Friday 31 May 2013

Blakeney Point - 30 May 2013


A second day of rain had us debating whether to stay and risk a good soaking or take an early drive home, but we thought we’d see whether the coastal weather differed to that 10 miles inland before giving up. We arrived at Cley beach car park to find that rain had given way to a thick mist and perhaps rashly opted to walk Blakeney Point in the damp and murk of the day.

Setting off

Sea Pink and a boat called Blue


As always the shingle made walking very hard work but we made our way along, taking in the wild flowers, Terns, nesting Oystercatchers and Avocets on the way. We made note of a colour ringed Avocet, Red over Black (left) & Yellow (right) and saw the female Red-backed Shrike at just a little over half way along. 

Shelducks in the dunes

Shoe find - odd and more than a bit creepy

In the dunes we came across some large groups of Shelduck, nesting in rabbit holes and a peculiar arrangement of footwear ( rubbish or art  – we weren’t really sure).
We continued to the point whereupon we suddenly found ourselves in school holiday land as several families with young children, newly disembarked from the boat, fractured the natural sounds with excited shouts and screams.

View from the point

 After a brief scan across the water we retreated the way we had come up and stopped to check out some mature tamarisks and the rather grandly named plantation, a collection of diverse bushes and small trees, finding a Spotted Flycatcher and Willow Warbler.  

The plantation

 Spotted Flycatcher

On the walk back, we saw another Spot Fly and 4 more Willow Warblers. We later found out that we’d missed the male Red-backed Shrike and two Wrynecks from the previous day but really didn’t mind considering the poor visibility and strong wind that had affected conditions for much of the day. At least we didn't get wet!