28th of August: Grey Hair turning straw-coloured

This week has seen a mixture of beautiful sunshine and heavy rain showers across the Norfolk Coast. The sunnier moments have been good for insect life. Across the Blakeney National Nature Reserve, numerous fresh-looking Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies have been seen recently.

Fresh Painted Lady (Mary Goddard)

At Gramborough Hill, Salthouse, a Wasp Spider was seen earlier in the month. First recorded in Britain in 1922, in southern England, the Wasp Spider has seen a substantial increase since 1990, spinning its orb web preferentially in coastal chalk and rough grasslands. At Salthouse, it was seen preying on Gatekeeper butterflies.

Wasp Spider at Salthouse (Mary Goddard)

On Blakeney Point this evening, a hatch of flying ants drew in every Black-headed Gull in the area to come and feed. This short video from exactly a year ago shows gulls flocking to the dunes during a 'hatch'...

 "Aerial picnic" (Ajay Tegala)

The Grey Hair-grass on the Point has now turned straw-coloured. This nationally scarce grass is native only to Norfolk, Suffolk and the Channel Islands. It is abundant on Blakeney Point and is one of the features that earns the Point special conservation designations.

Grey Hair-grass blowing in the breeze (Ajay Tegala)

The week has not been without its migrant birds. Willow Warblers peaked at 19 on Monday 22nd, on the same day six Spotted Flycatchers were recorded. Wednesday 24th produced six Wheatears, a Short-eared Owl and a Black Redstart that has stayed near the Lifeboat House ever since. Other migrants this week included Pied Flycatchers, Whinchats and this afternoon an Ortolan Bunting was reported near the boardwalk.

Black Redstart on solar panel (Tom Whiley)

Finally, we would like to remind you that, although most of the Point is currently accessible at this time of year, there are three sanctuary areas to protect migrant birds and resting seals. Please help by not entering these fenced areas and keeping dogs under close control. We appreciate your cooperation in helping to protect this special wildlife haven.

Ajay,
Ranger

16th of January: Seal season summary and storm news

The Grey Seal pupping season on Blakeney Point is about to reach its end. The last pup of the winter was born on New Year's Day and is now almost weaned. This takes our 2015/16 total to 2,343 pups, of which just two were taken to the RSPCA rescue centre at East Winch. In addition to the 2,343, around 45 dead pups were observed in the colony, putting mortality at less than 3%.

This winter was the first time since the colony formed, around 15 years ago, that the number of pups born did not increase.

Our counts show that 73 less pups were born this year than in 2014/15, a small (and insignificant) decrease of 3%. However, looking at the graph plotting pup counts back to 2000 (shown above) we can see that this year's count is on the curve with last year's result being a possible anomaly. What will happen and what numbers we will see during the the 2016/17 breeding season remains to be seen and we look forward to finding out.

What we do know is that, although the core area of the beach remains the prime pupping area, seals pupped further east and a bit further south this winter. This suggests that there are a number of future spreading options.

This winter, we had the first pup born on Yankee Ridge...

the first pups born on the Long Hills...

and the first pup born in New Glaux Low (in the main dunes)

We would like to thank visitors for their cooperation and respect for the seals. Next week, we will be taking the fences down, giving wider access to the beach and dunes (until the first of April when fencing is put up to protect vulnerable ground-nesting birds).


On Thursday night (14th of January), gale-force north-westerly winds caused an 80cm surge. This caused seawater to come over these shingle ridge at Salthouse, causing flooding on both the Salthouse and Cley Beach Roads.

Gramborough Hill viewed from Salthouse

There was no damage to any buildings, but the profile of Blakeney Point changed. Far Point was hit quite hard, causing erosion to the dunes and shingle over-topping on the tip. Any visitors who frequent the seal ferry trips, will notice a definite change to the end of the Point next time they go out. But this is what Blakeney Point does: changes with the tides and the weather, which is what makes the place so exciting. It is always changing.

 Erosion to the seaward edge of Far Point

End of the Point from above (Ian Ward)

We were pleased to note that our resident group of partridges (17 Grey and 1 Red-legged) were not negatively affected by the storm. They were happily feeding on the shingle the following day.

- Ajay (Coastal Ranger)

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