RSPB Framton on Sunday.

 Following a bit of a break, Colin and I were back on the road on Sunday with Frampton Marsh the destination. It's always a good place, and at this time of year the build up of waders can be very impressive, with a good chance of something unusual. This time it was an adult Pacific Golden Plover, something we last saw on a fen one winter in the mid 90's hidden among a vast flock of Golden Plovers, and there was also a good chance of the Black Stork appearing, another bird not seen this century.

When we got there, it was a bit cool, breezy with light rain., something I hadn't really prepared for. I spent a while scanning the fields from the car park, but the stork was absent, and in fact wasn't seen anywhere that day. I did however find Barry Reed and Mike Illett who were on a similar mission to us.

The pools by the visitors centre held a wide variety of waders, though not in the numbers normally expected-Mike mentioned that it was a lot better a few weeks previously. We did find several Common Sandpipers, loads of Ruff, Avocet and Black tailed Godwits, plus a few Redshank, Knot and Dunlin. We carried on down to the road to the sea wall with a flyover Spotted Redshank the only bird of note (and surprisingly the only one seen that day). We got to the top, noticed a lot of scopes and cameras pointed at a muddy pool, and after a long and difficult search realised the Pacific Golden was sheltering from the wind behind a muddy ridge and only its head was visible. Fortunately it did eventually move around a bit and showed quite well, though a bit distant for the camera.

While we were there we were told that one or two Short Eared Owls were present on the salt marsh, and eventually four were seen, always very distant. They seem to be resident, possibly breeding but in the past we have not managed to see them. Also present was a rather nice female Merlin and a few flyover Yellow Wagtails.

We carried on along the bank, picking up a few Curlew and Whimbrel, a couple of Little Stints among the Dunlin and a Garganey, with a few more Yellow wagtails and two Wheatear. We ended up int eh east hide for a bit with the big flock of Spoonbills occupying the island opposite, a variety of duck and a rather nice adult Hobby.

Our casual stroll around the reserve ended with the news of a Dotterel among some Golden Plovers at the end of the road so lunch was delayed while we headed off back down the road again. Fortunately it stuck round long enough for most to see it but stayed less than an hour. While there news of an adult and juvenile Black Tern somewhere on the reserve came up-they could be seen by the visitor centre but remained distant and very mobile. Two rather good unexpected bonuses.

After lunch we headed back home with a couple of diversions. The first was Deeping Lakes where we spent half an hour in the rain by the eastern pit. Three Ruddy Shelduck were present, associating with Egyptian Geese. There has been a bit of an influx this year, presumably from the feral flocks that build up in the summer in Germany, and it seems likely that they may eventually be admitted to the British list. There haven't been any truly wild ones for well over a century, and being colourful and popular most are believed to be escapes, though it is assumed that the four we saw in the early 90's (part of a small influx) were migrants from the feral population.

We also stopped off at Graffham Water and had a short spell on the dam. There should have been a Black Necked Grebe but it had presumably moved to another section and we had to be content with a large flock of Pied and Yellow Wagtails feeding on the waters edge, a Common Sandpiper, and a few Chiffchaffs and tits feeding in the trees behind us, and at least two Willow warblers-one of which sang occasionally. Would have been nice if there had been more warbler species, or maybe a flycatcher-there were certainly plenty of flying insects for them.

Butterflies

 It's been a poor year for butterflies for me, though others seem to think it hasn't been too bad. Maybe because the decent warm sunny days in recent months have tended to occur while I am working has been a factor. Pottering in the garden after work has certainly boosted the numbers and variety seen.

I think the early warm spell in spring was a bit of a false promise. I was seeing good numbers of Orange Tips, Brimstones, Peacock and Tortoiseshells and a few Holly Blues back then, and of course Aprils freeze and Mays rain knocked everything back considerably. I really had to wait for June to get going before insects started to appear again, and it was mainly the white butterflies that I was encountering early on (unfortunately growing unprotected kale plants among my salad crops was not a good idea). Eventually by mid summer some Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Large Skippers started to arrive, along with large numbers of Peacocks and Red Admirals. A couple of walks around Aston End suggested that the summer grassland species were doing well, particularly Marbled Whites. What I wasn't seeing were any blues, Commas and Tortoiseshells. Even the few trips out and about failed to produce any. 

I had one local butterfly trip in early July. I had planned to visit Hertford Heath and search for dragonflies, but decided at the last minute to go to Danemead instead. The meadow was productive as expected with lots of browns, skippers and a few Silver Washed Fritillaries. Rather than leave and drive to Broxbourne Woods west car park I decided to remain in the Danemead area and explored a number of paths and forestry tracks eventually ending up on the path where the Parrot Crossbills were a few winters ago. On the way back a german couple, also butterflying stopped and retraced their steps. I thought they had found a White Admiral which had hoped to find, but it was something better-a Purple Emperor. This is the first i'd seen in any part of Broxbourne Woods for several years and was fantastic to see. It was rather approachable as they often are and some of my full frame photos were taken on the phone, but this one was with the Olympus 60mm macro.

As July merged into August, Gatekeepers arrived in force, and some Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns were still around in Aston End. After a long wait, one or two Commas finally appeared-the first was in the garden and my one and only Common Blue of the year turned up on my honeysuckle. Red Admirals and Peacocks remain frequent and a couple of Painted Ladies have also been seen. Still no late season Tortoiseshells locally-I'm wondering if the dreadful spring wiped out the eggs and caterpillars, but then again the others species managed to survive.