Lincolnshire Long Weekend

Last Thursday I travelled up to Lincolnshire to see Beth for the first time since we left Spurn. She kindly let me stay round hers for the weekend. On the Friday morning we got up early to head to RSPB Frampton Marsh. As soon as we got out of the car upon arrival we were welcomed by a Marsh Harrier, flyover Rock Pipit and a vocal Brambling over the refurbished Visitor Centre. A friendly Stonechat perched up well for us but typically flew off just as Beth went to get a photo of it! A single Pink-footed Goose was in a field with a flock of Greylags and both a Buzzard and a Peregrine were perched on the same fence. A decent total of 206 Teal were present on the water adjacent to the Visitor Centre. It was great to see the large numbers of Wigeon and Pintail compared to back near me. Thousands of Lapwings flooded the skies when alarmed. At one of the hides, Beth found a female Goldeneye. This was easily my personal bird of the day and only my second ever sighting of Goldeneye after seeing three males by Thorpe Park on the last day of 2021. From the same hide there were also three Ruff with a lot of white in their plumage. Up on the sea bank we were battered by the strong wind whilst Rock Pipits flew around our head and several Dark-bellied Brent Geese fed out on the saltmarsh. A Merlin darted low past us but unfortunately Beth did not see it - I thought she was looking at the same bird but turns out she wasn't so my bad!! By the time we'd walked there the Goldeneye had relocated to "The Reservoir" and was with some Pochard and Tufted Ducks. My eBird list from Frampton can be seen here.

Lapwings above and below

Marsh Harrier

Female Goldeneye above and below

Pink-footed Goose

On the Saturday we headed to RSPB Freiston Shore for a quick walk round before heading off to Gibraltar Point. My day was made almost immediately at Freiston as a group of 8 Whooper Swans dropped in when we were still in the car park. They showed much better than the ones I lifered at Spurn in late September. I also thought I heard a Twite but talked myself out of it. Once we were in the hide, hundreds of ducks (mostly Wigeon) started to drop in and a flock of Golden Plover flew past in the distance. From the Seawatching Hut a Red-throated Diver flew south and a male Red-breasted Merganser flew north, whilst a male Eider was sat out on the mud - there may have been a female as well but it was mostly obscured so couldn't be certain. A Marsh Harrier flushed most of the ducks off of the mud but thankfully the Eider did stay for me to get a rubbish phonescope. 5 Rock Pipits flew above us and their calls actually echoed in the hut. On the way back to the car park we had 2 Lesser Redpoll. Freiston eBird list here.

Whooper Swans below:

Brent Geese

Wigeon above and below

Male Eider

We arrived at Gibraltar Point early afternoon and so enjoyed some food in the Visitor Centre before heading out. Whilst sat by the window we saw 2 Stonechat (one of our faves), and much to our shock 2 Swallow went south. When we left the Visitor Centre there was a Swallow still hanging about feeding and occasionally perching on a fence. Once out on the beach we saw a Red-throated Diver sat on the sea and had some Siskins flying south (there was a report of over a hundred moving at Hunmanby Gap on the East Yorkshire coast). A quick visit into one of the hides provided close views of a Redshank before we then moved to another hide to watch the sunset. The sky was busy with Teal and Pink-footed Geese but yet the sunset seemed so peaceful. Once we were back by the Visitor Centre and it was almost totally dark a minimum of 1,000 Pink-footed Geese called loudly as they flew overhead and I caught a brief glimpse of a Short-eared Owl - in doing so I accidentally broken my promise to Beth that I wouldn't spot an owl without her whilst she had a final pitstop before we headed off. Sorry Beth!! My full Gibraltar Point eBird list can be viewed here. Before heading home we stopped off at Skegness for fish and chips and a brief visit to the amusements - who says we're too old! At 9pm we heard a Tawny Owl from Beth's house.

Barn Swallow and Rabbit

Redshank

Peaceful Sunset

Sound recording of Pink-footed Geese:

The Sunday was very much more of a day of relaxation with no birding planned, but we still managed to see c60 Pink-footed Geese fly over Boston high street, which were presumably forced lower due to the thick fog.