{"id":28286,"date":"2023-06-28T10:21:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=28286"},"modified":"2023-06-28T10:21:58","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:21:58","slug":"wild-shores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/2023\/06\/28\/wild-shores\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild shores"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Blakeney National Nature Reserve is home to England\u2019s largest grey seal colony, with more than 4,000 pups born each winter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Wild shores<\/span><\/h2>\n\n

One of Britain\u2019s richest coastal nature spectacles lies on the edge of North Norfolk at Blakeney Point, where rare sea birds and grey seals flourish. Ranger Ajay Tegala <\/strong>introduces you to a wild wonder of our summer shores<\/p>\n\n

Photos: Kevin Sawford<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Breeding spoonbills are rare in the UK, but numbers are on the rise along the North Norfolk coast<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

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Wildlife presenter and conservationist Ajay Tegala spent most of his 20s living and working at Blakeney Point as a National Trust ranger

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I<\/span> will always remember my first early-morning boat trip to the very tip of Blakeney Point. We crossed the wide harbour to a narrow shingle spit, where land meets sea and sea meets sky. <\/strong>In high summer, this hook of shingle is often crammed with wild creatures, as marine mammals mingle with aerial acrobats. On that morning, terns dived into the water, emerging with small fish to feed to their hungry chicks, which were gathered in a group on the shoreline, stretching their wings and taking their maiden flights. Next to them, seals snoozed on the sand, their mournful calls almost drowned out by the scratchy cries of terns and screeches of black-headed gulls. <\/p>\n\n

Blakeney Point is all about movement. The tide moving in and out twice daily, shifting the sand and shingle every few hours. Seabirds and seals moving through the water to catch fish, which come in and out of the harbour with the tide. Mudflats and saltmarsh are revealed at low tide, the escaping water drawing back like a curtain, exposing a rich feeding ground for wading birds. Resident redshanks, ringed plovers and oystercatchers probe for molluscs and worms. <\/p>\n\n

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Ajay returns to the mudflats and marshes of his beloved Blakeney often, on the look out for rare birds<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

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Behind Blakeney\u2019s shingle beach lie 160 hectares of freshwater grazing marsh, an important wildfowl habitat<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Ringed plover chicks only stay in the nest until they are strong enough to stand \u2013 most leave within 24 hours<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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An oystercatcher cruises past remote Lightboat House, the place Ajay called home for almost eight years<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
SUMMER\u2019S HIGHLIGHTS <\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

By July, chicks may be seen clumsily learning to run and pulling their first worms. And as August approaches, bird migration picks up and curlews move through on passage, their haunting calls echoing across the landscape. <\/p>\n\n

There\u2019s a changing cast of plants, too. The fleshy green shoots of samphire \u2013 or \u2018poor man\u2019s asparagus\u2019 \u2013 contrast with the greyer leaves of sea purslane on the creek edges. The beautiful mauve haze of sea lavender dominates the marsh in July, although the colour becomes progressively duller throughout the month as tides repeatedly cover it. It\u2019s a harsh place, with all that saltwater, but these plants are well adapted to the environment. On the sand dunes and shingle, plants with long roots help fix the substrate as they search for fresh water beneath the surface. All of these habitats are rare, unique, fragile and extremely precious. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cOn the sand dunes and shingle, plants with long roots help fix the substrate as they search for fresh water\u201d <\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Sand dunes can literally blow away through erosion caused by sea, wind and footfall. So it\u2019s important to preserve these dunes by walking only on the boardwalk as you explore this National Nature Reserve. <\/p>\n\n

From Cley Beach, it\u2019s a three-mile walk on shingle to reach the reserve. The shingle ridge is the breeding ground of three wading birds: avocets, oystercatchers and ringed plovers. All lay their camouflaged eggs in shallow scrapes on the stones, as do the little terns that migrate from Africa. This makes their eggs harder for predators to spot, but also harder for us to see. Keep away from fenced nesting areas and follow seasonal dog restrictions. Little terns are one of our rarest seabirds, so our help is incredibly important. <\/p>\n\n

The shingle spit supports a beautiful flower in the summertime. Yellow horned-poppy has the longest seedpods of any British wild plant. The pods can reach 30cm in length and contain thousands of seeds, which are an important food source for finches later in the year. They are known as the \u2018sea poppy\u2019 because of their flowers made up of large, yellow petals. Each flowerhead drops off after around a day.<\/p>\n\n

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At Morston Quay, a number of companies, offer boat trips to see wildlife on Blakeney Point<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Boats along the quay are high and dry on the mudflats at low tide<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Follow the boardwalk to Lifeboat House, a former lifeboat station now lived in by rangers from March to October<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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A RANGER\u2019S LIFE <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I first visited Blakeney in my teens, on a boat trip with my family. The ground-nesting birds captured my interest, sparking a desire to learn more and help protect them. I took a degree in environmental conservation to help me achieve my dream of becoming a ranger. This involved a placement year, which I did with the National Trust at Blakeney. I helped count seals, protect the nesting terns and engage with the public, from chatting to visitors about the wildlife to guiding school groups through the reserve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going on to become a full-time ranger there, I appeared on several TV shows, from Countryfile <\/em>to Springwatch. <\/em>Being able to share my passion with a wider audience was exciting. I now work at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, another National Trust reserve. But trips back to the coast are frequent, as I have a lifelong bond with Blakeney. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

BLAKENEY BY BOAT <\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

For the rangers, trudging three miles each way on shingle is quite a task. When you\u2019re visiting, the best way, by far, to see Blakeney Point is by boat. Daily trips depart from Morston Quay, times changing with the tides. For generations, these boat trips have been run by local people, such as Jason Bean, who has spent a large part of his life enthusiastically ferrying visitors through Blakeney Harbour, wearing his trusty orange smock. <\/p>\n\n

In an hour, the boat will take you out to the very end of the point and back. And it\u2019s the very tip \u2013 Far Point \u2013 where the point\u2019s biggest attraction can usually be found. <\/p>\n\n

Seals are wary of people on land, as they bask in the sun, resting and healing any wounds. So visiting by boat enables a much closer encounter, without causing them disturbance or distress. <\/p>\n\n

Both of Britain\u2019s seal species can usually be seen side-by-side, gathering on the sands at Blakeney. Common seals have round, cat-like faces; occasionally pups can be seen in the summertime. Grey seals are larger, with longer, pointier noses and darker, mottled coats. A more recent arrival to Norfolk, they are a northern species and have their pups later in the year. Both species will often swim around the ferry boats, popping their heads out of the water, looking a bit like Labrador dogs and making eye contact with excited visitors, before diving beneath the surface with agility and sometimes a splash. As well as the sight and sounds of seals, you may notice their smell, too: a slightly musty tang with fishy tones. <\/p>\n\n

The adjacent tern colony adds to the fishiness. Tern numbers at Blakeney Point vary greatly from year to year. Some summers, thousands of Sandwich terns nest in a dense colony. Adults do not leave the colony to defecate, so white fish-scented splatters encrust the sand around their nesting site. If the wind is in the right direction, a trip to the point can be an assault of the senses. <\/p>\n\n

Much longer lasting will be the memories of a privileged dip into a wild world, glimpsing life on the edge and gaining an insight into the dramas of both seabird and seal colonies.<\/p>\n\n


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FIELD GUIDE TO BLAKENEY IN SUMMER <\/h4>\n\n

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1 Samphire (glasswort) <\/strong>
A local delicacy; look for its fleshy green shoots on saltmarsh edges<\/p>\n\n

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2 Grayling
<\/strong>A predominantly coastal butterfly often found on dunes and shingle<\/p>\n\n

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3 Yellow horned-poppy
<\/strong>A plant of the shingle ridge with long seed pods<\/p>\n\n

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4 Oystercatcher
<\/strong>These striking, often noisy birds nest on the shingle<\/p>\n\n

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5 Common seal
<\/strong>Large numbers of these cute-looking mammals rest on the end of Blakeney Point<\/p>\n\n

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TERNS<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Sometimes mistaken for gulls, terns are an altogether more elegant bird. Although in the same family of seabirds as gulls (Laridae), <\/em>terns have sharply angular tails and wings. This has earned them the nickname of \u2018sea swallows\u2019. Terns nest on the ground, predominantly on beaches, laying one to two eggs, occasionally three, in a shallow scrape. They spend the winter in Africa, undertaking epic migrations each year. Terns plunge-dive to catch their prey, which consists of small fish such as lesser sand eel, young herring, crustaceans and invertebrates. Five tern species nest in the UK, including four at Blakeney Point \u2013 common, Sandwich, little and Arctic terns. See our ID guide on page 13. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

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6 Brown hare <\/strong>
You may be surprised to see this mammal in the sand dunes <\/p>\n\n

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7 Common sea lavender <\/strong>
This plant is a spectacle when it turns the saltmarsh purple in summer <\/p>\n\n

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8 Grey seal <\/strong>
Britain\u2019s largest sea mammal comes ashore to mate and pup at Blakeney Point in the autumn<\/p>\n\n

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9 Sea purslane <\/strong>
The grey-green leaves of this hardy plant grow along creek edges (see page 64 for more coastal wildflowers)<\/p>\n\n

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10 Black-headed gull <\/strong>
These small gulls have a harsh, grating call \u2013 look out for them flying overhead.<\/p>\n\n

More information <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Blakeney National Nature Reserve is open daily, from dawn to dusk. To see the seals, book a boat trip from Morston Quay. nationaltrust.org.uk<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

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Ajay Tegala <\/strong>is a wildlife presenter, conservationist, countryside ranger, naturalist, author. His book The <\/em>Unique <\/em>Life <\/em>of <\/em>a <\/em>Ranger <\/em>is published by The History Press. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photos: Kevin Sawford, National Trust Images\/Rob Coleman, Getty, Alamy, RSPB Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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