It’s December, so that means it was time for our annual pilgrimage to North Norfolk to see the grey seals and their pups at Blakeney Point, Horsey Gap and, now Winterton. Like everyone else, we’ve not traveled as much as usual this year (i wonder why? ;-)), but we couldn’t miss this trip. Braving the … Read more It’s that time of year again – seal pups in Norfolk
Those very few of you who may follow this blog will have seen that we go to Burnham-on-Crouch quite often to see the seals and back in mid-September my wife and i went again, this time with baby Benjamin! This time, it was just a day trip, but we did go again with Discovery Charters and … Read more Seals from Burnham-on-Crouch…sorry it’s late part 2
So, our first proper holiday with baby Benjamin. A week in Cape Town and Hermanus with the main aim of seeing some southern right whales (after our failure to do so in Western Australia) and also African Penguins. It’s the beginning of spring in August in the Western Cape, not peak season for most tourists, … Read more Cape Town & Hermanus – Whales and Penguins please
So, a flying visit…literally. An Easyjet flight up to Inverness on a Friday night, 2 nights in Nairn and a flight back to Gatwick on Sunday evening, all with a 4 month-old baby? Sounds crazy, but we had heard about the Scottish Dolphin Centre a while back, where you can potentially see bottle-nosed dophins from … Read more Inverness and the Moray Firth
We’ve written some handy little guides (a lot of these are still in development as we are lucky to have been to a lot of places, so have some catching to do) for each of the places we’ve visited. For each destination we’ve provided info on what wildlife you can see there, how to get there, … Read more Destination Guides
Bears, Whales, Dolphins, Otters, Seals…. Where can I see each type of animal? Here we will be putting together some guides on some of our favourite animals, where the best places to see them are and any other useful info that you might need to help plan your trip. Keep an eye out as this … Read more I want to see…
Here we detail what kit we use to watch and photograph the wildlife, along with any other handy tips about wildlife watching and photography. Cameras and Binoculars Ethical Wildlife Watching
I can’t remember the last time we saw red squirrels.
On our last trip to our “go to” place for these little auburn creatures, Brownsea Island, we drew a blank.
Multiple Wales trips; the isles or Arran and Mull in Scotlan all resulted in no shows.
So, when we stopped off at this little forest in the Yorkshire Dales on our way up to Mull again, I didn’t have the highest of hopes.
Wood mouse?
Well, I was wrong to be so negative, because there were red squirrels here in abundance and they were not shy on putting on a show for us. The kids absolutely loved it and watched them in absolute amazement and excitement. We will surely be back again!
Just catching up on a recent visit to the rewilding project at Knepp. It’s less than an hour for home and we wanted to go back to see how the storcks were doing.
Knepp is one our favourite places to visit and is somewhere where you are always, always guaranteed to see something! We went for the storks, but saw so much more.
Coming in to landA comma butterflyRoe deer, right below the stork’s nestTwo mouths to feedA red admiral
There’s been a new car park built since we last visited, complete with a new mobile cafe, so you can refresh and stock up before you head off on a walk. They’re also in the process of building a brand new cafe/restaurant and farm shop at this site. The plans do look very impressive, although I’m a little apprehensive about what the impact of attracting more visitors will have on the wildife. Lets see.
Just on the walk down from the car park to the trail (we chose the white trail this time, which takes you past most of the stork nesting sites), we saw an exsquisite Beautiful Damoiselle and then coming up to the farm buildings, there was sure enough our first siting of a stork’s nest, complete with two chicks visible. We saw a whole host of various butterflies, roe deer and a tamworth pig, with 4 piglets all feeding from the sow.
A slow worm, wasn’t very slowMust get back, the kids are starvingBits and pieces for the nestStork in flight
On the loop, we found more stork nests (even two in one tree), lots of roe deer and, for the first time in years, a slow worm, just wriggling it’s way along the path. Incredible.#
Knepp really does not dissapoint and I’m sure we’ll be back again soon.
We’re in Pembrokeshire for the week and that means we have to go to Skomer. We booked the boat trip with a landing ages ago and have been checking the weather forecast daily. It didn’t look good, with 27mph winds and heavy showers forecast meaning the crossing could be cancelled. Come the morning, we had received no notification of cancellation, so we loaded up the car with the kids, snacks, water, waterproofs and camera.
We arrived at Martins Haven, checked in and got dressed in our waterproofs, preparing for the worst. The crossing was fine, but getting on and off the boat and up the steep steps once on Skomer with the kids was quite tricky!
After our briefing from the staff and volunteers we started on our route round the island. We decided on just doing a loop of the farm, The Wick and High Cliff as there was no way we were going to make it round the whole island with the little ones.
Razorbill spotted as we made our way up the steps from the boat.Well, it’s a puffin of course.Oystercatchers nesting
Once we left the farm (now home to some house sparrows as the volunteers excitedly told us), the wind picked up and the promised 27mph winds arrived, meaning carrying our 2 year old for the rest of the walk, which makes getting the shots you really want a little difficult to say the least!
You can clearly see the rain herePuffin drying off its wingsI’ve never seen a stonechat until now.
Still just seeing the puffins, razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes and being able to show them to your kids makes it worth it. The wind was also a little bit too much for the birds it seems, as there were far fewer puffins braving the weather than in previous visits to Skomer. However, we still saw plenty at The Wick (walking across the path in front of us too) and at High Cliff, as well as just by the briefing area after you get off the boat.
The crossing back offered plenty more puffins, some seals and a gannet. While once back on shore, we also saw a stonechat posing for us as we walked past.
Baby Lila is now 6 months old (almost) and it’s her first holiday! It’s obviously still in COVID times so we opt to stay in the UK and not attempt multiple tests and quarantining. North Wales, here we come!
We book a little cottage not far from Caenarfon for easy access to Snowdonia and Anglesey.
It’s late July, is it too late to find puffins? Surely there is only one place to look, Puffin Island!
In spite of it’s name the island is actually more known for its kittiwakes, guillemots, razor bills and seals. However, they do also have puffins, just not as many as, say, Skomer. We booked a spot on a boar with Seacoast Safaris and luckily, although it is late in the season, we do see the odd puffin. We enjoyed the trip so much, we booked a second trip for later in the week and that time spot a harbor porpoise as well.
During the week, we do the usual beachy stuff and of course the Ffestiniog Railway, but we’re really there for the wildlife, which is how we found ourselves at Cemlyn Nature Reserve. This narrow shingle ridge, with the sea on one side and a lagoon on the other is a amazing place to see all sorts of coastal birds, however it most spectacularly a nesting site for a huge colony of artic, common and roseate terns during the months of May through to July. We walked along the ridge (just moments from the car park) and sat down on the pebbles to watch hundreds of terns swooping down into the sea and returning to the beach to feed themselves and their grateful young. It truly was one of the most amazing wildlife experiences I’ve had in the UK!
It’s December, so that means it was time for our annual pilgrimage to North Norfolk to see the grey seals and their pups at Blakeney Point, Horsey Gap and, now Winterton. Like everyone else, we’ve not traveled as much as usual this year (i wonder why? ;-)), but we couldn’t miss this trip.
Braving the cold, but thankfully no pouring rain or winds this year, we started with the boat trip out to Blakeney Point from Morston Quay with Temples Seal Trips (we’ve also been with Beans Boats a few times and they’re also recommended). Unfortunately this year we weren’t able to book one of the trips where we could land on the point and walk around, but being on the boat gives a different experience and almost as good viewing, with hundreds of seals on the beaches and floating in the sea, keeping a wary eye on us visitors.
After a cosy night in Blakeney, we traveled on to Horsey Gap for seals experience number 2! No boats needed at Horsey, just park up (pay for your parking ticket) and wander a few yards along the path, up and on to the dunes and you’re presented with a beach load of seals. The Friends of Horsey Seals do a wonderful job manning the car park, setting up the paths and keeping a watchful eye on seals and visitors to ensure that the seals not disturbed and can come back every year to their birthing and nursing grounds.
Another part of our Horsey tradition is lunch at Poppylands, the WWII themed cafe just a across the road from the access road to Horsey Gap and in spite of it being very busy (always a sign that you’ve selected the right lunch spot) we got a table and had a delicious lunch.
Finally, we made our way to Winterton for our third seal watch of the trip. Its a bit of a walk from the car park to the beach access point, but once there, the seals are in abundance. This year, it was best to stay up on the dunes to see the seals, but normally you can get down to the beach and see them at eye level (if you lie down).
We’ll definitely be back again in 2021, lockdowns permitting!
After a period of almost 2 weeks of not seeing the kestrels, we’re now seeing pretty much everyday and now see them hunting, rather than just perching in the trees. If you’ve never seen a kestrel hovering as it spots prey and then swooping down to pounce, then I have to tell you that it’s a magnificent sight.
At the weekend we even saw the male catch what appeared to be a small lizard or maybe a newt and eat it whilst stood on a fence post.
Peregrine Falcons and Kestrels! Within sight of the London Shard!
Roundshaw Downs, on the site of the former Croydon Airport, is now an almost natural grassy chalkland habitat. With the A217 forming one border of the site and the towers of Croydon, the IKEA chimneys and the Shard all in view, it feels both an urban and a rural setting at the same time. As you entire the site, there are information boards telling you about the habitat and that there are skylarks and a pair of kestrels resident, however there was nothing about Peregrine’s there. I’ve lived here for about 5 years now and, although I’ve visited a few times, had never seen either…until the lock down that is.
In these times strange times of being unable to travel to see wildlife and having just one daily form of exercise, we feel really lucky to have this local nature reserve pretty much on our back doorstep.
A blue tit
Forget-me-knots
Long tailed tit
Our daily walks with our 12 month old Benjamin, have become a regular wildlife-spotting adventure. The first thing that strikes you upon entering the Roundshaw Downs, is the sound of bird calls all around you, with the song of the skylark an almost constant backdrop, along with blackbirds, blue tits and Starlings Although you can hear the skylarks everywhere, they do seem to be hard to spot, hiding in the long grass, but we’ve been lucky to spot a couple.
Second is that it is good to see that the Downs are absolutely full of pollinators, with honeybees and bumblebees seemingly everywhere, attracted by the abundance of wildflowers including forget-me-knots and carpets of bluebells in the shade of the trees.
Bluebells
Male kestrel
Starling
However, the most exciting thing for me is finally seeing kestrels, or more specifically a male (one of a mating pair, I assume) which we see 2 or 3 times a week now, letting us get a good idea of his favourite perches and hunting grounds. Kestrels, with their hovering behaviour whilst hunting, are probably my favourite bird, so to know that we have a pair just around the corner from home feels comforting and our lock down walk is always the highlight of the day.
Skylark
Note: All photos have been taken handheld with only a 70-300 mm lens and with a 12 month old strapped to me, which presents its own challenges, both in terms of the time you have to take a shot and being able to get in the best position!
Autumn has been a season of seal watching so far and last weekend was no different. It was also another new location for us, taking a boat from the port of Harwich in Essex with Sealwatching.co.uk.
Sealwatching.co.uk boat
A few godwits on the way to see the seals, Harwich
Little Egret, Harwich
First few common seals, Harwich
Common seal gang chilling, Harwich
The boat left from the quay at Harwich Dock and motored out through the port, past the huge shipping container port and along the much more pleasant beach at Dovercourt for about 45 minutes until reaching Hamford Water Nature Reserve. It was there that we found the seals. First just one or two in the water, then a couple more basking on the banks, until we spotted another group of about 50 hauled up ahead. As we approached, they spooked and started launching themselves into the water, making quite a splash as they went.
Hen Harrier, Harwich
Common seals, Harwich
Common seals, Harwich
Common seal, Harwich
Common seal, Harwich
It was interesting to see a few of them skipping along, jumping in and out of the water like dolphins playing. The boat hung around for a while as we watched the seals (and i’m sure a hen harrier way off in the distance), before we headed back, this time with the tide, to be back at the dock within 30 minutes.
It was a very pleasant way to spend two hours and the crew took good care of us, providing binoculars if needed and a running commentary of the sites along the way and a history of the local landmarks.
Common seal, Harwich
Lighthouses, Dovercourt
Gulls, Dovercourt
Red fox, Hanningford Reservoir
Common seals, Harwich
Before heading home, we stopped off at Essex Wildlife Trust’s Hanningford Resevoir for a quick trundle along their Wind In the Willows inspired nature walk, coffee, cake and dropping in and our of a couple of their hides for a quick peak.
Those very few of you who may follow this blog will have seen that we go to Burnham-on-Crouch quite often to see the seals and back in mid-September my wife and i went again, this time with baby Benjamin!
Little Egret strutting at Burnham-on-Crouch
Seal snout
Common Seal Burnham-on-Crouch
Common Seal Burnham-on-Crouch
Common Seal Burnham-on-Crouch
This time, it was just a day trip, but we did go again with Discovery Charters and met up again with our friend Noodles the dog.
It was another great day of seal watching, but also some pleasant sightings of water birds. I swear every time we go that the number of birds is increasing massively. The great work that the RSPB has done as Wallasea Island has not only created a great habitat for the returning birds, but has also helped to de-silt the river Crouch.
I won’t take too much time with words here, but just let the photos do the talking!
A few months back my wife found out about another colony of seals (grey and common) within easy distance of home, with trips running out of Chichester Harbour. So back in early September we drove down and went on a boat trip with Chichester Harbour Water Tours (other operators are also available).
The habour itself is a good 15 minute drive away from Chichester (taking traffic in to consideration) so if you’re in Chichester for a look, give yourself plenty of time to get there – which we did not and had to rush!
Godwit in Chichester Harbour
Little Egret in Chichester Harbour
Sail boats in Chichester Harbour
Chichester Harbour
…relax. Chichester Harbour seal
The area around the harbour is a good place for walks and there’s a nice cafe also.
The trip from the harbour to where the seals can be seen is lovely with sailing boats, sailing clubs and waterbirds to spot along the way and once there we had great views of the seals in the water and on the sand banks. It was certainly worth the drive down and the rush!
See Wildlife 