8th of May: Sunshine at last

At last, we have had a run of sunny days on the Point. Butterfly sightings have greatly increased because of it, with the first Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Wall of the spring.

Nests have been springing up all over the Point, with the discovery of the first Oystercatcher, Redshank, Meadow Pipit and Linnet nests this week.

There are currently seven Oystercatcher nests along the landing ridge. As usual, we have put string fence-lines around the nests to protect them from trampling. Please help the incubating parents-to-be by not lingering too close to their nests, as this will keep them away from their eggs.

It was great to see lots of people enjoying the Point yesterday evening...

High tide on the landing ridge (H. Mitchell)

The spring tides came in pretty close to this Oystercatcher nests, but thankfully the egg was just high enough up the beach to escape being washed away (by about three inches!)...

Oystercatcher nest on the landing ridge (H. Mitchell)

With winds from the southeast, a nice selection of migrant birds have been spotted over the last few days. These included Whinchats, Spotted Flycatchers, Redstarts, Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and even a Collared Dove. The latter being a Blakeney Point rarity. Even more of a rarity and surprise was Thursday's Dartford Warbler on the Hood. Although these breed nearby on the mainland, there have been less Point sightings than fingers on your hand!

Collared Dove in the Plantation (D. Wynn)

The fair weather has been perfect for our early morning breeding bird surveys. Here is a taste of the sort of numbers we have been recording, with last years figures for comparison...

Species	Territories 2016	Territories 2015	Change 2015-16
Yankee Ridge/ Long Hills
Skylark	5	5	0
Meadow Pipit	22	22	0
Wren	1	2	-1
Linnet	17	16	+1
Reed Bunting	8	12	-4
Near Point
Swallow	1	1	0
Skylark	1	1	0
Meadow Pipit	4	11	-7
Wren	1	0	+1
Linnet	9	9	0
Landing Ridge
Skylark	2	2	0
Meadow Pipit	8	8	0
Linnet	7	8	-1

The spring tides provided a perfect opportunity to monitor Common and Little Tern activity on the very tip of Far Point. It is looking good for both species, with a minimum of 10 Little Tern pairs and 40 Common Tern pairs appearing to be on territory.

Common Tern pair on the tip (W. Legg)

Common and Little Terns together (W. Legg)

There has been a nice show of seals too...

- Ajay,

Blakeney Point Ranger