We're in Boston, and it's bird country...

The nearby RSPB site at Frampton Marsh is incredibly atmospheric. Even before we'd stepped out of the car on Thursday, we'd seen big flocks of birds wheeling in the distance. (I'm not sure what they were, and I think the term "murmuration" applies only to starlings, but it was that same kind of mesmerizing thing.)

First lunch/second breakfast completed, we steeled ourselves to leave the cocoon of our vehicle (it was a raw day), and emerged to the pleasant honking of vast arrays of birds.

It's a very scenic reserve:












When you've had enough of being buffeted by the cold wind, you can buy a take-away hot coffee at the Visitor Centre, and drink it in your car, looking out over more aerial action. Magical.

If you go a little further down the coast, you get to Freiston Shore, another magnet for avian life:



On Thursday, we just used this spot as a place to eat second lunch. But yesterday (Saturday), we returned to explore a bit more.

Still cold, but so different that day. Less wind, bright sun, vibrant colours.

And the topography is fascinating. First we walked north, along the outermost sea bank. The marsh is quite dramatic here, with thick-pile carpets of vegetation, and quite distinct channels:



To the left is the agriculture that Lincolnshire is so famous for. Huge, flat fields, backed by another sea bank:


Driving around this county, we are somewhat appalled by our inability to identify half the vegetables growing in the fields... Really, we're such townies...

But there's undeniably a beauty to them:





This is the top of Sea Bank, the landward elevation. Now a defence against the mighty ocean, it was obviously also worth arming against enemies back in the day:




If you drive on towards Skegness, you can visit Gibraltar Point, an attractive stretch of coastline and wetland that houses a diversity of wildlife.








I'm not sure why, but we saw fewer birds on this brilliant blue day than we'd seen two days previously when it was cold and blowy. Nevertheless -- beautiful.

A different kind of flight is recalled at Scotia Creek, on the River Haven, another of our Thursday destinations.

Earlier famous for Catholic rebellion, Boston, by the 17th century, had become a hotbed of opposition to the Church of England from another religious direction. Among these Protestant non-conformists was the Separatist Movement, one group of whom worshipped at Gainsborough Old Hall, and another in Scrooby, just over the border in Nottinghamshire. Under James I, such groups came under considerable pressure, and the Separatist Movement was banned in 1604.

In 1607 both aforementioned groups of Separatists decided to flee to Holland, where a more tolerant regime held sway. The Gainsborough group gained their objective, and joined their co-religionists, known as the Ancient Brethren, in Leiden. The Scrooby group, however, was sold down the river by their boat captain, and their craft was intercepted just down the Haven from Boston, at Scotia Creek. They were arrested, and imprisoned in Boston Guildhall, but released after several months. Eventually, they too reached Leiden.

In 1620 the Ancient Brethren decided to wager all on finding a better life in America. And thus it was that the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, and landed in Massachsetts after two months at sea. In 1630, another group left Boston for America, and the settlement they founded was named after their town of origin...


There's an interesting story behind the inscription on the Scotia Creek memorial. When it was laid out in 1957, it read: "Near this place in September 1607 those later known as 'The Pilgrim Fathers' made their first attempt to find religious freedom across the seas." In 2009, however, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa WI financing the updating of the inscription, so that it no longer shied away from the fact that the early Pilgrim Fathers had been distinctly ill used. It now reads: "Near this place in September 1607 those later known as the Pilgrim Fathers were thwarted in their first attempt to sail to find religious freedom across the seas."