spells! High temps could reach 15C, while the low temp will only make 8C. The wind will remain a north easterly, but at a steadier speed of 9mph.

  Next week's tides

  Date	Day	AM Tides	Height (m)	PM Tides	Height (m)
  29	Sun	11.47	5.7
  30	Mon	00.46	5.4	13.02	5.6

   

   

  1	Tue	02.11	5.6	14.23	5.8
  2	Wed	03.21	6.0	15.31	6.3
  3	Thu	04.20	6.4	16.28	6.8
  4	Fri	05.12	6.9	17.20	7.3

  Thanks for reading.

   

  Cheers,

  Simon. 

   

   

   

  Posted by Simon Wilson

• 24 April 2012

  Tuesday sightings

  Hi,

   

  Today's highlights have included:

  Barnacle goose 2
  Brent goose 450+
  Arctic tern 10
  Little gull 1
  Buzzard 2
  Marsh harrier 1
  Avocet 40+
  Little ringed plover 1
  Black-winged Stilt 1
  White wagtail 1
  Yellow wagtail 2
  Tree sparrow 22
  Corn bunting 2

  Cheers,

   

  Simon.

   

  Posted by Simon Wilson

• 19 April 2012

  Thursday sightings, weekend weather and next week's tide times.

  Hi,

  It has been a very wet week on the Lincolnshire Wash. We are now in the wettest drought since records began!

  The bird of the day is a black-winged stilt which is showing very well on the scrapes at Frampton. This stunning wading bird has had the occasional flight on to the wet grassland, where it has been harrassed by the displaying lapwings.

  Also on the reserve today:

  A pair of garganey on the wet grassland
  Little ringed plover 2
  Avocet 60+
  Yellow wagtail 2
  Wheatear 4

  Weekend Weather

  Friday will begin with sunny spells, becoming showery around 1pm until 4ish. The wind will come from the south west at a speed of 10mph, with maximum temperatures of 12C and a minimum of 4C.

  Saturday will be slightly wetter with the rain starting at around 10am until 4ish. Again, the wind will come from the south west, but at a speed of 6mph. Maximum temperatures will be around 10C, with a minimum of 6C.

  Sunday will have a strange mix of sunny spells and thunder storms. There  will be a westerly wind with a speed of 9mph, with maximum temperatures of 11C and a minimum of 5C.

  Next week's tide times

  Date	Day	Am tides	Height (m)	Pm tides	Height (m)
  20	Fri	06.34	6.8	18.36	7.1
  21	Sat	07.03	7.0	19.12	7.2
  22	Sun	07.34	7.1	19.45	7.1
  23	Mon	08.04	7.1	20.19	7.0
  24	Tue	08.33	7.0	20.51	6.8
  25	Wed	09.03	6.8	21.25	6.5
  26	Thu	09.34	6.6	22.00	6.2

   

  Cheers,

  Simon.

  Posted by Simon Wilson

• 24 March 2012

  Recent sightings 22/03/12

  The warmer weather we have had since last weekend has sent some of our winter visitors back north for the breeding season, but it has also brought some of our summer visitors up from as far south as Africa!

  Our numbers of black-bellied brent geese are slowly depleting as they head back to the Siberian tundra to breed (all bulked up on home-grown Frampton grass).

  The large group of whooper swans he had visiting last week have also left; possibly on their annual flight to their breeding grounds in Iceland. However there are still a fair number about so don’t despair if you particularly want to see them; there’s still time!

  Our Spring Arrivals board is up in the Visitor’s Centre and, low-and-behold, the spring migrants are starting to arrive.

  

  Image of wheatear by Neil Smith

  Here’s a summary of the highlights:

  28 x whooper swans
  22 x avocet
  10 x twite
  2 x wheatear
  1 x chiffchaff
  1 x corn bunting
  1 x redpoll
  1 x jack snipe
  1 x water pipit
  1 x merlin
  1 x watervole!

  This Sunday at 2pm is our last ‘Talon Spotting’ guided walk so be sure to book a place (01205 724678) for the chance to see peregrine, merlin, marsh harrier and maybe even short-eared owl.
  
  

  Posted by Laura Harpham