Curlew Sandpipers at Frampton Marsh RSPB, Lincolnshire

A few weeks ago there were over 250 of these lovely waders at nearby Frampton Marsh. There are normally a few of these birds that turn up at various sites around the east every year, including Frampton, but I can't remember ever hearing of 250+. A real jewel in the RSPB, this site seems to be only watched by the locals and doesn't attract the numbers that Titchwell and Minsmere do, for whatever reason.

Josh Jones has written a very good article on Frampton Marsh, which can be found here.

Wryneck at Frampton Marsh RSPB, Lincolnshire

A bird that I have chased for a number of years and never getting to see is the Wryneck. A true 'bogey' of mine, a species that I have missed so many times that I really thought that I would never see it. Last year, for example I chased three different birds, missing one by a matter of minutes when a confiding bird at Frampton was scared off by a dog and never seen again. Finally, this week, with the help of my friend Chris Orders, I have 'picked' that 'bogey' and boy did it feel good!

Glossy Ibis at Frampton Marsh RSPB (again!)

It always seems to rain or else be extremely miserable when I visit Frampton Marsh. The other weekend was no different when myself and Chris Orders paid a visit.

The day started extremely foggy with visibility down to 50 yards, if that, but we hadn't been out for a while and so we proceeded with our trip. The main object was to see if we could get any views of a juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard that had been frequenting the area, but also just to have a walk around and probably pay our respects to the long staying Glossy Ibis. We arrived at the Buzzards favoured site where there were already some birders viewing the distance and telling us that they could see the bird in some distant trees. We viewed this through our scopes and whilst there was definitely a bird there, neither of us were very happy with the views and so we found a spot to view the bird that bit closer. We saw the bird fly, but at this instance we both identified it as a Common Buzzard, not a Rough-legged one. After spending a couple of hours looking for this bird, we decided to cut our losses and go to the RSPB's reserve.

A very pleasant walk was had, seeing lots of Brent Geese, Wigeon and a few waders, but on returning to the car park we were greeted with quite good views of the Glossy Ibis. It then started to rain..........and rain..........and rain a bit more. We were entrenched in my van, but good views were had as the bird continued to move a bit closer and was seen actively feeding and doing a spot of wing stretching. I just wish the sun would have come out, maybe next time!

A first-summer bird arrived at this site on June 14th and was joined by a second on the 26th. These two birds then started displaying and a nest was started to be built, excitement grew on the site as this breed has never bred in this country, despite numerous oversummering birds. Alas, this was not to be and by the 19th July only one bird remained and has continued to do so, at least until mine and Chris's visit the other weekend. I wonder if the other bird will return next year and the two can give it another go?!

Black-tailed Godwits in the sun

Juvenile Reed Warbler

There are still juvenile birds about being fed by their ever willing parents. None more so than these two juvenile Reed Warblers. Notice the short tail on the top photo, almost 'Wren' like.

Glossy Ibis at Frampton Marsh RSPB

This Glossy Ibis has been present at Frampton for what seems an absolute age now, but I hadn't got around to visiting for one reason and another. The other weekend there was a report of a Lesser Yellowlegs at the site which gave me some impetus to go. The Yellowlegs gave us the run around for a bit, but was duly seen and then I decided to try and photograph the obliging Glossy Ibis. I am afraid that I went a bit mad, taking far too many photos, but digital photography is a marvellous thing enabling me to delete two-thirds of the rubbish, leaving not quite as bad rubbish!

And last, but not least, an obliging juvenile Swallow,

Red Knot

But it's not red, I hear you cry! True, although there are glimpses of red plumage on this rather confiding Knot that was present at Frampton Marsh today. The bird was on its own, quite happily feeding close to the path and giving me extremely good views. The numbers of this bird will now start to increase in The Wash area as they arrive from their breeding grounds in the north to spend the winter here.

The Knot is a familiar sight to birdwatchers in this country, hundreds of thousands of these birds spend the winter on our shores and they do so in rather drab, grey plumage. However, in their breeding finery they are a rich, brick red colour (giving the bird its full name of Red Knot), some of which remains on this bird on its belly, as is shown on the photo below.

Swallow

A few digiscoped shots of a couple of confiding Swallows from my recent visit to Frampton in Lincolnshire. These two birds were perched on the visitors centre and didn`t seem to mind the comings and goings of various binocular wearing and tripod clad birders.

Little Gulls

Last weekend there was a group of Little Gulls at Frampton Marsh RSPB on the Lincolnshire coast. The group numbers fluctuated throughout the time I was at the site, but the most I saw at one time was 12 individuals. The gulls looked to me to be 1st summer birds, but varied greatly in their appearance. Some looked like 1st winter birds, with pale heads, some had the start of a black hood and a couple had almost complete black hoods, with one bird looking almost adult like, except for its wing pattern.

This group gave me a chance to study the differing plumages in a group of birds, that whilst they looked different, were in fact the same species.

The above photo shows 4 Little Gulls and a larger Black-headed Gull in the background. You can see the differing plumage patterns on the heads of the birds, but they all show the wing patterns of 1st summer birds, with the dark on the upperwing appearing almost bleached, giving it a browner appearance than on winter birds.

The above 3 photos show the differences in the plumages on a larger section of the group, with up to 6 birds present in the last photo. They all show the wing pattern of 1st summer birds, but again, the differences in head plumage is quite apparent.

The photos below show a few of the birds in closer detail, giving a chance to see the wing pattern a bit better. The bright red legs and all black bill are I.D. features of this stunning little gull and are present on all, but juvenile birds (although in winter the legs are slightly pinker).

The two photos below show the bird with an almost complete black hood, but the bird is not an adult as the wing pattern shows. An adult Little Gull has clean grey wings with pure white tips and the hood is complete. This bird shows the dark on its upperwing and the hood has a whitish freckling on the front.

A good lesson for me in gull identification, showing the wide range of appearance of a bird that tends to only be shown as an adult summer or winter bird in the guide books.

Kumlien`s Gull, possibly

This large white-winged gull has been making frequent visits to Frampton Marsh RSPB for the past week or so and has caused some excitement by showing signs of being a Kumlien`s Gull. Myself and Chris Orders paid a visit on Sunday to see the gull for ourselves.

This type of gull is commonly regarded as a hybrid of an Iceland Gull and Thayer`s Gull, or a sub-species of Iceland Gull, indeed its latin name is Larus glaucoides kumlieni which basically means Iceland Kumlien`s Gull. Very confusing.

The major identification point of this gull is the darker parts of its plumage. A true Iceland Gull is very pale and in some lights this bird looks like this, but you can see in the second photo that the bird has dark primary feathers ( the longest ones on the wing ) and in flight the bird had a dark band on the tail, both signs of kumlieni. The jury is still out on this bird, is it Kumlien`s or `just` a plain old Iceland? I don`t think we will find out definitively.

The kumlieni form comes from North-West Quebec and winters on the North American East coast, whereas the glaucoides form (Iceland) is from Greenland, wintering in the North Atlantic.