11th August 2024 – Blakeney Point

This morning we walked along the Norfolk Coastal Path from Blakeney to Morston Quay and back.

The most significant bird was a little egret.

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust tells me that “once a very rare visitor from the Mediterranean, little egrets are now a common sight around the coasts of southern England and Wales as they expand their range, possibly due to increasing temperatures caused by climate change. It first bred in the UK on Brownsea Island, Dorset, in 1996, and has been moving northwards ever since; it was recorded as breeding in Berkshire for the first time in 2007.”

At Morston Quay, as the tide and weather were suitable, we made a last minute decision to take a trip to see the seals at Blakeney Point.

Blakeney Point is home to a colony of Common and Grey seals that are here most of the year round.

The Blakeney National Nature Reserve is internationally recognised as an important breeding area for sea birds and a wide variety of other birdlife that changes with the seasons. From the boat we only saw oystercatchers.

The Point has the distinctive Lifeboat house that provides an insight to the history of the point and is also where the National Trust wardens live and work to protect and conserve the wildlife and landscape.