SS15 wildlife watching: Trip away from SS15

Tuesday, 18 October 2022

Trip away from SS15 - north Norfolk

On 18th October 2022, I finally made a trip by public transport to north Norfolk, specifically with the objective of seeing and photographing seals in Blakeney Harbour and around Blakeney Point .... see here.

I had made planned a trip on several occasions since mid-September 2022 but had to keep re-arranging it due to poor weather.

It was a long day out requiring a bus to Chelmsford, a train to Norwich, another train to Cromer and another bus to Morston.

The train journeys up to Cromer provided a few interesting sightings: Black-tailed Godwits, Common Redshanks and Little Egrets on the River Stour estuary at Manningtree, a Brown Hare between Stowmarket and Diss, a Common Buzzard between Diss and Norwich and another Common Buzzard between Gunton and Roughton Road.

The CH1 Coasthopper bus from Cromer to Morston was particularly enjoyable as it travelled along the A149 coast road via Sheringham, Weybourne, Salthouse, Cley-next-the-Sea and Blakeney with lovely views of the cliffs, beaches and saltmarshes.

It was a beautiful sunny autumnal day with light winds and I eventually arrived at Morston Quay from where the various operators provide 1 hour boat trips out to Blakeney Harbour and around Blakeney Point to see the seals.

I had previously taken this trip in 2005, 2009 and 2014 and booked with Beans Boats on each occasion. I don't think there is much to choose between the different operators given that they all basically do the same itinerary for the same price. Therefore, I had again pre-booked with Beans Boats.

If this had been my first trip, I believe I would have found it to be very successful. Whilst this trip was still thoroughly enjoyable, I don't think it was as successful from a photography point of view as my other trips.

There were several reasons for this.

Firstly, the vibration of the engine of the small boat and the pitch and roll once the boat arrived off Blakeney Point made photography challenging. I took over 300 photos, the majority of which I had to delete since they were out of focus or because I missed the subject.

Secondly, whilst it was a sunny day, it was actually too bright for much of the time causing either burnt highlights or deep shadows.

Thirdly, from my recollection of my previous visits, there seemed to be a much smaller number of seals, all of which appeared to be Atlantic Grey Seals. On my previous visits, there were large numbers of both this species and the smaller Common/Harbour Seals. I don't know for certain but I think that maybe my visit between the peak pupping period for Common/Harbour Seals in June and July and the peak pupping period for Atlantic Grey Seals in November and December may have been a reason.

In addition to the Atlantic Grey Seals, the boat trip provided views of large numbers of Dark-bellied Brent Geese, now firmly established for the winter following their arrival from their Arctic breeding grounds, plus numerous Oystercatchers, Common Redshanks, Curlews and Little Egrets.

Here are some photos from my trip ....