7th of August: Goodbye from Ajay

This is my last week as a ranger in the Norfolk Coast team. I have lots of happy memories from my various roles at Blakeney over the last nine years and am grateful for the opportunities I have had and the wonderful people I have worked with.

I started as a full-time volunteer assistant warden in summer 2009 and went on to secure a seasonal role at Morston Information Centre in spring 2010. I was delighted to become a seasonal ranger on Blakeney Point in 2012 (that's when we started this blog) and to then become Blakeney Point Ranger in 2013.

I am proud of how our team of volunteers has grown over the last five years and I have enjoyed working with so many dedicated volunteers. The tern and seal breeding seasons are absolutely fascinating and it has been a privilege to protect and monitor these very special species. Over the last 15 months, it has been a pleasure to broaden my experiences on Blakeney Freshes. I am leaving to take up a ranger position at the National Trust’s Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve.

Here are just a few of my special Blakeney memories:

  - Witnessing an autumn "fall" of thousands of thrushes

  - Counting a record 4,120 Sandwich Tern nests in 2013

  - Counting hundreds of seal pups in the winter months

  - Seeing my first Bittern, after hours of trying 

  - Taking school groups through the harbour at low tide

  - Spending time in boats in Blakeney Harbour

  - Working with dedicated and inspirational volunteers, colleagues and locals

  - Setting up this blog and sharing wildlife news

I wish the Norfolk coast, its wildlife and people all the very best for the future.

 - Ajay

Here are some photograph memories from the last nine years... 

Morston Information Centre, 2010 (my 21st birthday)

Sandwich Terns on Far Point, 2012

The vibrant Sandwich Tern colony, 2012

An adorable Little Tern chick

One of the thousands of Grey Seal pups I've counted

The 2012 Blakeney team - centenary celebration

The one and only Graham Lubbock!

The 2014-15 Blakeney Point team: Paul, Sarah and I

Coping with 3 months without running water on the Point!

Eddie, B, Carl and I, 2018: Blakeney past and present

Looking to the future...

17th of May: Taking Stock

This week brought much excitement when Point-based rangers Leighton, Luke and Ryan informed me that a Stock Dove was nesting on the Lifeboat House. Up until 2012, a pair of Stock Doves nested in the roof of the building every year. The winter restoration of the Lifeboat House, in 2012/13, made it watertight, which was much appreciated by the rangers living inside, but meant that the Stock Doves no longer had access to their favoured nesting place. A pair were seen in the area in spring 2013, but did not go on to breed. With permission from the National Trust's regional curator, I put up a nest box on the building, which was painted blue to match the Lifeboat House cladding. Sadly, this was never used.

Stock Dove inside the Lifeboat House, 2012 (Joe Cockram)

In 2011, volunteer Bee Büche put up nest boxes designed for Swifts on the look-out tower, hoping to attract them by playing recordings of their calls. Swift calls were played in the tower for three consecutive springs but did not manage to attract Swifts, which have never bred on the Point. In 2015, a pair of Starlings nested in one of the boxes, the first breeding record since the 1980s. This gave me the idea to remove a side panel from one of the Swift boxes so that it might be attractive to Stock Doves. Three years later, and six years since last breeding, it is a delight to have them back!

The nest contains two eggs...

In other news, on Blakeney Freshes we were delighted to hear a Bittern booming in the reedbed this week. The Freshes are looking fantastic at the moment, with good numbers of Lapwing and Redshank chicks...

Redshank chick on Blakeney Freshes (Ajay Tegala)

Lapwing on Blakeney Freshes (Ian Chilton)

Black-headed Gulls have started laying on the Freshes this week, having made nests out of reeds...

And finally, back to the Point, we are thrilled to have Little Terns present at the Watch House colony in double figures, with birds landing near the decoys put out by Blakeney Primary School. If you are walking up the Point, look out for our friendly Little Tern volunteers and please follow their advice to help protect these precious seabirds.

-Ajay Tegala, Ranger

8th of May: Lapwing chicks!

It's been an absolutely cracking bank holiday weekend here on the Norfolk Coast. We seldom see such perfect weather in early May. It felt more like August, especially at Morston Quay with countless happy visitors enjoying the beautiful views and ferry trips in the harbour.

The weather was also appreciated by Lapwings on Blakeney Freshes, which have been hatching their young. The first few days of a chick's life are vital to its survival; warm weather is far better than wet, windy and cold.

Lapwing chick on the Freshes this morning (Ajay Tegala)

Numbers of Redshank and Avocets have increased on the Freshes. Shovelers continue to lay their eggs amongst the grass. One pair of Mute Swans have four eggs, whilst another are still building up their nest. We are also seeing more and more Mallard ducklings and Greylag Goose goslings on the Freshes. It is such a delightful time of year at Blakeney, especially with the vegetation looking so lush and green from the perfect mixture of rain and sunshine.

- Ajay Tegala, Ranger

4th of April: Signs of Spring and an Easter Otter

Spring seems to be in full swing on Blakeney Freshes today. A walk around revealed lots of birds showing breeding behavior. From a displaying Redshank to territorial Lapwings and an incubating Mallard to a pair of Marsh Harriers high above the reedbed. Shelduck are pairing up too. "Pinging" Bearded Tits are audible amongst the reeds as are the noisy squarks of Black-headed Gulls in full summer plumage. Avocets have returned for the spring, favouring an island surrounded by water topped up by the weekend's heavy rain. Over the weekend - on Easter Sunday to be precise - one of our trail cameras captured this Otter in one of the southern fields...

- Ajay Tegala, Ranger

28th of February: The Beast from the East

Cor blast! It's a bit bleak in Blakeney this week...

TUE 27th: Icicles on the Lifeboat House (Ajay Tegala)

TUE 27th: Snow on the shingle ridge (Ajay Tegala)

WED 28th (07:45): Friary Hills and Blakeney Freshes now white (Ajay Tegala)

WED 28th (10:30): Blakeney Quay (Ajay Tegala)

WED 28th (14:00): Blakeney Freshes (Barrie Slegg)

23rd of February: Blakeney Freshes Cam

We wanted to share with you some of the wildlife captured by one of our trail cameras located on the Friary Hills edge of the Blakeney freshwater grazing marshes...

Muntjac - plenty of these around, plus an occasional Chinese Water Deer

 

Moorhen - soon to be nesting on the Freshes

Pheasant - plenty of these around, including this particularly bold male

And... best 'til last... a BADGER! - these are not a common sight on the Freshes, so we were delighted to find our trail camera had captured evidence of one on site.

In other news, we have just heard back from RSPCA East Winch regarding a year-old Grey Seal cow we spotted on Blakeney Point recently. She had an orange flipper tag, indicating she had been released by the RSPCA:

 Tail flipper showing orange tag (Ajay Tegala)

“Tusker

In from Cley (15.2kg) on the 9th of February 2017 and released at Sutton Bridge(45kg) on 15th September 2017.”

We were pleased to report that, although she was very sick when she arrived at East Winch with lungworm and pneumonia, she is currently very much alive and well. Another wildlife success story thanks to the great work of the RSPCA.

Finally, on the theme of seals, we were happy to see pup number 2,700 on Valentines Day; aged five weeks and still on the Point....

Pup #2700 aged five weeks (Ajay Tegala)

- Ajay, Ranger

Autumn wildlife update from Blakeney

Autumn is a time of transition on the reserve. With several of our breeding birds migrating south, we review the season. We also celebrate the arrival of our over-wintering wildfowl and prepare for the upcoming Grey Seal pupping season.

Summary of the 2017 breeding bird season

The breeding Marsh Harrier population on Blakeney Freshes is stable. The same number – three females and two males – have bred for at least the last ten years. As usual, they managed to fledge young; two broods. The usual pair of Barn Owls nested in the box near Marsh Lane, fledging two young. Avocet numbers are stable across the reserve, with a minimum 38 pairs nesting. For a third year, Little Ringed Plovers bred successfully on Blakeney Freshes. Following two years of suspected, but unproven, breeding, Water Rail breeding was confirmed, with two young observed on Blakeney Freshes: the first sighting of young on the reserve since 2002.

On Blakeney Point, a record 11 Grey Partridge pairs bred. These gamebirds are the only species resident on the Point throughout the entire year. Family groups are a frequent sight in the sand dunes throughout the winter.

Little Terns nested at four sites on Blakeney Point. Unlike in 2016, the majority did not nest on the tip of Far Point, this year favouring the Watch House colony. A mixture of good weather, good feeding and low disturbance – aided by volunteer presence – led to high productivity at the Watch House colony. The Point’s nesting Little Terns, as a whole population, fledged 56 young from 65 pairs; the most fledged since 2011 and highest overall productivity since 1999.

Little Tern fledgling (Richard Porter)

The National Trust team would like to sincerely thank the residents of Blakeney, Cley, and further afield, including the many visitors – some of whom come specifically to see terns (and seals) in the unique setting of Blakeney National Nature Reserve – for their co-operation and support this summer and in the future.

Low tide seal counts

This summer’s low tide counts showed that the number of seals hauling out on Stiffkey West Sands is stable for both species.

Date	Grey Seal	Common Seal
06/07/2017	369	202
21/07/2017	552	302
06/08/2017	114	392
11/08/2017	420	312
25/08/2017	216	455
10/09/2017	290	363
2017 summer (Mar-Sep) average:	225	167
Ten-year summer average:	308	147

Annual mean Common Seal numbers were fractionally above the ten-year summer average, whilst Grey Seals numbers were slightly below.

Breeding Grey Seals

From this Wednesday (25^th October) the Grey Seal rookery area on Blakeney Point will be fenced off ready for the imminent pupping season. As usual, there will be no access to the westerly mile-and-a-half of beach and northern parts of the dunes. We would like to thank you in advance for staying out of the restricted areas and ensuring all dogs are on short leads, for the safety of visitors and dogs as well as vulnerable seals. We will have volunteers on site at peak times and will keep the blog updated with pup counts throughout November, December and into January.

Bird migration

September migrant bird highlights on Blakeney Point included: juvenile Montagu’s Harrier on 3^rd; Long-tailed Skua on 14^th; Barred Warbler on 15^th; Wryneck on 16^th; Red-breasted Flycatcher on 18^th – 19^th; Yellow-browed Warbler 18^th – 19^th. The rarest bird seen on Blakeney Point probably all year was a Tawny Owl, on 15^th September. This is only the second ever record for this usually sedentary species. As of mid-October, a Peregrine appears to have taken up a winter residence on the Point.

Other wildlife

Weekly butterfly transects were conducted on Blakeney Point for a tenth year and on Blakeney Freshes and Friary Hills for a third year. The most frequently recorded butterflies on the former were Small Copper and Meadow Brown on the latter. A total 15 species were recorded on the Point and 17 on the Freshes and Friary Hills. On 18^th June, a peak of 14 Dark Green Fritillary Butterflies was recorded. Early October saw several dozen Red Admiral butterflies across the reserve. On 21^st and 22^nd of July, a bat detector – loaned from the Norfolk Bat Project – recorded nine species over Blakeney Freshes, the most common being Noctule, Common and Soprano Pipistrelle.

Reserve management

Our winter work on Blakeney Point is centred on monitoring and protecting the Grey Seal rookery, with support from our dedicated volunteers. On Blakeney Freshes, we will be conducting our annual ditch-clearance works. This involves clearing the vegetation out of ditches on a five-year rotation, prevent them from becoming too clogged up and affecting water flow through the site, but also preventing loss of habitat for aquatic species as the clearance is spread over a number of years, rather than all at once. Other winter work on the reserve involves counting Pink-footed and Brent Geese, as part of a national census, to monitor their populations.

Ajay Tegala,

Ranger

7th of May: Lapwing chicks and May migrants

Despite the grey, chilly, windy weather this week, it has been a delight to discover several Lapwing chicks amongst the grass on Blakeney Marsh.

Lapwing chick in grass (A. Tegala)

We manage the freshwater grazing marsh specifically to benefit the Lapwing. So it is very rewarding to see lots of chicks happily learning to walk amongst the lush grass.

As well as young birds in the fields, there are countless tadpoles in the dykes, ditches, pools and ponds.

Over on Blakeney Point, we have been treated to several spring migrants this weekend. These include Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethroats, Willow Warblers, Redstarts, Wheatears, a Whinchat, Garden Warbler, Osprey, Pied Flycatcher, Grey Wagtail and this splendid male Cuckoo.

Cuckoo in the garden (A. Tegala)

It perched obligingly in the brambles near the Lifeboat House where it feasted on caterpillars in between dive-bomb attacks from nearby nesting Linnets.

Other sightings this week included an adult Great Skua sat on the beach on Friday.

Great Skua off Blakeney Point (R. Porter)

Grey Plover and Knot head northeast (R. Porter)

Another discovery on the Point this weekend was the first Oystercatcher egg. Nesting appears to have been delayed by the cold weather. But it won't be long before several will be incubating their camouflaged eggs in shallows scrapes amongst the shingle. When visiting, please be mindful of birds nesting on the ground and amongst the grass.

- Ajay, Ranger