RSPB Frampton Marsh: A Spot of Birdwatching - Part 1

in Amazing Nature3 years ago

This is Part 1 of 2, and forms part of an entry to the Amazing Nature Competition run by @adalger. Go check out the fantastic Community to see more excellent images and articles

Hiveblog divider.png

Frampton March Oct2020P1001.jpg

A couple of weeks ago my partner and I headed out to RSPB Frampton Marsh. It is a Wetland Habitat located on the East Coast of the UK. At this time of year Insects (my preferred subject) are few and far between, so instead the main aim of today was to check out some of the Birds we have here.

Frampton March Oct2020P1002.jpg

Unfortunately Covid has arrived here as well, we should be safe in the fresh air and the open skies, but there are some restrictions regarding the Bird Hides to consider.

Frampton March Oct2020P1003.jpg

The main reason Frampton Marsh is popular this time of year is due to the large numbers of birds travelling through the area. Some of these are passing through to head further south for warmer weather...

Frampton March Oct2020P1004.jpg

...and some others, like these Wigeon (pictured above) chose to stay here in the UK in the Winter.

Frampton March Oct2020P1005.jpg

All day we had flocks of Geese passing overhead..

Frampton March Oct2020P1006.jpg

This is one of the commonly seen species: A Greylag Goose spotted here in the shallow water looking for food

Frampton March Oct2020P1007.jpg

This is another common species: A Canada Goose, easily recognised with its white head markings and black neck. These can be seen in the UK all year round.

Frampton March Oct2020P1009.jpg

SOme of the Canada Geese were feeding in the shallow water, most were sat down and resting.

Frampton March Oct2020P1010.jpg

Theres not just wetland birds here to see, we spotted this Female Kestrel hovering nearby looking for small mammals. The picture isn't brilliant, but I couldnt get close enough, she kept moving further away and hovering at intervals.

Frampton March Oct2020P1012.jpg

There were also some smaller birds like this delightful Goldfinch!

Frampton March Oct2020P1013.jpg

Theres the Kestrel again!... Damn just another 'bum' shot!, I'm just not quick enough haha

Frampton March Oct2020P1011.jpg

There were a few insects around... some Common Carder Bees were spotted on various flowers, and the I saw this lovely Red Tailed Bumble Bee

Frampton March Oct2020P1014.jpg

And then I saw this lovely Fly Mesembrina meridiana sheltering on a Thistle

(Flies are lovely too you know!)

Frampton March Oct2020P1015.jpg

Lots of juicy autumnal Berries, the larger birds such as Blackbirds and other Thrushes like these

Frampton March Oct2020P1016.jpg

And the smaller birds like the aforementioned Goldfinch are often seen feeding on the seeds from these Teasels

Frampton March Oct2020P1017.jpg

Frampton March Oct2020P1018.jpg

Lots more birds were seen flying overhead, I think these are Geese again?

Frampton March Oct2020P1020.jpg

One of the Social Wasps, You can see the yellow mark on the wood, the wasp as gnawed away at it to get the wood fibres used to make the nests

Frampton March Oct2020P1021.jpg

Another invertebrate find... we saw several of these very hairy caterpillars wandering along the path. I suspect they were looking for a place to settle down and shelter over the coming Winter

Frampton March Oct2020P1022.jpg

A view of one of the Bird Hides. We stopped in here breifly, but there wasn't a great deal to see, so we carried on walking around the reserve

Frampton March Oct2020P1024.jpg

Some more birds flying, These are Wigeon, and they were seen in large numbers across the reserve.

Frampton March Oct2020P1025.jpg

An example of the weland habitat, a large expanse of shallow pools and reed beds. It is a very open area, and as it is also coastal, it meant it was very windy!

Frampton March Oct2020P1026.jpg

My partner looking out over the wetland to see if there was anything interesting to photograph...

Frampton March Oct2020P1027.jpg

...wait, whats that over there?

Frampton March Oct2020P1028.jpg

Theres a little white blob in the far distance...

Frampton March Oct2020P1029.jpg

Oh yes! Its a Little Egret! These elegant birds are similar to the Herons we see here, and they feeding in the same way, moving slowly in shallow water ready to pounce and spear the fish with their beak.

Thats a nice place to stop this account, look out for the 2nd part to be posted soon where we carry on walking around to see what else we could find

To Be Continued...

Hiveblog divider.png

Thank you for reading, I hope you found it interesting.

If you have any thoughts or opinions on this article then I'd love to see your comments.
And if you really like the content then maybe you would like to upvote or re-hive it.

logofooter.JPG

All Photos taken by @dannewton unless otherwise stated.
Check out my website for more of my work.

Facebook - Instagram - 500px - Redbubble

Hiveblog divider.png

Sort:  

Hi @dannewton,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am

Wow that is a really fancy goldfinch. The ones around me are just yellow and black.

They are beautiful little birds!

 3 years ago  

Great post @dannewton ^^ .. This will be an entry that @melinda010100 will love for sure 😉 .. It feels a bit weird to see you not focusingoon bugs,but I saw some in here too 😁 .. Seeing thispost makes me a little bit nostalgic, wanting me to go back to UK once again .. So unfortunate with covid at the moment

It was a tough call between Amazing Nature or Feathered Friends... in the end the competition entry was the deciding factor

haha, it felt weird for me posting it to be honest!

With the weather today, it feels like Winter is right around the corner, no hope of interesting bugs until next Spring now. :-(