Late sunshine

Despite grey skies and a smattering of rain, I had an excellent day at Frampton Marsh with the South Lincolnshire Flora Group. The floral star of the day was Slender Hare's-ear which was abundant in both its known locations on the sea bank, and much taller than in previous years, possibly a result of a change in the cattle grazing regime and a decidedly damp summer! But not nearly as tall as the Sunflowers lit up by some late sunshine that predictably appeared just as we were close to the end of our visit.
 
The range of knowledge within the group was very broad, and at times we shifted our focus to the birds, invertebrates and plant rusts of the reserve. The sight of a short-eared owl quartering the saltmarsh is one that will live on in my memory, as will the sight of spoonbills feeding in one of the shallow pools. And of course, we were all entranced with the Sea Aster Mining Bees, and spent quite some time watching two thriving colonies. An Eleven-spot Ladybird also featured, a decidedly local species that is most frequent in coastal habitats.

A very good day....