SNOW BUNTINGS

 Whilst staying with my sister, we travelled up to the Lincolnshire rspb reserve  Frampton marsh with the aim of tracking down half a dozen snow buntings which have been residing there for the past few weeks.  Sparrow-sized, these attractive little birds breed in the Arctic  but winter around the coasts in the UK and exhibit a range of colours in their plumage. This made them quite camouflaged against the  muddy bank, and in fact we walked right past them to start with and  nearly thought we would have to go home disappointed, but came across  a warden who told us exactly where they'd just been seen so were able to retrace our steps. Once we had located them, they gave some very close views on the seaward side of the seawall, often coming within a few metres of us.