A Trip to Frampton Marsh - Part 3

17th May 2025

A much better day weather-wise so looking forward to getting some good shots in the sunshine. The Sedge Warblers were also enjoying the sun with their noisy, scratchy song which they seem to like delivering from the top of a Phragmites head.

And yesterday's female Pintail having a bath in front of the Reed Bed Hide was asleep in front of East Hide today, but did manage to wake up for a shot.

Yesterday's Avocets were all calm and collected as they went about their fishing activies, but today they were in a very feisty mood, and not only seeing off other species that strayed into their territory, but also other Avocets providing some great opportunities for some action shots.

And today there were also some fluff-balls close by, showing that they were already independent food-wise.

There must have been something in the air as the usually demure Shovelers were also in an aggressive mood with each other.

Also from the East Hide was the Whooper Swan which has a badly damaged left wing and therefore cannot return to its breeding grounds. Yesterday it was asleep all day, but today was feeding quite close to the hide.

And now for three species which were new for our trip list, starting with a pair of Garganey. These turned up during the day in front of Reed Bed Hide, unfortunately a little distant but close enough for some record shots. First the male.

And then the female.

The second was a rather smart Grey Plover in full breeding plumage, viewable from the sea wall.

And the third was a bit of a surprise. When we arrived on site yesterday I said to Mark and Stuart that the birds that had been present in recent days had all moved on so we would have to find our own. Well, when we were in the Reed Bed Hide Stuart pointed out a wader that had just flown in, which Mark quickly identified as a Temminck's Stint.. There had been one on the 13th but not reported since, so no way of knowing whether this was a new bird that had just flown in, or the prevous one that been hiding away.

Well what a fantastic trip which produced 84 species and  3292 photos. My special thanks to my four boys for my imaginative birthday present, and to Mark and Stuart for making it so enjoyable.