May Wildlife Round-Up

May has been a joyous month with the discovery of numerous nests and chicks across the reserve

Breeding birds

May has been fantastic for hatching wader chicks on Blakeney Freshes: Lapwing chicks were present by 6^th, Redshank by 17^th, Avocet by 27^th and the Little Ringed Plovers by the coast path hatched on 28^th. It has been a good season for Lapwings, with several well-grown chick sightings. Mallard ducklings abound. From 14^th May, a Bittern has been heard booming intermittently, which we are very excited about. Around 700 Black-headed Gulls were present on the saltmarsh at Stiffkey in early May, with numbers reducing to nearer 300 by 23^rd when 41 nests were recorded on the Meals along with a pair of Common Terns. On our new land at Salthouse – east of Beach Road and north of the A149 – we have four pairs of Black-headed Gulls, six pairs of Avocets and a pair of Lapwings. On Blakeney Point, the first Oystercatcher egg was spotted on 3^rd May, the same day that Blakeney Primary School visited to put out their Little Tern decoys. A week later, numbers in excess of 100 Little Terns were counted above the Watch House colony. The first Oystercatcher chick was seen on 3^rd June. Numerous Meadow Pipit chicks have been observed in the dunes throughout May and Linnet chicks are about to fledge.

Little Tern presenting a fish to its partner (Greg Cooper)
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Migrant birds

Numerous migrant Wheatears have been observed on Blakeney Freshes. By 16^th May, Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins were present together feeding on and above the Freshes. Blakeney Point May migrant highlights included Glaucous Gull (2^nd), Osprey (4^th, 12^th), Short-toed Lark (5^th–6^th, 26^th), Hobby (11^th, 12^th), Red-throated Pipit (12^th), Red-breasted Flycatcher (15^th), Icterine Warbler (two on 26^th, one singing), Nightjar (26^th), singing Black Redstart (26^th), male Pied Flycatcher (30^th) and Marsh Warbler (30^th–31^st). The most notable migrant of the year, so far, was a Moltoni’s Subalpine Warbler on 2^nd–3^rd June, which attracted around 600 visitors. This was the second record for the Point, the previous being 11^th May 2015.

Footage of the 2015 Moltoni's Subalpine Warbler on Blakeney Point:

Seals

Low tide seal counts have remained low this month. We are now entering the Common Seal breeding season; pups are born on tidal sandbars in the Wash and start to show up at Blakeney later in the summer.

Date	Grey Seal	Common Seal
14th April 2018	28	75
16th May 2018	20	46

Other wildlife

A Green Hairstreak, Britain’s only green-coloured butterfly, landed on the wall of our office on 6^th May; nearby Friary Hills is a good place to see them. Common Blues began appearing later in the month. Cinnabar moth sightings were made on Blakeney Freshes on 22^nd and at Morston Quay on 29^th. A Water Vole was observed on the Freshes on 16^th; it is always a delight to see these most appealing small mammals.

Ajay Tegala,

Ranger