30th of August: Raptor fest

The week started off on Monday 24th with south-easterly winds and drizzle - perfect conditions for a small fall of migrant birds. On Blakeney Point, raptors were out in numbers, with the highlights being two Ospreys, a Merlin, eleven Marsh Harriers and a Honey Buzzard that flew past the Lifeboat House whilst being mobbed by a Hobby.  

Hobby hunting the Point (Joe Cockram)

Other goodies seen in the Plantation and suaeda belts were: one Icterine Warbler, thirty plus Willow Warblers, nine Whinchats, five Redstarts, two Wrynecks, ten Pied Flycatchers, one Spotted Flycatcher and one Short-eared Owl. A nice selection for those birdwatchers who made the pilgrimage up the Point that day.

On Thursday 27th the first Pink-footed Geese of the year were heard and a Wood Sandpiper gave its distinctive 'chiff-iff-iff' call as it flew overhead.

Yesterday on Saturday 29th Flying ants took to the skies in impressive numbers, which spurred every Black-headed Gull from miles around to have an aerial picnic over the Lifeboat House.

Aerial picnic (Ajay Tegala)

Invertebrates showing themselves this week included good numbers of dragonflies, including Migrant Hawkers, both Common and Ruddy Darters and our largest dragonfly, the Emperor, one of which landed on my face, tickling my lips as it walked around my mouth.
Butterflies out and about at the moment are Graylings, Red Admirals, Painted Ladies, Large and Small Whites and a few Small Coppers the latter of which will be the fourth generation.
The distinctive high pitched buzzing of Long-winged Coneheads can now be heard along the entire length of the Point, as well a few Short-winged Coneheads.

Short-winged Conehead (Matt Twydell)

The Wood Pigeon breeding in the Tamarisk bush is only a couple of days away from hatching.

Wood Pigeon on nest

Don't forget, next Saturday (5th of September) is the Blakeney National Nature Reserve Bioblitz - find more information on how to get involved here.

-Paul.

23rd of August: Full-on fall

Today on Blakeney Point, migration got into full swing. With south-easterly winds and rain all converging to produce the perfect conditions for a 'fall' of migrant birds. As the afternoon went on and the rainfall increased, birds began to arrive in greater numbers resulting in a very special moment in time. Conferring with bird-watchers that braved the four-mile shingle trudge, an impressive list of birds was put together...

The stars were a juvenile Montagu's Harrier over Far Point, a first-winter Marsh Warbler at the Hood and a Wryneck on Far Point. The shear numbers of passerines were probably under-counted: 25+ Whinchats, 15+ Wheatears, 10+ Redstarts, 25+ Willow Warblers, 10+ Tree Pipits and 30+ Pied Flycatchers. Other birds seen today included Hobby, Merlin, Wood Sandpiper, Arctic Skua, Cuckoo, Short-eared Owl, Sparrowhawk and Grasshopper Warbler.

Short-eared Owl (Sarah Johnson)

Sparrowhawk on Beach Way (Sarah Johnson)

Insects have also been arriving. With numerous Red Admirals, Painted Ladies and a few Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies, plus several Migrant Hawker and a few Emperor dragonflies.

Peacock on Sea Holly (Sarah Johnson)

This week's moth sightings have included a few Drinkers.

Drinker (Sarah Johnson)

Due to the presence of a notably high number of Common Seals, we have been monitoring the seals throughout the week. We bumped into former Head Warden, Dave Wood (2000-2011), who remembers it used to be the norm that Common Seals would out-number Greys in August, before switching in the autumn. This week's counts have showed a steady increase in Greys...

Monday 17th:       Common x 509;  Grey x   78
Wednesday 19th: Common x 279;  Grey x 436
Thursday 20th:     Common x 386;  Grey x 670

To protect seals from disturbance - and to keep some areas free from disturbance for birds and other wildlife - there is no access to the tip of Far Point at any time of year. But there is open access to the rest of the Point for the next two months (between the end of the breeding bird season and the beginning of the Grey Seal pupping season), except for the Plantation and Garden (these two areas are a refuge for tired migrant birds):

We would like to thank visitors for their cooperation.

Although Blakeney Point is a renowned hot-spot for migrant birds, the lesser-known Gramborough Hill has been particularly productive over the last few days, also owned and managed by the National Trust (previously owned by Brent Pope). Situated three miles east of the Point, at Salthouse, Grambrough is much more easily accessible. Today, visiting bird-watchers enjoyed views of Icterine Warbler, Booted Warbler and Wryneck.

If you are interested in exploring Salthouse, you may be interested in our circular downloadable walk.


Also, don't miss Ranger Graham Lubbock's talk at Blakeney Harbour Rooms at 7.30pm on Monday 24th of August: The History of Blakeney National Nature Reserve - 50 Years of Neptune.

- Ajay and Paul

16th of August: Icterine Warbler

The last few days have brought a nice selection of migrants to Blakeney Point. Wednesday brought 4 Willow Warblers and 2 Common Whitethroats. Thursday produced 4 Common Redstarts, 3 Whinchats, 7 Wheatears, 2 Pied Flycatchers and this splendid Icterine Warbler.

Icterine Warbler (Richard Porter)

On Friday, Spotted Flytcatcher, Lesser Whitethroat and Black Tern were added to the sightings list. While Saturday brought 2 Little Gulls and a Roseate Tern, these were amongst 600+ Black Headed Gulls and c.40 Common Terns all feeding on a hatch of ants near the Lifeboat House in the evening.

The "hatch" (Sarah Johnson)

 
Moths recorded this week included Garden Tiger, Silver Y, Drinker, Blood Vein, Latticed Heath, Common Wainscot, Saltern Ear, White-line Dart, Archer's Dart, Coast Dart, Large Yellow Underwing, Straw Underwing, Turnip and Mouse Moth.

Mouse Moth inside the Mobile Hide (Sarah)

Other insect sightings this week included this Mining Bee, seen here clearing out its hole in the sand. This wonderful little video clip was captured by Ranger Sarah.

 
Common Seals continue to delight, with around 300 seen on the end of the Point at high tide today. Among them are a small number of this summer's pups.

Common Seal pup on the beach (Ajay Tegala)

The end of the Point is constantly changing. This season we have noticed a small area of saltmarsh forming inside the very end of the spit as well as an increase in vegetation on the shingle...

Saltmarsh forming

Vegetation on the shingly tip of Far Point

We leave you with a very rare sighting made on the Point this morning; a vacuum cleaner!

- Ajay

9th of August: Lots of little Little Terns

This weekend marked more-or-less the end of the breeding bird season on Blakeney Point, with the final Little Tern juveniles of the year fledging.

We had two main colonies on the Point this year. Some 18 pairs nested on the shingle ridge east of the Watch House. From this colony, 21 birds fledged.

Watch House colony, now empty (Richard Porter)

Juvenile being fed away from nesting site (Tom Whiley)

The second colony was on the beach east of the Gap. Last year, two pairs fledged two young from this area, unlike the larger more established beach colony that suffered severe flooding. For this reason, we put out decoys. These seemed to work, attracting 11 pairs to nest. From this colony, 12 birds fledged. This represents the best Little Tern productivity on the Point since 2011.

Adult Little Tern in flight (Tom Whiley)

With all Little Tern chicks fledged, the seasonal dog ban has been lifted. We would like to thank visitors for obeying the access restrictions and respecting the dog restrictions throughout the breeding season. Disturbances have been notably fewer this year, so a big thank you for helping and especially to our Little Tern volunteers who have done a great job helping to observe and protect the Watch House colony.

Our latest low tide seal count has recorded the largest number of hauled out Common Seals since September 2011. The count - conducted on Wednesday (5th of August) - totalled 519 Grey and 412 Common.

 

Young Common Seal this week (Sarah Johnson)

This week's migrant birds have included Hobby, Merlin, Willow Warblers, Pied Flycatcher and a Magpie, the latter being a very rare sighting on the Point. The Swallow chicks in the Old Tern Hide fledged this week too.

Swallow chicks before they fledged (Sarah Johnson)

There are no longer any birds on nests. That is, except for a pair of Wood Pigeons still building a late nest in the Tamarisk! There are still a few small Ringed Plover chicks around and several hundred Oystercatchers are roosting on the beach at high tide. For this reason, we ask that visitors still keep dogs under close control as birds are vulnerable to disturbance at all times of year.

- Ajay

2nd of August: Melodious on the Point

On Friday 31st July during a quick look in the garden by the Lifeboat House, Ranger Paul spotted a yellow warbler.  Initially thinking it was the first returning Willow Warbler of the year, a look through his binoculars revealed a Hippolais warbler.  After gaining better views it turned out to be a juvenile Melodious Warbler.  Breeding mainly in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and wintering in West Africa, it is not surprising that few have been seen in Norfolk - this bird is only the 5th record for the county.

 Melodious Warbler on Blakeney Point (Paul Nichols)

Other birds to have graced the Point this week include two Great White Egrets, two Spoonbills and five Grey Herons today, whilst in addition to the Melodious Warbler on the 31st we also had two Yellow Wagtails, a Short-eared Owl, a Hobby and a Peregrine.

In terms of the breeding birds, the Little Terns still have young being fed on the shore.  Feeding rates appear to have improved hugely since earlier in the season and we're hoping Little Terns on the Point might fledge more than last year.

Little Tern juvenile on beach (Sarah Johnson)

North Norfolk's shores are currently being invaded by millions of insects.  Over the past two days the ranger team has been seeing large numbers of Large and Small White butterflies, a smattering of Peacocks and Painted Ladies, thousands of Bishy Barnabees (ladybirds) and a handful of wasps.  There have also been a number of Odonata, such as Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly and Banded Demoiselle.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Sarah Johnson)

We began the week with round three of our seine netting sessions - the last for this year.  Species caught included Sea Bass, Herring, Shrimps, Plaice, Flounder, Pipefish and Sea Scorpion - the last two being the first of each species we've caught.

Former Seasonal Wardens Joe Cockram and Richard Berridge 

Recording the catch...

...involves lots of notetaking 

Different shrimp species 

Sea Bass

In seal news: We sent a 14kg weak, abandoned Grey Seal pup to the RSPCA East Winch back in January. We have just heard back that it was released at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire on the 8th of July, weighing a healthy 43.5kg. Big thanks to the team at East Winch for doing a great job to help a Blakeney-born seal.

With the beautiful weather this weekend it has been great to see so many people out enjoying the Point, but please be aware if you are planning a trip that dogs are still not allowed on the Point except for limited areas around the Lifeboat House on a lead, and within the first 1/4 mile or so from the NWT Cley car park.  This will change mid-August.  Fenced off areas may look empty but still have young birds in them and act as a refuge before they are fully-fledged, so please respect the fencelines.

And finally, here's a racing pigeon with an identity crisis

-Paul and Sarah