A January Visit to Frampton Marsh

19th January 2020

We arrived at Frampton Marsh on a bright and sunny with little or no wind, all of which bodes well for a good day of photography. This was exemplified by a Goldfinch feeding on Alders seeds in the car park. I suspect I have said on one or two occasions before that, wherever we go, we get some of our best photos in car parks.

Water levels were the highest I have ever seen due to the recent rains and had attracted a number of feeding waders like this Redshank. The flooded fields had also attracted thousands of Golden Plover, most of which were a little too far away for photos, but one individual did stray closerr for a shot.

Along the main track a rather tame Lapwing was happy to pose on top of the bank and was keen to show off its skills in tackling a rather long worm, which put up a strong fight trying to keep underground.

No White-fronted Geese today, but a number of flocks of the resident Greylag Geese and huge numbers of Brent Geese which were commuting from the reserve to the saltmarsh and back providing some great opportunities for some flight shots.

The commonest duck on site was the Wigeon with large flocks grazing on the flooded fields.There was also a few Shoveler on the pools with small groups of Teal dabbling in the mud.

Not too many Shelduck on site, but still very showy in flight.

But today my unexpected event was when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a group of three swans flying towards me. By the time I raised my camera they were almost overhead and filled the frame. It was only when they had flown off and I looked at my shots that I realised they were Whooper Swans, so what a fabulous way to end the day.