#cley

22/09/2020-Blog 1 of 2: NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes: 10 different photos to those I tweeted 

Today after yet more pictures in the cottage garden on what could be the last day of wall to wall sunshine and heat looking at the weather I tweeted and will have some exclusive photos in my next blog of today shortly, we visited another reserve I remembered fondly from last time in Norfolk for us seven years ago Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Cley and Salthouse Marshes. As we walked around it was great to he back, someone we spoke to at a safe distance yesterday said it would be even hotter today and it was boiling. It really was like a summer’s day and it was glorious to be out in this sunshine. I really enjoyed walking along and reflecting on how nice the flat landscape looks and how different but in some ways similar it is to home. There were stunning and beautiful typical East Anglian views again which it was so nice to see on a sunny day. I took the first seven and tenth pictures in this photoset of these views today. I do really admire this well known birdwatching and wildlife location too. 

As we walked along the bank towards the beach it was great to see another Marsh Harrier really well. I also saw more great Wall Brown butterflies here today like I had the two previous days at RSPB Snettisham and Titchwell a brilliant species. We then got to the beach, the area and view from it shown in the eighth and ninth pictures I took today in this photoset and loved sitting and eating lunch looking out to sea, very relaxing on another special day. Before eating lunch I had looked down and took in the coast and listened to the waves coming in and out and remembered that the coast is the place I love to be and the place for me I do find it so peaceful. We saw a young Gannet fly past another of my favourite birds for this holiday which was great seeing or hearing species of mine on my A and B lists of favourites really helps lift a trip away from home too. As I was in the middle of a sentence I said “Seal!” as a Grey Seal popped its head up excitedly right close to a man that was just about to go in for a swim much to the delight of his family. What a fantastic wildlife moment. It was my first Grey Seal of the year, my sixth of my nine favourite mammals seen this year and another very strong mammal moment these past few days. After the Blakeney Point experience seven years ago seeing the colonies I had hoped to see seals in Norfolk and particularly Grey Seals with their breeding season beginning now and I had not seen one this year before today after seeing Common Seal at home at Langstone Harbour a couple of times. So I was over the moon to see this, not something it always looked likely I’d see this year. What a fantastic moment for me it brought me such joy. It was so nice to have now seen both common and grey seal in a year again I do love seals and this was a great close view today.

As we walked back to the centre and car park I was thrilled to see lots of Curlews together and just like at Slimbridge in January I reflected at how it was lovely to see so many of these rapidly declining birds together and I’ve had a great year for them noticing them a lot at home too. I also enjoyed seeing nice flowers such as sea campion and poor man’s weather-glass which I tweeted a picture of tonight in the shingly area by the beach they looked pretty. Another brilliant time at Cley for me I enjoyed it a lot.