Black Stork

At lunchtime yesterday Chris and I made tentative arrangements to go to Frampton Marsh early this morning, to finally catch up with the Black Stork that's been present in the area since  the start of August. I received a text from him just after eight, saying that it had been sighted - he came to pick me up shortly afterwards.

When we arrived at Frampton Marsh there was a gaggle of birders with their telescopes pointing across the field next to the car-park. A friendly birder pointed out the stork lurking next to a ditch some distance away. Most of the birders were content to stay near the visitor centre, but we headed along a footpath which would get us a bit closer, and had some wonderful views of it preening. Chris spotted that it looked a bit restive, and within a minute or two it had taken off and flown out towards the arable land to the north. Views from the footpath were restricted, and we soon lost sight of it, so headed back to the road.

We'd nearly given up the hunt when we spotted it it climbing high on the thermals developing in the intense heat. It spiraled upwards before losing height and changing course, flying right over where we were standing. Such an awe-inspiring bird - presumably a juvenile as it hasn't yet developed its deep red bill and legs, possibly from the growing population now breeding in northern France.

After all the excitement we spent a little time enjoying the rest of the reserve, including a flock of thirty-eight Spoonbills and a good number of Little Stint. We spotted the Black Stork one more time, flying inland from the saltmarsh. It put up the flock of Spoonbills together with a large number of Black-tailed Godwits. As a young conservationist I would never have imagined that I would see such a sight in the UK and certainly not in Lincolnshire!