The long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher at Frampton Marsh was the main target today. On route, we dropped in at Deeping Lakes hoping to connect with the regular roost of Long-eared owls. Visibility had not been good on the way up and it had not improved as we pulled into the car park at Deeping. The island in front of the hide was shrouded in a heavy mist which made locating the owls among the tangled branches impossible. We decided to walk the circuit along the river and return when the mist had cleared. Several Goldeneye and Goosander were seen on the main lake and a female Bullfinch was a welcome addition to the year list. Thankfully on our return, the mist had cleared sufficiently for the island to be scanned and we managed to locate at least three Long-eared Owls.
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| Island shrouded in Mist |
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| The Mist had lifted on return |
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| Long-eared Owl roosting |
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| Three Long-eared Owls in this photo |
Twenty-six miles further up the A16 was Frampton Marsh which was the next destination. We were met by friendly staff and after a quick chat I collected a map and headed off towards the old car park. Once again it was grey and heavy cloud overhead, but luck was with us because as we approached the car park LGRE and his group had the Long-billed Dowitcher in view. I had been expecting a lengthy scan of the area to locate the Dowitcher but it was feeding on the wet grassland relatively close to our location. Large numbers of Ruff were seen along with smaller numbers of Dunlin. Numbers of Pintail were very impressive, far exceeding my previous highest counts
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| Long-billed Dowitcher |
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| The 360 Hide |
It was my first visit to Deeping Lakes and Frampton Marsh and I was very impressed with both reserves. Unfortunately, the heavy mist at both locations prevented a full exploration of the sites but I'm sure there will be return trips to both.
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