RSPB Frampton Marsh, south-east of Boston on the Lincolnshire Wash, underwent a £1.6 million development earlier this year, including the construction of a heated visitor centre, three new bird watching hides and 3.5 kilometres of wheelchair accessible footpaths.

The official opening was on 17th April, and instantly wildlife and   visitors began to pour in. The next day the first male garganey to be recorded on the reserve dropped in, and was shortly followed by  another, and then a female. Within a week, up to four males and two females were regularly seen among the reedbed vegetation, with one pair providing the first record of breeding garganey for the reserve. Other summer visitors began to arrive, with ring ouzel, lesser     whitethroat, whitethroat, willow warbler and swallow all making their first appearance on 19th. Other April highlights included little stint on 20th, little tern on 24th, a red kite flew over on 25th and a wood sandpiper and whimbrel both appeared on 28th.

May saw the first record of spoonbill for the reserve, with a very brief visit on 2nd, the 3rd brought in the first swift of the year, and a male curlew sandpiper arrived on the 4th and stayed for a week. Four wheatears arrived on 8th May, growing in numbers to nine by the 10th. The first reed warbler of the year appeared on 11th , along with Temminck’s stint and a single black tern. By the 14th nine black terns were present, before their departure on 15th, when little gull and little ringed plover appeared.

When June arrived the majority of the resident birds had already   begun to nest. The pollen and nectar mix, which was broadcast in May, blossomed into beautiful wild flowers. Tall melilot, white melilot, tufted vetch, chicory, spear thistle, creeping thistle, marsh thistle, bristly ox tongue and common sorrel all bloomed and still provide glorious colour and fragrance to the reserve.

It wasn’t long before the butterflies arrived. In early June masses of painted ladies appeared, followed by small and Essex skipper, gatekeeper, speckled wood, meadow brown, ringlet, small tortoiseshell and red admiral. Dragonflies have been well represented too, with emperor, black-tailed skimmer, common darter and azure blue and common blue damselflies.

The most exciting appearance occurred on the 5th June. A small  colony of sand martins began to excavate tunnels in the artificial sand martin bank; within a week thirty holes were being used, thirty soon doubled to sixty, and by 17th July almost one hundred tunnels were occupied, giving a count of over five hundred sand martins! This has been calculated as 0.001% of the world’s population!!

So why not pay RSPB Frampton Marsh a visit? Not only is it one of South Lincolnshire’s prime spots for birds, wild flowers and insects, stoats, weasels, muntjak and roe deer are all seen on a regular basis, along with the occasional sighting of water vole and one single   sighting of a grass snake, also a reserve first.