Shifting Shores

Today the National Trust released a report entitled Shifting Shores
The report examines the need for the UK to have a clear adaptation strategy for the future of the UK coastline to help us live with the changes due to extreme weather & climate change.

The tidal surge on the East Coast of England on December 5^th 2013  resulted in water levels higher than the 1953 tidal surge. Thankfully no lives were lost but our coastal communities have suffered significant impact.

To plan for the future, we need to consider how we can adapt to extreme weather and rising sea levels to increase our resilience.

We strongly support collaborative working, with communities living on the coast, landowners, Government agencies and local and central Government. We all need to work together to find solutions.

 Blakeney Freshmarsh after the sea walls were compromised

In Blakeney we worked closely with the Environment Agency after the surge hit to help look for ways to evacuate saltwater off the freshes and to mitigate damage to grazing land owned by us and other landowners and the wildlife that lives there.

We are now engaged with the Environment Agency in looking at possible solutions to continue to deliver functioning habitat, amenity benefits and future landuse of Blakeney freshes.

The Shifting Shores publication (link at top of page) contains a short case-study and link to a video about Blakeney Freshes. 

Victoria Egan
Countryside Manager
  

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8th of April: Heralding of Spring

For many, Swallows are the heralds of spring. One of the first moths to appear is the Herald. We found one amongst a pile of wood on Blakeney Point today:

This moth will have emerged from its chrysalis in late summer or autumn of last year. Yesterday the first Swallows of the year were seen on the Point. But the true herald of spring at Blakeney is the Sandwich Tern, and tonight's roost count totaled over 1,100.

Myself and Seasonal Rangers Paul Nichols and Sarah Johnson moved onto the Point yesterday. This will be my fifth summer working at Blakeney NNR, and third on the Point, it will be Paul's eighth on the Point, and is Sarah's first. We have been busy cleaning and tidying and are pleased to announce that the visitor centre is now open for the season.

One of our tidying up tasks was retrieving a shed from the marsh. It was originally situated beside Pope's Hut, but was washed away on the 5th of December. I spotted it on Yankee Ridge a few days later and today we returned it to is original location. But for a short while there was a shed on Yankee Ridge:

Bird sightings for the first two days on the Point include Chiffchaff, Wheatears, a female Hen Harrier and a male Marsh Harrier. This morning we found the second nest of the season, another Mallard's, this one was in the garden.

- Ajay (Blakeney Point Ranger)

2nd of April: The first nest has been found

Part of our breeding bird monitoring work on Blakeney Point involves recording nests. Our data is submitted to the British Trust for Ornithology's Nest Recording Scheme. On Monday (31st of March), we had a look to see if any Black-headed Gulls had laid yet. There were no signs of any gull nests. However, a female Mallard flushed from under a Suaeda bush. A careful look revealed a nest containing at least 21 eggs:

Mallard's lay eggs at one to two day intervals, which means that she would have laid the first egg on the 10th of March at the latest. However, the clutch size is typically around 12 eggs - this may be a case of egg dumping, where two ducks have laid their eggs in the same nest. Indeed three Mallards are present in the area: a female incubating the eggs, plus a male and another female nearby.

On the shingle ridge, an old friend is back. This colour-ringed female Ringed Plover is back on territory. She has been present on Blakeney Point for most breeding seasons since 2003. She was spotted by Richard Porter yesterday, he took this photograph last June:

As we are now in April, the seasonal dog restrictions are in place to protect ground-nesting birds, running through to the 15th of August. We ask all visitors to refer to signs, keep dogs on leads and stay out of the restricted areas. When birds are forced off their nests, their eggs can get cold or be taken by predators. We want all visitors to enjoy Blakeney Point and also want to do all we can to prevent disturbance to our vulnerable breeding birds, which include Schedule 1 protected species (it is an offence to cause disturbance to a Schedule 1 species). Please help by giving all fenced areas a wide berth.

24th of March: Spring arrivals on Blakeney Point

Spring migrants have started to arrive on Blakeney Point. The first Chiffchaff appeared in the Plantation on the 9^th of March, and the first Wheatears were seen on the 21^st.

The breeding bird season is beginning. Over the past couple of weeks several hundred Black-headed Gulls have moved onto their usual breeding place on Far Point.

Black-headed Gulls on Far Point this weekend

Despite the Suadea bushes being partly buried by shingle, they are still settling in the usual location. Amongst them are over a dozen Mediterranean Gulls. They stand out from the Black-headed Gulls with their blacker heads, redder bills, white wing tips and distinctive call.

Mediterranean Gull on Blakeney Point

(seen here amongst Sandwich Terns in May 2011)
 

Yesterday (Sunday 23^rd) saw the arrival of this year’s first Sandwich Terns, spotted by Skippy from Aylmerton Field Studies Centre whilst out on a seal trip. We are excited about watching numbers build up over the next few weeks. I was fortunate to see Sandwich Terns on their wintering grounds in West Africa last month, it was fascinating to see them in a different setting, amongst Caspian Terns, a rarity in the UK.

Caspian Tern in The Gambia

Sandwich Tern at Blakeney

Repair work on the Lifeboat House is nearly finished. The public toilets will be opening on the 31st of March (as per the National Trust handbook), however the visitor centre will not be opening until the 7th of April as renovation work to the floor is taking a little longer than predicted.

Young 'black' Grey Seal on the Point

We will keep the blog updated with migrant and breeding bird news throughout the spring. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date.

- Ajay (Coastal Ranger)

Morston scaffold bridge in place

The temporary scaffold bridge structure is open and there is now access beyond beyond 'bridge 2' for the first time since the tidal surge. There are some safety considerations so please read the signs on the entrance to the bridge.

The green temporary fencing has been required to protect the saltmarsh (please stick to the path) and you may notice some bushes have been netted to prevent birds from breeding within the access and disturbance area. The on-site works to replace the wooden bridges will start on the 31st of March. The temporary bridge will be in place until the new wooden bridge is completed.

Footpath Update between Blakeney & Cley

As a result of the tidal surge in December there was significant damage to the flood defence at Blakeney Freshes and the public footpath between Blakeney Quay and Cley village.  Due to safety issues the footpath has remained closed since December.  Whilst the long-term future of flood defence measures for this area remains uncertain, the Environment Agency, Norfolk County Council, Natural England and the National Trust recognise the significance of this route for the local community and the economy of this area and are actively working on practical temporary measures to re-open this route as soon as possible.  Work is expected to commence on site in mid-March and the Environment Agency have issued the following information sheet.