A BRIEF VISIT @ FRAMPTON MARSH
On my journey home from Norfolk I called in at Frampton Marsh which is a nature reserve managed by both the RSPB and Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. It is situated on the western coast of The Wash, four miles south of the town of Boston between the Rivers Welland and Witham near the village of Frampton.
Frampton Marsh has three trails you can follow - Reedbed, Wash & Grassland. The Reedbed trail is 1.2 miles long and takes you round the reserve's reedbeds. The Wash trail is 2.2 miles long and takes you round an area of freshwater scrapes and wet grassland as well as giving you views of The Wash and the very large salt marshes. The Grassland trail is the longest at 2.8 miles and is a circular route round a large area of wet grassland with the view point at the south eastern point being a good place to see birds of prey.
As I was calling in on the way home I didn't have time to visit all the hides but started off by having a look in the visitor centre which is on the southern edge of reedbeds. From here several Wigeon were swimming about on the water just in front and a couple of Tree Sparrows were visiting the feeders to the left of the visitor centre.
I made my way along the reedbed trail towards the hides and as I walked along there were several cows grazing on the grass at the edge of the reedbed. I followed the path round to the left at the end of the reedbeds before turning right after a couple of hundred yards away from the reedbed and into the 360 Hide. To the right there was a lone Redshank in the shallow water, but to the left the freshwater scrapes were much busier.
Out to the left on the shallow water and mud banks were approximately twenty Little Ringed Plovers, a couple of Redshanks and in the far distance a lone Grey Heron. Also present where a couple of Little Stints and Little Egrets and in the distance a few Brent Geese were just in front of the East Hide. I left the hide and made my up to the Reedbed Hide which looks west towards the reedbeds, stopping to watch another Little Egret.
From the Reedbed Hide I could see several Shovelers, Mallards, Shelducks and Lapwings as well as a few Teals. In the distance a rather bedraggled looking Grey Heron was stood amongst the vegetation looking out at all the ducks as a Kestrel flew over the water and reedbeds disappearing northwards.
After about ten minutes I made my way back towards the visitor centre, stopping to have a look over the vast wet grasslands in the southern half of the reserve. Out here there was a lone Mute Swan alongside a few Brent Geese, Greylag Geese and Wigeon. Popping up from the grass at regular intervals were several Skylarks and a couple of minutes later I made my way back to the visitor centre. Before I left I had another quick look onto the water in front of the visitor centre where there were still a few Wigeons, but they had been joined by some Greylag and Brent Geese. On the feeders the Tree Sparrows had been joined by a single female Reed Bunting.
I have attached my full sightings list and a few photos from my brief visit. I shall hopefully return when I have more time to fully explore the reserve.
