RSPB Frampton Marsh (1 Viewer)

[Geoff Brown]

Hope all these totals are going onto Birdtrack....

Fred - I enter all of the bird records seen by all observers who come to or work at RSPB Frampton (and RSPB Freiston) onto Mapmate, the RSPB computer programme . All of these details eventually find their way to any of the authorities who have an interest in birding records for sites such as Frampton and Freiston. Up to date over 87,000 bird, butterfly and any other fauna information has been recorded.:t:

 

[La Terra Trema]

Despite the spectacularly blustery conditions, we had a good crowd of intrepid birders on the reserve today - including a group from my old drinking grounds of Huddersfield and Halifax. Highlights reported were:-

Hen Harrier x 2
Peregrine x 1
Water Rail x 1
Scaup x 2
Ringed Plover x c20
White-fronted Goose x 4
Grey Heron x 1

Good numbers of all the usual goodies; Dark-bellied Brent, Teal, Wigeon, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Ruff, Curlew, etc.

We also had another tentative report of Little Stint.

 

[Boy Wonder]

This weeks sightings with a mystery bird at the end. Well part of a mystery bird at least...
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/pl...recent-sightings-2014-february-21st-27th.aspx

 

[La Terra Trema]

Highlights today:-

Barn Owl x 1
Merlin x 1
Marsh Harrier x 1
Water Rail x 1
Whooper Swan x 42
Bewick's Swan x 2
White-fronted Goose x 4
Scaup x 2
Dunlin x c800
Knot x c30
Redshank x c25
Black-tailed Godwit x 13
Ruff x 7
Grey Plover x 1
Oystercatcher x 1

 

[La Terra Trema]

Not quite the glorious weather promised by the BBC, but a nice enough day on the reserve nonetheless.

Had hopes of finding an early Spring migrant kicking about, but (aside from the increasing numbers of Avocet) the birds of the day came in the more wintery forms of a lone Snow Bunting on the seabank, a ringtail Hen Harrier on the saltmarsh and the White-fronted Geese on grassland (see record shot below - more dodgy-scope than digiscope).

A couple of Marsh Harriers were also out over the saltmarsh and there were good numbers Dunlin, Ruff, Ringed Plover and Redshank around. Three gorgeously plumaged Stock Dove were feeding near the East Hide and only served to remind me what a hideously underrated bird they are.

Away from the birds, had a Weasel near the mound late morning and then had great views of a Fox relaxing on a small island in the hedgerow early afternoon. See if you can see him below.

 

[djay]

Left Derbyshire at 06.30 and arrived at Frampton at 09.30. Whilst waiting for the centre to open, saw a snipe land in front of the centre and being harassed by a lapwing. It only put up with it for 20 seconds before flying away. It was a beautiful sunny, but windy day. Highlights for us were: 2 merlin flying near each other on the field, they both landed on posts, loads of ringed plover, 4 black tailed godwits in summer plumage, a field of Whooper Swans and some very fetching yellowhammers. It was very busy on the reserve today but with it being quite a long walk round it felt quiet. Lovely day.

 

[Boy Wonder]

Sunny week = some cracking images in this weeks sightings blog. http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/pl...ore-recent-sightings-7th-13th-march-2014.aspx

 

[Boy Wonder]

Anyone got any thoughts on the Black Brant pic in this weeks sightings?

 

[Steve Lister]

Anyone got any thoughts on the Black Brant pic in this weeks sightings?

Maybe link it to here?

Steve

 

[Boy Wonder]

Already done Steve The link to the sightings blog with the photo in is above my previous post.

 

[Steve Lister]

Already done Steve The link to the sightings blog with the photo in is above my previous post.

Sorry Toby I had overlooked that post.

The only relevant photo is labelled a hybrid; my only comment would be are you calling it a hybrid because the upperparts are a tad grey?

Steve

PS Planning on a ring-reading session either tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[VillagerFred]

127 blackwit seen today by myself: none colour ringed. Is the general feeling that a big 5000+ chunk of the islandica population stop off at Frampton on autumn migration (thus making it an internationally important stop-over site) and then move on elsewhere (taking a different route to Iceland in Spring) with the near-threatened nominate limosa population overwintering? At least 4 birds looking very posh in summer plumage.

 

[Boy Wonder]

Sorry Toby I had overlooked that post.

The only relevant photo is labelled a hybrid; my only comment would be are you calling it a hybrid because the upperparts are a tad grey?

Steve

PS Planning on a ring-reading session either tomorrow or Wednesday.

No worries Steve. Originally saw the pic and thought it looked good but my knowledge is limited. Having read through various posts and blogs it seems that Brants get a lot of scrutiny and have specific ID criteria to fulfill. When I look at dark bellied birds they are MASSIVELY variable and yet still are defo and obvious dark bellied birds, so why the discrepancy?

The other problem with pictures is lighting conditions. Having been in the field and looked at brents they change massively with one half turn into or away from the light.

Alas it was probably wardens cautions that led to the hybrid labeling and making sure I played it safe (not that Brants are massively rare). Will post some pics in the Bird ID section and see what happens.

Not that many colour ringed birds around at the minute, as Fred mentions above, but reserve and habitats looking fantastic. We might get some more birds if you time a visit with the high tide.

 

[Boy Wonder]

127 blackwit seen today by myself: none colour ringed. Is the general feeling that a big 5000+ chunk of the islandica population stop off at Frampton on autumn migration (thus making it an internationally important stop-over site) and then move on elsewhere (taking a different route to Iceland in Spring) with the near-threatened nominate limosa population overwintering? At least 4 birds looking very posh in summer plumage.

We have had reports of 7,000+ in autumn Fred. The colour ringed details that observers get back show good distribution with some birds over wintering http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/pl...framptonmarsh-blog/default.aspx?pi421549517=2

I'm trying to improve my knowledge and identification of continental birds so I can get an idea about abundance here. Having not been here in spring I've no idea what it's going to be like.

 

[Boy Wonder]

Link to the Brant discussion post

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=2950528#post2950528

 

[Steve Lister]

Link to the Brant discussion post

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=2950528#post2950528

A very good new posting on Martin Garner's Birding Frontiers blog about hybrids in Norfolk. By Jamie McCallum.

I spent yesterday not seeing a single colour-ringed bird at either Freiston or Frampton.
Despite the cold wind and some stinging hail showers I did see 73 species though. Highlights were 8 Whoopers, 4 White-fronts, and a male Scaup all at Frampton plus a female Merlin past Freiston.

Steve

 

[Boy Wonder]

Highlights from last week including Steve's Whoopers, White-fronts, Scaup and a few more......

 

[VillagerFred]

A contemplative couple of hours with the majority spent in the 360 hide produced some good wader sightings on a 7.9 meter high tide. One colour ringed Black Tailed Godwit was present (Icelandica ssp) out of approx 170 birds, 18 ruff, 11 knot, 72 lapwing, 54 avocet, 7 Oystercatcher, 3 redshank and 5 curlew. The highlight however was a colour ringed Dulin from North West Spain amongst a flock of c.280., hopefully the Spanish will be more prompt with their reply than the Portuguese have been in the past! A presumed Merlin in the half light harrying small passerines on the way back to the car was a nice bonus.

 

[VillagerFred]

And lo and behold I have the recovery data! Can everyone keep an eye out for it to get an idea of how long it stays is the message from the Spanish team, Toby if you pm me your email address I will forward you the original reply.

Calidris alpina
Color code: L/OLG Ring: T046000 ESI Age: 3 Sex:
- Date: 09/10/2013
Catching place: Arnosa, Sanxen
xo (Pontevedra), Spain 42º27'32"N 08º50'19"W
Anilladores/ringers: Emilio Martínez Sabarís
Km

31/03/2014 RSPB Frampton Marsh, Boston, Lincolnshire

UK 52°55'27"N 00º02'15"E

1338km from ringing site, 173 days after being rung

 

[VillagerFred]

Age 3 means it is a bird born in that calender year i.e. 2013 btw