These posts are what remains of a row of telegraph poles that powered a telephone at the Lifeboat House one hundred years ago. These have been exposed considerably by the landward rolling of shingle caused by Wednesday's weather.
It wasn't only shingle that shifted. The large buoy that marks the Hjordis wreck came off it's anchor chain and washed up on the Point, overshadowing a couple of weaned Grey Seal pups on the beach...
Buoy overshadows seals (Graham Lubbock)
...and our volunteer Richard Porter (Ajay Tegala)
The buoy marks the Hjordis wreck, at the mouth of Blakeney Channel, to prevent vessels from getting into danger by going too close to the remains of the ship that was wrecked here in 1916. Due to the channel moving eastwards over the previous winter, Blakeney Harbour Association installed a number of new marker boys in 2016 for the safety of Blakeney's many boat users. After liaising with Blakeney Harbour Association, who put out a navigation warning, we set about the task of retrieving the buoy. Fortunately, despite its bulkiness, we were able to load it onto our trailer and toe it to Morston.
Loading the buoy onto the trailer (Ajay Tegala)
Beginning the drive along the beach (Mary Goddard)
Delivered safely to Morston (Graham Lubbock)
Wednesday's weather had little impact on the Grey Seal rookery. The adults and weaned pups are fast dispersing. However, there have been four pups born in 2017.
One of this January's newborn pups (Ajay Tegala)
These four take the season's total to 2,368 pups. This number is now unlikely to rise by more than one or two. This total represents a 1% increase on last season's.
With 34 either stillborn or not surviving their crucial first few days, there has been a total of 2,402 births this season. This represents a very low <2.5% mortality, showing what a successful and productive rookery Blakeney Point is.
We would like to thank all visitors for respecting the seals, helping them to have a disturbance-free environment in which to pup. A great big thank you also to the RSPCA staff and volunteers at East Winch for doing an excellent job caring for sick and injured pups from Blakeney.
Notable wildlife sightings on Blakeney National Nature Reserve this week included:
- Harbour Porpoise (washed up dead), Blakeney Point on Tuesday 3rd
- Hen Harrier (ringtail), Morston Marshes on Wednesday 4th
- Two Glaucous Gulls, Blakeney Point on Thursday 5th
- Four Snow Buntings, Blakeney Point on Thursday 5th
- Two Whooper Swans, over Blakeney Freshes on Thursday 5th
We look forward to sharing wildlife news from across the reserve throughout 2017.
- Ajay, Mary & Graham (Rangers)
