Monday 29 June 2015

29th of June: In-seine on the Point

What's gone insane on the Point?  Luckily not the rangers.  Instead it's fish - round two of our investigation into fish availability around the Point in partnership with ECON Ecological Consultancy (including our friend and former Blakeney Point seasonal warden, Joe Cockram).  As before, we used a 50-metre long Seine net to create a loop that was hauled in from the shore where the fish caught were transferred to a large aerated tub whilst crabs were put in another container.  Fish species caught were both Greater and Lesser Sand Eel, Three-spined Stickleback, Sea bass, Flounder, Plaice, Sand Goby and Sand Smelt, along with both Crangon (brown shrimp) and Palaemon shrimps and plenty of shore crabs.  This research is being done to assess the food supply available to Little Terns in particular - something particularly relevant at the moment as food supply appears to be a big problem in parts of Norfolk this year for them.
Hauling in the Seine net in the harbour

Dr. Martin Perrow and Joe Cockram

Hauling in the net in Pinchen's Creek


 

 


 




With a warm night and good cloud cover on 27th June we decided to run another moth trap.  We were rewarded with our best catch so far this season.  Here are the stars of the show:
 Archer's Dart

 Bright-line Brown-eye

 Dark Arches

 Elephant Hawkmoth

 Lychnis

 Smoky Wainscot

Tawny Shears

In other news, we have seen the first fledged Common Tern on the West Sands and the first Little Tern chick on Far Point.  Migration, as usual at this time of year, has been quiet with only a Spotted Flycatcher seen in the Plantation and a slow trickle of hirundines and swifts flying west.
First Little Tern chick of 2015 (photographed under license)

- Paul and Sarah


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