Frampton Marshes the pick of a short hop down to the Lincs coast.

A spontaneous 'shortest' of short breaks jaunt down to the Lincolnshire coast the first week of September was a very welcome bit of 'me' time, and richly rewarded too, with a fine full day at Frampton Marshes, 2 half days at Gibralter Point plus pop ins to Freiston Shore and Alkborough Flats. First time down here sans campervan or tent was a bit weird but I struck lucky with an ideally situated cottage I'd booked for 2 nights - I'll give her a mention because it was just perfect as a base, The Beehive, Friskney 

A full morning till dusk day at RSPB Frampton Marshes was the stand out - walked just shy of 9 miles around its lagoons, scrapes and perimeters with many magic moments. Bang on for mass congregations of wading birds and here alone I bagged an amazing 22 species. Most numerous by far were Black Tailed Godwits - my guesstimate was northwards of 1500 but when I quizzed an RSPB chappie he said 4,000 on the whole of the reserve - couldn't fail to get some stonking pics!

Here's a few of them when a flock was spooked by a passing Marsh Harrier - fancy a bit of wader identification practice? Zoom in and look closely you'll see a few other wader species there.  

Black Tailed Godwits + other waders, Frampton Marshes, 5/09/23

Late afternoon and most departed the reserve for the probable safer refuge of the Wash to roost, giving plenty of photo opps for passing 'Blackwits'

Black Tailed Godwit, Frampton Marshes, 5/09/23

Black Tailed Godwits, Frampton Marshes, 5/09/23

Black Tailed Godwits, Frampton Marshes, 5/09/23

Black Tailed Godwit, Frampton Marshes, 5/09/23

There were a reported 35 Curlew Sandpiper on the reserve, a semi rare wading species but have to say I struggled a bit at first to pick any out amongst the many Dunlin but got lucky with a couple away from the main scrapes and ended getting 10ish by the end of the day.

Curlew Sandpiper, Frampton Marshes, 05/09/23

Curlew Sandpiper, Frampton Marshes, 05/09/23

The sea banks next to the Wash if walked make this a big reserve to cover, you can walk for miles in any direction if you want, if your fit enough. I did a fair chunk in the hope of spotting a Short Eared Owl with no success but being the highest points you get some good vantage points of both Wash and Frampton itself.

The Wash, from Frampton, 05/09/23

Frampton, from the sea wall, 05/09/23

Southern side of The Haven with Boston beyond, 05/09/23

A small group of Grey Plovers out on the Wash were looking good still in breeding plumage and as well as several Yellow Wagtails, mainly juvs, I saw my first Wheatears of the autumn.

Northern Wheatear, Frampton, 05/09/23

Grey Plovers, Frampton, 05/09/23

Yellow Wagtail, Frampton, 05/09/23

Back inside the perimeter, back on the flat, I sat on a bench and ate a late lunch. A bench I suspect is well used by the local birders - slightly raised and ideal for watching the comings and goings of birds from and to the Wash.

Frampton Marshes, 05/09/23

Late afternoon and with most other visitors having departed, I went round the main hides again to catch the low level 'golden' light. Just perfect to capture the delicate plumage of a couple of Little Stints that came quite close. 

Little Stints, Frampton, 05/09/23

Little Stint, Frampton, 05/09/23

Good flight shots of birds don't always come off, especially with my now fairly antiquated camera set up but it's always the goal for me and I would guess most bird 'toggers' (birds fly, right?) and wandering in between hides at Frampton where wading birds of all types gets you lots of practice!

Avocet, Frampton, 05/09/23

Green Sandpiper, Frampton, 05/09/23

Greenshank, Frampton, 05/09/23

Not bad, good light enabling a fast shutter speed is the key. For wading birds especially this place, at this time of the year is difficult to beat. How's this for a tally - Black Tailed Godwit (c2,500), Bar Tailed Godwit (2), Dunlin (c450), Ringed Plover (c150), Little Ringed Plover (1), Ruff (c200), Knot (c20), Greenshank (2), Green Sandpiper (6), Wood Sandpiper (1), Snipe (10), Spotted Redshank (2), Common Redshank (c70), Avocet (16), Little Stint (2), Curlew Sandpiper (10),  Grey Plover (8), Oystercatcher (1), Lapwing (c500), Curlew (2), Spoonbill (25), Little Egret (c30). 

 A few more from Frampton starting with a gloriously yellow Yellow Wagtail that popped in right in front of the hide late on for a drink.

Yellow Wagtail, Frampton, 05/09/23

Sweet Pea species, Frampton, 05/09/23

Michaelmas Daisies, Frampton, 05/09/23

Decorative Buoy and Sunflowers, Frampton, 05/09/23

Common Redshank, Frampton, 05/09/23

Black Tailed Godwit, Frampton, 05/09/23

A pop into nearby Frieston Shore at dusk was a bit of a disappointment to be honest, no waders at all bar a lone Green Sandpiper. Added Tree Sparrow to the species list and 20 Wigeon, probably newly arrived from the north was a sure sign of the changing season. Far cry from my last visit here when I found a Black Stork!

Black Stork, Freiston, 19/08/21

Gibralter Point, 04/09/23

Either side of my day at Frampton I did a couple of half days at Gibralter Point, on my way down and then on my way back. A big old place, perched on the extreme NW of the Wash just beyond Skegness - sand dunes, saltmarsh, lots of scrub and a couple of lagoons / scrapes. I know it quite well but mainly been here later in the year when with favourable winds it can be crawling with migrant birds. Not so when I was there. 8 Crossbills in the car park was a good record but apart from that 2 Chiffchaffs, a Reed Warbler and a few Linnets was a disappointing sum total of small birds. 

Crossbill, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Chiffchaff, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Thankfully there was more activity towards the tideline with a  single Hobby zooming around and causing panic and havoc, putting up waders left right and centre! 

Hobby, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Oystercatchers, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Rubbish pic and a misty sea fret didn't help, but 10 Bar Tailed Godwits heading south down the tideline were only identified after I studied my photographs, same with a mixed bunch of waders that I thought at the time were mainly Knot but turned out to be Ruff  - the number of times I've done that! 

Bar Tailed Godwits, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Ruff and Dunlin, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Sanderling and Turnstone were also present on the shoreline bringing my wader species count to an impressive 24. On the lagoons more waders, lots more Black Tailed Godwits, Avocets, Ruff and a single Spotted Redshank. Still plenty of Swallows and House Martins about though I failed to pick out a Sand Martin, all gone I guess. Best photo opp was a flock of Spoonbill that came right over the hide.

Spoonbill, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Black Tailed Godwits, Gibralter Point, 06/09/23

Last stop of the day before heading back home was Alkborough Flatts, on the Lincs side of the Humber Estuary. 

Alkborough Flatts, 06/09/23

Fully expected to either see or hear Bearded Tits here, I nearly always do, but not this time. No Golden Plover either, maybe a tad early for them, but I did have both Whinchat and Stonechat, both new species for the trip, and a nice Greenshank on one of the scrapes. 

Greenshank, Alkborough, 06/09/23

and a half decent attempt at photographing a Southern Hawker dragonfly in flight .... so difficult!

Southern Hawker, Alkborough, 06/09/23

Knackered I was by the time I crossed the Humber Bridge, and no wonder - 2 and half days, 2 and half hrs driving there and back, 20 miles of walking and 94 bird species recorded!

Early Spring post - 2 Hen Harriers & Crossbills through York, entertaining Green Woodpeckers, first migrants trickle in whilst the ducks linger whilst spring flowers and butterflies add some much needed colour!

Don't you just love it when those bright green little leaves start appearing on the hedgerows, when the birds start to sing again and the first flowers poke their way up from the ground🌸🌼🌻 - yes we're still in lockdown but Spring is sprung and things are slowly getting better. Here's my round up for March - it was a busy month with many highlights😅

Yearsley Moor, 01/03/21

Howardian Hills. -  a couple of visits to the hills, Yearsley Moor & Wass Bank on the 1st and Coulton Moor on the 9th. These hills are so picturesque, at any time of the year, and great for walking. I've pretty much done all of the well known beauty spots, especially around Castle Howard, but never really explored Coulton Moor and found a path around Yearsley I hadn't walked before, an elevated track with good views of the surrounding woodlands.

A couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, both 'drumming', Marsh Tit, Barn Owl and small numbers of Siskin and Lesser Redpoll were the birding highlights here, and then a punishing walk to the top of Wass Bank was rewarded by a highly mobile flock of 18 Golden Plovers. 

Coulton Moor, 09/03/21

A week or so later around Coulton Moor on an altogether brighter day I had my second Chiffchaffs of the spring, 2 of them, both subdued and I'm yet to hear one 'chiffchaffing'. Also had a nice male Brambling in with Chaffinches, a tantalising flock of big finches over the trees that were probably Crossbills, a nicely posed male Yellowhammer and continuing the 'yellow' theme a few bunches of small Daffodils that to my eye resembled the wild daffs you get around Farndale at this time of year🌻

Yellowhammer, Coulton Moor, 09/03/21

Wild Daffodils, Coulton Moor, 09/03/21

Hen Harrier, Strensall Common, 07/03/21

Strensall Common - 3 visits (7th, 12th & 26th.) Forget the 26th (all I saw of note was a flock of 80 Lesser Redpolls) but on the 7th and feeling suitably self righteous for getting up early and beating most of the dog walkers on 'Strenny' Common, I had a very productive morning. First up and literally my first scan of the common I came onto a 'grey ghost' - a male Hen Harrier gliding along the northern boundary of the reserve. That's a great record for the York area😮

Male Crossbill, Strensall Common, 07/03/21

Doubly satisfying for me as I'd dipped out on one of the same that was roosting at the same location over the new year. Minutes later and still feeling mightily pleased with myself I lifted the bins to some fluttering birds at the top of a stand of Scots Pine trees - Crossbills! Not a common bird around here and a first for me on Strensall. There were 9 in total, mostly males, and I spent a good while watching and photographing them.

To cap off a memorable morning I managed to get a decent few pics of at least 2 sing Woodlarks.

Male Crossbill, Strensall Common, 07/03/21

Singing Woodlark, Strensall Common, 07/03/21

 

A return visit on the 12th yielded none of the above star birds but a group of 5 Common Buzzards cruising over the common was a pleasing sight. I'm old enough to still remember when even a single Buzzard anywhere in Yorkshire was a red letter day!

Common Buzzards, Strensall Common, 12/03/21

Strensall Common, 12/03/21

Lower Derwent Valley - several visits throughout the month. 2 weeks after my Hen Harrier on Strensall I was unbelievably lucky again with another male through Melbourne Ings on the 26th. Closer and with better light I got some better pics of this fabulous bird as it flew in from the west and then disappeared over Seavy Carr (possibly following the line of the Pocklington Canal?)

Hen Harrier, Melbourne / Thornton Ings, 25/03/21

I'm not the only one to have recorded Hen Harriers in the York area recently and there's been way more records in Yorkshire as a whole - this can only be good news for this much persecuted bird😀.

Chiffchaff, Bubwith, 06/03/21

Elsewhere in the LDV this early spring I had my first returning Chiffchaff at Bubwith on the 6th, some impressive flocks of Black Tailed Godwit at Wheldrake Ings, drumming Common Snipes over Thornton Ings, a build up of other wading birds such as Oystercatchers, Redshank and Ruff, the usual Marsh Harriers (including several wing tagged birds at Wheldrake, whilst on the duck front, although steadily decreasing in numbers there remain good numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Goldeneye and Pintail across the floodplains and a drake Scaup at Wheldrake on the 13th was a good find.

Pintail & Wigeon, Bubwith, 06/03/21

Shoveler, Wheldrake Ings, 02/03/21

Wing tagged Marsh Harrier, Wheldrake Ings, 02/03/21

Oystercatchers, Bank Island, 13/03/21

Drake Goldeneye, Wheldrake Ings, 13/03/21

Drake Scaup, Wheldrake Ings, 13/03/21

Drake Goldeneye, Wheldrake Ings, 20/03/21

Skylark, Wheldrake Ings, 20/03/21

Pretty obvious from the above pic that it was a fine early spring day at Wheldrake, just look at that green sheen and bright golden eye! A day to lift the spirits after a whole winter of 'lockdown' and what better than a singing Skylark to signal better times ahead!

Whilst the Skylark has been immortalised by many writers and poets, and will be forever associated with the joys of spring and new beginnings, the folklore of owls is the complete opposite in that they're often associated with death and dying💀. We're all going to die of course but on such a fine day the sight of this beautiful Barn Owl flying around Bank Island in the middle of the day certainly didn't summon any thoughts of the grim reaper - I felt glad to be alive!

Barn Owl. Bank Island, 20/03/21

Barn Owl. Bank Island, 20/03/21

Thorne Moor (4/03/21) - Met up with my pal Mark to investigate canal boats and moorings at Thorne and Rawcliffe Bridge. I'm still interested in the idea and there's plenty of boats for sale but available moorings are like rocking horse shit! Afterwards we went onto Thorne Moor and heard a Common Crane, little else about though apart from 4 Stonechat and 3 distant Marsh Harriers.

Thorne Moor, 04/03/21

Black Headed Gulls, North Cave, 14/03/21

North Cave Wetlands (14/03/21). There's something about this reserve that just gets me into counting mode. Something to do with the layout of the place I think, with each lagoon having its own hide / viewing area, or maybe I'm just a nerd😂. Either way its a very mindful thing to do but have to admit I gave up on trying to estimate Black Headed Gull numbers - there must be a breeding population of 1000+ here and boy are they noisy, entertaining too though!

North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Most wildfowl numbers had dwindled since my last visit with just c75 Wigeon, c140 Teal, c45 Mallard, c80 Gadwall, c85 Tufted Duck and c45 Shoveler, whilst 24 Pochard and 44 Shelduck were on the up. 9 Oystercatchers, c60 Lapwing, 2 Curlew and 3 Redshank accounted for the waders and I also had 5 Little Grebes, 4 Great Crested Grebes and single Marsh Harrier, Red Kite and Peregrine. The highlight though was an early Sand Martin over the main lake and a pair of highly entertaining Green Woodpeckers from out of the back of Crossland Hide.

Green Woodpecker, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

In my experience Green 'peckers have always been somewhat of a challenge to photograph, so to see a pair of them flitting to and fro from a nearby hedge, feeding on the ground and even taking a drink from the lagoon was a real thrill and with a nice steady base for the camera from the hide I filled my boots and took many shots - here's a selected few of said 'peckers and a few more bird shots from the Cave.

Green Woodpecker, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Green Woodpecker, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Green Woodpecker, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Shelduck, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Tree Sparrow, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Pochard, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Little Grebe, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21

Hempholme / Tophill Low (17/03/21). Yet another trip down to the canal boat moorings on the River Hull at Hempholme to enquire about moorings but nothing doing so I walked south along the river and ended up skirting the northern edge of Tophill Low nature reserve - closed of course and strictly speaking I shouldn't have been there but couldn't resist a peek over the edge of O reservoir. Some gorgeous looking Goldeneye, Teal and Tufted Ducks, a Brimstone butterfly along with several Tortoiseshells.

Teal, Tophill Low, 17/03/21

Tortoiseshel, Hempholme, 17/03/21

Pair of Goldeneye, Hempholme 17/03/21

Aire & Calder Canal, 19/03/21

Rawcliffe Bridge and Goole Marina (19/03/21) - yet another canal boat / moorings fact finding mission. I sussed out the location of Goole marina in preparation for a planned visit to view a converted tug, then walked up and down the Aire & Calder navigation from both Goole and Rawcliffe Bridge.

Along the canal tow / cycle path I had 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Goosanders a couple of singing Cettis Warblers and 2 very distant Common Cranes on Goole Fields.

Marsh Harriers, Aire & Calder Canal, 19/03/21

Common Cranes, Goole Fields, 19/03/21

Rosedale, 22/03/21

Rosedale (22/03/21) - met up with my pal Rob to see if the Ring Ouzels were back at their breeding grounds near Blakey Ridge. We sadly drew a blank but it was a lovely sunny day and a great walk round Rosedale Head. 

Birds were in short supply, plenty of Meadow Pipits though, and with the sun shining, good company, good exercise and the sound of Curlews and Lapwings in the air, what's not to like😁

Meadow Pipit, Rosedale, 22/03/21

Curlew, Rosedale, 22/03/21

Alkborough Flats (24/03/21) - a very productive morning and catch up with Mark yielded another 4 bird species to my 2021 yearlist - Bittern (heard booming), Barnacle Goose (2), Bearded Tit (6), Spoonbill (2) and Spotted Redshank (6). I got reasonably lucky with the Bearded Tits - had my eye on a handsome male flitting in and out of the reeds and though not A1 its comfortably my best shot of one. 

Bearded Tit, Alkborough, 24/03/21

The Avocets were much easier!

Avocets, Alkborough, 24/03/21

Hotham Carrs (28/03/21) - having recently followed one of the public footpaths from the Carrs to the Market Weighton Canal, this was the other one (always good to join these walks up😊). A pleasant walk on a dull day across fairly low intensity farmland was quite productive with a small herd of Whooper Swans (6), Oystercatcher, 8 Curlew, Barn Owl, Grey Partridge, lots of finches and Yellowhammer, 2 Corn Buntings and I'm 99% sure I flushed a Jack Snipe out of the canal - small, pale, no zigzag flight pattern and it didn't make a noise when it flew off. I'm having it!

Corn Bunting, Hotham Carrs, 28/03/21

Askham Bog - from the end of the month I was off furlough and back to work for YWT recruiting at Askham Bog (hurray!). I'm so lucky to not only have a job to return to, but one that I actively enjoy and look forward to  - a lot of folk have lost jobs and found it tough during the pandemic, so I'm always mindful of just how lucky I am. 

Back recruiting, Askham Bog, 30/03/21

Askham Bog, 29/03/21

It felt so good to get back in the saddle again, the sun shining and plenty of people about to talk to; my usual place by the bridge, part of scenery again! So good I worked all of the available days in March (29th - 31st). I can walk around the reserve at the end of the day when I've packed up but to be honest, most of the best wildlife I've seen there has been from within 50 yards of that stand on the pic. 

Wren, Askham Bog, 30/03/21

The days I was there I had 5 butterfly species - Comma, Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Orange Tip and Peacock, and although not seen by me there were Smooth Newts rising in the pond and I even managed to see some species of dragonfly larvae moving about in the watery depth of the main dyke. To my mind the numbers of resident birds on the bog seem to be decreasing, imperfectively to the casual visitor perhaps but when you've worked a patch on a regular basis for nine years you notice these things. Just one sighting of a Willow Tit in 3 days ain't good for a place that's supposed to be a stronghold for them. No Marsh Tits and no Great Spotted Woodpecker - not good. Plenty of Wrens still though and a pair of Long Tailed Tits have decided to build a nest less than 6 feet away from where I stand - bugger to get anything like a decent pic because of so many twigs in the way - still trying!

Common Frog, Askham Bog, 15/03/21

A couple of weeks before I returned to work I popped in for a recce and was watching a flock of 20 or so Redpolls by the pond and was suddenly aware of a faint croaking - thankfully it wasn't my last dying breath😁 .. noo, it was Frogs of course🐸. As soon as I investigated further they all scurried off and submerged but I got lucky on one and found tons of frogspawn.

Frogspawn, Askham Bog, 15/03/21

On the banked sides of the path into Askham Bog there's always a nice display of Lesser Celandines at this time of the year, one of my all time favourite flowers - to me they're the absolute embodiment of spring with their massed ranks of yellow petals all straining to catch the rays of the sun! 

Lesser Celandines, Askham Bog, 30/03/21

Common Buzzard, East Cottingwith, 08/03/21

Off to Wales next month for a week or so, Ynis Hir and then Anglesey, first trip away since Northumberland last November and really looking forward to it. Not sure what I'm up to in terms of  bird species for the year, somewhere northwards of 130ish I think but still on it and with new birds arriving daily and another road trip in the offing I fully expect to top 160 by the time I next post! In the meantime here's a few more pics from March.

Red Kite,Pocklington Canal, 08/03/21

Singing Dunnock, Askham Bog, 30/03/21

Peacock Butterfly, Askham Bog, 30/03/21

Treecreeper, Askham Bog, 31/03/21

Bubwith Church, 06/03/21

Coltsfoot, North Cave Wetlands, 14/03/21