13 members attended on a day of dry, warm weather but with a strong wind from the SW. Frampton had suffered as expected, from the very dry conditions so that the easterly half of the reserve was almost totally without water. In addition, most of the ditches to the south of the road were similarly dry. Obviously, this has had an impact on the variety of
Spoonbills
species of birds but nonetheless, we were able still to see some interesting species but almost all of them were crowded onto the reed bed lagoon. Birds of note included 13 
Spoonbill, lots of Black-tailed Godwits in various grades of plumage, 4 Spotted Redshank looking rather ‘mouldy’ as they were shedding their summer plumage. There were also a
Spotted Redshank in various states of ‘undress’
few Avocets including at least one juvenile, some Little Ringed Plover, also with a juvenile and a number of Ruff. However, the stars of the show were undoubtedly, the Black-winged Stilts resplendent in their ‘evening dress’.
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- Black-winged Stilt
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- Black-winged Stilt
Walking up the northern side of the reserve we heard 3 different Quail singing and got a reasonable sighting of a Water Rail and a Brown Hawker dragonfly over the pond dipping area.
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- Ruff
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- Juvenile Water Rail
After lunch, we walked down to the sea wall where a couple of members spotted a Yellow Wagtail, 4 Marsh Harriers were seen hunting over the salt marsh and we also got a close view of a single Golden Plover.
With plenty of time still left, the majority headed over to Freiston Shore which, while holding more water than Frampton, because the tide on the Wash was low, any waders including the Pectoral Sandpiper which had been reported, were likely to be on the coastal mud. Still the little colony of Common Terns was a pleasant sighting and 4 Redshank dropped in as a final reward.
All told, 46 species – photos courtesy of Rob Simmons, Ian Loasby and Martin Kaye.