Tag Archives: RSPB

RSPB Old Moor

Posted on May 24, 2024 | 4 comments

Back down to RSPB Old Moor, for another go at the insects, but due to the weather I didn’t have much hope in seeing a lot, the conditions were, overcast and cloudy, at the end of the day it was a day out in nature.

Gear together and off I set, my first insect contact turned out to be a new sighting for me in the form of a Dock Bug, located near the first pond, before you get to the hub, on the left side, it was resting on the Ox-eye daisies.

My next contact was at the Visitor Centre pond with lots of Azure Damselflies, resting up on the vegetation surrounding the pond, closer inspect of the pond reeds revealed a large Exuvia, this was probably Emperor Dragonfly. Moving on I saw a couple of guys taking photos near the reed bed, I had to be nosy, it paid off, they were looking at two Dragonflies that were rested up, one a Four spotted Chaser the other was an Immature Male Black tailed Skimmer. Looking around the other ponds I found little elde of note, no butterflies either, there were a few Swollen thighed Beetles about, especially on the Ox-eye daises.

I decided on dinner and then doing the Green Lane Loop after, it was about 2pm when I started back on the reserve, catching sight of Hairy Shieldbugs around the visitor centre pond, with the Azure Damselflies as well, but this time I did find a couple of Large Red Damselflies and Blue tailed Damselflies.

On then to the Green Lane Loop and all was quiet, my first insect find were more Azure Damselflies, second was a Speckled Bush Cricket, tiny things these, it wasn’t in a good position for photos so I moved on eventually finding a better positioned one near to the Wader Scrape hide

Dragonfly List ; Azure Damselfly, Black tailed Skimmer, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Large Red Damselfly

Black tailed Skimmer

Four spotted Chaser

Dock Bug

Speckled Bush Cricket

Hairy Shieldbug

Azure Damselfly

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Frampton Marsh RSPB

Posted on April 18, 2024 | Leave a comment

The day started early, 4am at home, on the road for 5:15am, arriving at Frampton at 8am and one hundred and ten miles later.

The first port of call as always is the area next to the car park, where once again the Lesser Yellowlegs was still present, now running well into its six, if not more in the UK. Other present around here were Dunlin, Lapwing, Little Egret, Ruff, Redshank, Moorhen, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal to name a few. I decided on walking down the road, which runs down to the marsh, stating of course next to the visitor centre, from here i saw Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Greylag Geese, Great Crested Grebe and a lovely displaying Little Ringed Plover, so lovely to see its display flight and calling. Moving on from there, I saw more Ruff in the field opposite, along with plenty of Brent Geese, despite looking thru the flock, I couldn’t find the Red Breasted Goose, a couple of Pied Wagtails were in the field, along with a couple of White Wagtails.

Further along the road, I heard a call I hadn’t heard since last year, it turned out to be a Sedge Warbler, along the road side ditch, turned out to be a few down here, with one bird showing rather well, needless to say I took quite a few photos, well a lot. further along the road there were more Brent Geese, once again no reported Red Breasted Goose, it was definitely giving me the run around, amongst the Geese were now lovely looking Black tailed Godwits, now in breeding plumage. On the other side of the road were plenty of Black headed Gulls and with careful scanning a few Mediterranean Gulls, I found six.

Hearing then that the Red Breasted Goose had moved on to the far field, I headed off that way, a bit of a walk but did see Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Little Egret, Redshank and Dunlin on the way, but never did seethe Red Breasted Goose. Back up near visitor centre, looking out towards the farm building, someone had found some distant Yellow Wagtails, they easily stood out due to the colourful plumage..

After dinner I decided on going along the top path to once again try and for the Red Breasted Goose and Black winged Stilt, over near the farm side of the reserve, but once again turned into a fruitless task, did see however, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Greenshank, and down along the track that leads to the farm, about six Yellow Wagtails, giving excellent views, also I got better views of the two Barnacle Geese from here. My last call was back at the Visitor Centre where there were some Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins going thru, a nice ending to a lovely day, also breaking my Frampton Day Visit List at 70 Species (106 Total)

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Bird List ; Avocet, Barnacle Goose, Black Tern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Black winged Stilt, Brent Goose, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collard Dove, Coot, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great White Egret, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, House Martin, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Yellowlegs, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Pochard, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Ruff, Sand martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Spotted Redshank, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tufted Duck, White Wagtail, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellow Wagtail (70)

Black Tern

Sedge Warbler

Yellow Wagtail

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Weekend Away Day 2

Posted on March 17, 2024 | Leave a comment

My idea was to travel back North via Willow Tree Fen for the Cranes, OK it did mean a bit of travelling south first by about 40mins, but would mean a loss of 6mins to home, so decision made then.

Big change from yesterday’s weather were it was nice and bright to a very damp start today. On my travel into Willow Tree Fen I came across Twenty one Whooper Swans settled in a field, so things brightened up, it was still drizzling when I arrived at Willow Tree Fen and to locked gates to the car park, it wasn’t long thou before the voluntary warden showed up to unlock, and looked in disbelieve at someone showing up today. After parking up the rain did stop, looking over the marsh we did manage to to find a few Cranes, I finally picked out seven birds in total, a few did fly off site, which was great to see, long necks and legs, calling with that distinctive Crane sound, beautiful.

Also on site were a few Marsh Harriers along with Common Buzzard, Chaffinch, Collard Dove, Coot, Goldfinch, Mallard, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Snipe.

Back on the road, as I got further North the weather started to brighten up so I decided on calling in at RSPB St Aidan’s on the way for the Black necked Grebes. On arrival at St Aidan’s, my first stopping point of course was the dragline, but again no Little Owl was showing but there was plenty of Stock Dove about. The BN Grebes apparently were frequenting Bowers lake, so I headed off in that direction. I was looking at Great Crested Grebes, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Mute swan, Pochard, Coots and Black headed Gulls and the sound of Bittern, but no BN Grebes, I decided on walking back the way I had come, so I was looking at the opposite lake, it wasn’t long before I picked up on a Black necked Grebe, a bit distant, I watched it for a while and it was eventually joined by another two, not good views due to where they were hanging out amongst a patch of reeds. After that I made my back seeing Reed Bunting, with Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, and Common Buzzard over the hillside.

I was then joined by another group of people who informed me that a Black necked Grebe was making its way around the channel close to the footpath, and heading towards us, I waited and ended up having one of the best wildlife encounters ever, as the Black necked Grebe popped up withing six feet of me, after getting over experience, I did manage a couple of pics, what a moment.

Moving on then down towards the main lake area, seeing Grey Heron , Great White Egret, Lapwing and a Common Redshank, there were a few Gulls down on the main lake, mainly Black headed Gull and Lesser Black backed Gulls. Well the day was drawing to a close, I headed back out towards the visitor centre again, once again seeing the Kestrel hunting over the hillside, with no Little Owl on the dragline, again. Whilst having my usual coffee and cake break, outside this time where i had good views of the feeders, finishing the day off with Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Reed Bunting.

Willow Tree Fen Bird List : Buzzard, Chaffinch, Collard Dove, Coot, Crane, Goldfinch, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Snipe, Whooper Swan (12)

St Aidan’s Bird List : Bittern, Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Black necked Grebe, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Shoveler, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (35)

Black Necked Grebe

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Weekend Away Day 1

Posted on March 16, 2024 | Leave a comment

A weekend in Lincolnshire and the first port of call was back to RSPB Frampton Marsh, Why? unfinished business with a certain American bird that has been there most of the winter, the Lesser Yellowlegs. See the video HERE

As I turned into the car park, I could see the Lesser Yellowlegs in the near by field, adjacent to the car park, panic set in, so close, was it going to take flight before I had chance to view it. I parked up got the gear together in double quick time. I soon got to the view the Lesser Yellowlegs and got a few shots off before the bird wandered off to be too distant, arrived just in time. Other birds here were Ruff, Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal, Pied Wagtail.

I now went and got the rest of the gear I needed and set off onto the reserve, I decided on doing today a different way to the one I usually do and headed off down around the back of the Visitor Centre with Corn Bunting in mind. Mute Swans and Greylag Geese were close in, with a pair of Marsh Harriers in the air, doing their display flight, other birds nearby were Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Collard Dove and a single Chiffchaff, nice to get a migrant on this years list. There were few other birds around as I walked the path, just picking up Great Crested Grebe and Greylag Geese, and no Corn Bunting. On then to the 360° hide and here I saw Pied Wagtails, lots of Avocets, Common Snipe, Dunlin, Redshank, Black tailed Godwit, Ruff.

After dinner, I grapped the scope, thought I’d need this to try and see the other two birds I wanted to see today, these were last seen down towards the Salt Marsh, off I went. Took me a while to find the first bird amongst the Black headed Gulls but once located it stood out like a sore thumb, a Mediterranean Gull, nice to catch up with this one, apparently there were six on site. I put a passing birder onto the Med Gull and it return they found my last target bird, the Green winged Teal, distant, glad I got the scope. The view was all but brief before the Teal flock took flight, hence losing the bird, but fortunately I soon relocated it and obtained better views.

I then ventured down to the Marsh where I saw very little, but looking back over the reserve I picked out a Great White Egret and Cattle Egret, now it was coffee and cake time.

After the coffee break, I was again looking for the Corn Bunting, it gave itself up eventually but briefly. The weather had now turned for the worse, so I headed to the East Hide and settled in to watch Ruff, Redshank, Avocet, Oystercatchers and Ringed Plover

It was now getting late so I decided on calling it a day, I arrived back at the car park to more views of the Lesser Yellowlegs before it was spooked and flying away, I managed some footage before it departed, which can be seen HERE

I finally saw 60 species for the day, my best count for a day at RSPB Frampton Marsh, beating the previous best of 57 in 2018

Bird List : Avocet, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cattle Egret, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Greenfinch, green winged tEal, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Mediterranean Gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Pochard, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren (60)

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Ruff

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RSPB Frampton Marsh

Posted on March 4, 2024 | Leave a comment

Arrived at 8:30am after a 2 1/2 hour drive down to the sound of Geese and whistling Wigeon, the field adjacent to the car park was full of water, hence the large congregation of wildfowl here. I sat in the car and scanned the field picking out Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Pintail, Little Egret, Ruffs, Lapwing, Golden Plover, I eventually tore myself away and got my gear together.

I initially stayed near the car park looking thru various waders hoping to see the long staying Lesser Yellowlegs, wasn’t to be my day, and I never connected with the bird at all that day, I did see a Peregrine for my efforts, and great photo opportunities with the Ruffs. I moved on eventually tearing myself away and headed over to the visitor centre to check in, and to find out what had been seen so far, only reports were of Scaup (2♂, 1♀), so my next target were these birds.

It wasn’t long before I got to see the Scaup, soon finding them from the pathway, they were distant, hanging out at the back of the Marsh up against the far reeds, other birds here were Pochard, Tufted Duck, Black headed Gull, Brent Geese, after getting some record shots of the Scaup, I headed out towards the 360° hide, stopping on route to view a group of Goldeneye, these birds were actively displaying to the females present.

Arriving at the 360° hide, I missed out the Reedbed hide as there didn’t seem to be many birds present, there was a lot more happening here, plenty of Avocets, Dunlin, Ruff, Black tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Redshank, Brent Geese, Lapwing and Golden Plover. I eventually moved on to the east Hide, around this area were more Dunlin, Little Egret, Whooper Swan (1), Reed Bunting.

After the East Hide I decided on making my way back to the Visitor Centre, along the back path, hoping for corn Bunting but only came across a singing Skylark. After a quick snack at the café (coffee and cake) and once again enjoying the Ruff, near the car park area, alas still no Lesser Yellowlegs, I headed off down towards the salt marsh, I had a good scan thru the Teal looking for Green winged but to no avail. At the marsh were Redshank, Meadow Pipit, Little Egret and finally a Marsh Harrier ends the day.

Video of the Day press HERE

Bird List : Avocet, Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Brent Goose, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Pochard, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Ruff, Scaup, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Wren (51)

Ruff
Ruff
Dunlin
Dunlin

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Old Moor RSPB

Posted on November 7, 2009 | Leave a comment

Old Moor seems to be the place where I can’t seem to get away from for some strange reason at the moment so with a group of friends six in all we were off and running at 10am. First bird of the day Little Owl in his usual tree and along with Grey Wagtail, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Great and Blue Tit at the feeding garden. It was then on to the reserve to see plenty of Golden Plover and Lapwing overhead, we took in all the hides and managed to see Little and Great Crested Grebes, Goosander ♂ and ♀, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Ruff (2), Redshank (4), Green Sandpiper (6), after all that we had worked up an appitite so it was back to Gannets Cafe for dinner. After dinner we managed to add a few extra species , Robin, Mistle Thrush, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow and Wren from around the pond dipping area and up to the reedbed hide.

Day’s Species List :-

Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck,Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Kestrel, Pheasant, Moorhen, Coot, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Ruff, Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Woodpigeon, Little Owl, Grey Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Crow, Starling, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet,

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