seals, terns and tides

tides and weather offered an opportunity for a day at Blakeney spit yesterday; we landed from the motor crab boat Mary Ann at about ten in the morning with the high tide, and left her a way out on the gently sloping beach/mud flat of the shore side of the spit.

walking over to look at the seals, all hauled up on the sand bank the other side of the channel;

the warm water clean and clear in the sun. the waves were quite rough, and not warm, so we didn’t swim this time.

the seals are very curious

waiting for the tide to push them off the bank

one or two were watching us from the water

playing hide and seek

we walked further round the point and almost encroached on tern nesting territory – a warden came up and sent us on our way. they are having a good season this year, but are suffering from the depredations of a hobby (very small falcon, looks like a big swift, migrates from Africa – not common itself) which has been taking chicks. it might even be the hobby from the wood here. we could see terns flying back over head with small fish (sand eels?) in their beaks for the chicks.

patterns on the sand always fascinate me

delicate traces of the tide’s retreat.

I walked back and out to the far edge of the sea, where a cardinal point marks an old wreck

the surf had gone down with the tide

mussels cover the remaining iron structures of the wreck making them look like obscure sea sculptures.

the cardinal marker stands like some bizarre street lamp in the middle of nowhere.

wind blown forms;

a huge expanse of fine sand eroded from cliffs further east, which themselves are built of deposits dumped by ice sheets and therefore probably the remains of Norwegian mountains ground away by glaciers.

a cockle shell, perfect and perfectly surrounded by blown sand.

against every little piece of stone the sand forms a miniature mountain.

bigger stones collected by the tide, the sort all the old cottages and houses within a horse and cart’s range of the sea are built with.

the tide duly came back in; Mary Ann only needed a few inches of water to be pushed into the channel.

half an hour after I took this we were on our way home.