Help to save the endangered albatross by donating used Christmas stamps to RSPB Frampton Marsh

GEMMA GADD Email Published: 16:30 Updated: 16:43 Tuesday 11 December 2018

People from Boston borough are being asked to help save one of the world’s largest birds, the albatross, from extinction - by donating used stamps from their Christmas cards. RSPB Frampton Marsh has issued the appeal, and is asking for the postage stamps to be dropped off at their visitor centre.

The sea birds are at threat of extinction, with 100,000 dying each year due to fishing methods which see the birds caught in the lines. Since albatrosses are very slow breeders, producing only one chick every two years, this is driving them to extinction. Chris Andrews, visitor experience manager for the reserve, said: “This is a chance for local people to do something simple yet practical to help a wonderful creature like the albatross and save them from extinction.”

Donated stamps will be sold on the international market to raise money. This will then be used to fit various devices to the fishing boats that vastly reduce the chances of albatrosses being caught. The campaign has already raised enough money to place trained people on fishing boats. They then advise the skippers on wildlife friendly fishing procedures. If you would like to help, bring your used stamps to the RSPB nature reserve of Frampton Marsh, just south of Boston. Stamp collections are also gratefully received. The reserve is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am to 4pm. There is a heated visitor centre with snacks, hot and cold drinks, and views over the reserve.

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Rare ‘Naomi Campbell’ bird visits RSPB Frampton Marsh

Gemma Gadd

10:37Thursday 05 May 2016

Twitchers and wildlife photographers are flocking to RSPB Frampton Marsh to catch a glimpse of a rare bird to Britain’s shores.

The black-winged stilt was pictured at the nature reserve near Boston enjoying a wade around the wetlands and looking for food.

The site’s visitor experience manager Chris Andrews said: “Sometimes referred to as the Naomi Campbell of the bird world, due it its elegance and incredibly long legs, the black-winged stilt should be in the Mediterranean but instead arrived here on Tuesday. Maybe it heard the weather report for the weekend?”

The sighting has attracted bird-watchers to the site from as far afield as Yorkshire and Hertfordshire.

Mr Andrews said only a couple of the birds were seen in the UK each year - but numbers have gone up slightly in recent years to around a dozen ‘due to global warming’.

It is, however, the fourth year in a row the RSPB site has been visited by a solo black-winged stilt.

“We do a lot of work making the reserve absolutely brilliant for birds - and the wildlife is flourishing as a result,” Mr Andrews added. “We are swiftly gaining a reputation not just as one of the best reserves in Lincolnshire, but in the whole UK.”

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Rare glossy ibis spotted at RSPB Frampton Marsh

A rare Mediterranean visitor has been spotted wading through the marshes at a local RSPB nature reserve.

The large glossy ibis bird is a rarely-seen visitor to the UK, but has been paddling around RSPB Frampton Marsh since Saturday, eating insects, worms and small fish.

Chris Andrews, visitor service officer at the reserve, said: “It is wonderful to see such a dramatic and unusual bird as this, and it just goes to show what a valuable resource for wildlife a place like Frampton Marsh can be. We hope the ibis stays for a long time and lots of people get to see it.”

He added: “The bird is related to herons and normally to be found in the Mediterranean, but there does appear to be a growing trend of them in the country. Worldwide, they are very widespread, covering all six continents.”

http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/local/rare-glossy-ibis-spotted-at-rspb-frampton-marsh-1-6133211