Headed to the coast on sunday morning to see the Grey Seal colony at Donna Nook in Lincolnshire. I've wanted to visit this reserve for ages, but being in notts, its a bit difficult to get to the coast without a car. However my girlfriend was more than happy to drive us there, and i'm glad we went as we had an excellent couple of hours there.
On cresting the hill the first thing you see is hundreds of seals. The stretch of coast with the viewing area couldnt be better located and it really is wildlife watching made easy. I guess thats why its so popular, as there were many people there from far and wide. Ignoring the crowds, it is a great experience with seal pups sitting there at touching distance while the large mothers sat a little more warily a few metres away. Photo opportunities were rife and with little effort it is easy to get some incredible shots. The larger males busy themselves with sitting further down the beach, fighting and mating, making it a little more difficult to take photos. They are absolutely massive and to see 90 stone of grey seal throwing itself about the beach is quite a spectacle.
Anyway I've added some of the better shots and i've made a
Flickr album with more on it. Please feel free to take a look!
Bird-wise there was loads about, a proper treat for an land-locked birder. There were plenty of waders, mainly Turnstone, some of which came quite close in, and there were also several Dunlin a few Redshank and in the distance were some large flocks of Lapwing. There were also large flocks of Starling, Skylark and Twite, and if i had my scope i probably could have picked out some buntings and maybe something more interesting?! A couple of Rock Pipit were a highlight too. A large raptor was seen at a distance on the beach, with the jizz of a Harrier but i lost sight of it before confirming its ID.
A great day out which i hope to repeat next year, and its made me very keen to get to the coast again!
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