North Norfolk Coast

Grey Seals & Kestrels Aplenty – Wednesday 3^rd December 2014

We left home at 10am. It was a bright, clear and cold morning. The temperature was about 8C. The plan was to drive up to the North Norfolk Coast and take one of the Seal watching trips from Morston Quay but we first had to go to Swaffham to get some new bird seed. Our regular group of House Sparrows (numbering 20+) are still feeding regularly in the garden. We have to travel through Swaffham anyway but it was a bit more complicated than usual as the road was closed just as we entered Swaffham so we had to turn around and go back to South Pickenham to get back onto the main Mundford to Swaffham Road. A bit of a nuisance but our fault because we ignored the Road Closed Ahead sign at South Pickenham but it was also a bonus because we saw three Kestrels hunting and a brief glimpse of a Goshawk along this stretch.

Once the bird seed was in the back of the car off we set again and between Narborough and Gayton we saw another Kestrel. As we approached Docking we came across a flock of a 100+ Greylag Geese, it was a little bit unusual though because there were 5 Leucistic Greylags amongst them. We continued our journey coming around the back of Choseley if we had gone around by Chosely Barns we may have seen the 3 Snow Geese and the Bean Geese that were reported there. However, we did see a Redwing in the Hedgerows and a long extended view of another Kestrel hovering above the roadside verge, unfortunately it was disturbed before we could get any shots of it.

Moving on to Thornham Staithe we had a little bit of excitement when we thought we’d spotted a Shore Lark but when we checked the video we realised it was a Meadow Pipit, still a good spot in our books. There was still a largish group of Twite there but not as many as we saw a few weeks ago, probably about 30-40 birds but they were highly mobile. Being conscious of the time factor we didn’t stay long but still long enough to see Black Headed Gulls, Redshank, Curlew, Shelduck, Little Egrets and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. As we were leaving the Harbour area we came across a Little Egret that was really little, about the third of the size of a normal bird, we could only assume it was a young juvenile bird that still had some growing to do.

View Over The Saltmarshes at Thornham

Again we made a short stop at Brancaster Staithe and saw Cormorant, Mallard, Oystercatchers (there always seems to be a large number of these birds in this location), Turnstones, Redshank, Black Headed Gull, Shelduck, Curlew, Lapwing and Brent Geese. We quickly moved onto Burnham Overy Staithe where we saw Redshank, Little Egret, Grey Plover, Brent Geese, Teal, Lesser Black Backed Gull and another Kestrel hovering over the Saltmarsh. It was still bright but the cloud cover was increasing and it didn’t look too promising in the direction we were headed.

As we skirted around the edges of Wells Next The Sea as you do on the coast road we first saw a Jay fly across the road as we entered Wells and yet another Kestrel as we left Wells. Time was beginning to march on now as were the clouds but we decided to have one last stop before Morston Quay.

At Stiffkey driving along the Campsite Road towards the Saltmarshes we came across another Kestrel perched on top of one of the telegraph poles, we didn’t realize it was hunting until it swooped down from the pole and then fly off clutching a small Shrew or Vole. We carried on down the lane to the car park and at the entrance there was a large puddle in which a Robin was enjoying a bath, so much so that he didn’t move from his ablutions as we drove beside him. Looking out onto the Saltmarsh we could see 5 Little Egrets, Curlew, Redshank and about 30 Brent Geese. As we drove back up the lane the Kestrel was on the pole again, we presume it was the same one and this time we got a short video clip of him.

We got to Morston Quay just in time to board The Beans’ Seal Trip to Blakeney Point. After dressing ourselves in various items of warm clothing and waterproof jackets we found we were at the back of the boarding queue but I didn’t think I was going to be able to get on as there was a second boat moored alongside the boat and the passengers were walking across a narrow seat on the first one to get to the second boat. Once again it turned to our favour because the first boat was now full and so we only had to board the one next to the jetty and it had less passengers on so it wasn’t so cramped. We then set off towards Blakeney Point.

Although it was fairly cold and dismal at least it wasn’t raining. As we travelled from the inner harbour at Blakeney towards the Point there were plenty of birds about including a female Long Tailed Duck that took to the air as we approached. It wasn’t too long before the heads of Grey Seals were popping up all around the boat but with the slight chop of the water and the speed of the Seals it was quite difficult to get any decent shots. We passed a Great Crested Grebe before moving close to the shore of the Point.

Grey Seals & Pups

All the way along there was plenty of Seal action in the water and lots Seal Pups on the shore but it wasn’t until we turned towards the outer harbour reaches and the North Sea that we began to see the full extent of the Seal population. So far there have been 1746 Grey Seal Pups born pushing Blakeney Point ahead of the Farne Islands as the number one breeding colony and there is still another 4-6 weeks of the birthing season to go. Seals have come from as far as The Netherlands and Norway to have their pups at Blakeney. I just hope that we don’t have the same sort of storm surge that we had last year that resulted in many of the newly born pups being washed away and separated from their mothers. Some pups were rescued by the RSPCA but many were lost. We ourselves witnessed one rescue on Christmas Day at Salthouse (there is a video of this on our YouTube Channel).

Grey Seal Pup

Mellowship Of The North (Sea)

Looking towards the North Sea, I was glad that we weren’t venturing out there as it was very choppy. It’s interesting to note that when you go out on one of the Seal watching trips from Morston that you never actually leave Blakeney Harbour so unless there is really adverse weather conditions (when the trips are cancelled anyway) you are unlikely to encounter any life threatening weather. On the way back we passed a group of Greater Black-back Gulls (a group of gulls has many collective nouns, including a "flotilla", "gullery", "screech", "scavenging", and "squabble" of gulls), probably 20-30 in number and once again I saw the female Long Tailed Duck take off.

Rainbow Over Blakeney Point

Grey Seal & Pup

If anyone thinks that Grey Seals are peaceful serene creatures they should read the recent reports of sightings off the coast of the Netherlands of the phenomenon of Grey Seals attacking, killing and then eating Harbour Porpoises

After about an hour we disembarked from the boat at Morston Quay and were rather glad that our car had heated front seats. It wasn’t too bad but gloves and hats were a necessity. We had a trip out to see the Seals at a similar time several years ago and came back absolutely frozen.

By now the weather had become very dismal and although darkness was a good hour away it felt as if it was truly on its way and the wind had increased. There were few birds in the air and those that were, were struggling against the wind. When we got to Cley Beach waves could be seen breaking over the shingle beach. As we had our coffee overlooking the Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Cley Nature Reserve and looking towards Cley it was beginning to get quite murky and there was a distinct absence of bird life. We decided to have one last stop at Salthouse Beach Road in the hope that we might get a glimpse of the hardy Snow Buntings that are often seen there but between Cley and Salthouse we didn’t see one bird (apart from the Duckpond at Salthouse which has its own residents).

We decided to call it a day and head for home, as we travelled back to Cley we did see a large group of Brent Geese on the landward side of the road and yet another Kestrel (making 9 for the day) and as we left Blakeney to leave the coast a Buzzard took off from a roadside field.

One of my birthday presents this year was a book called Wildlife Through The Year by Tim Sharrock (thank you Drew & Dawn). It’s a very interesting book and each chapter ends with a question. If you know the answer please email me. I will give the answer in the next entry.

Quiz Question

Why should a valuable molluscan product and the North American name for the Common Seal bring to mind an infamous 7th December?

Answer next time. As usual what videos we took are available on our YouTube Channel: Just click on the icon in the top right hand corner of the blog. 

Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.