Pyradmids in the Dunes

The undulating dunes at Holme are covered in a mix of of brambles and Marram Grass, in between these are desire paths carved out by generations of families heading to the long flat sandy beach and where these gaps appear wild flowers take their chance to grow and bloom. Today as we made our own beeline for the sea we passed hundreds of flowering spikes of Pyramidal Orchids. The Purple flower spikes colour accentuated by a backdrop of grey green Marram Grass fronds.

Pyramidal Orchids, Holme Dunes

This show of colour is just one of many that we get here in the sand dunes and on the saltmarshes on the north Norfolk coast. Hardy specialist plants like these orchids add their own signature to these tough environments where land and sea, saltwater and freshwater meet.

Once through the dunes we found a picnic site overlooking the sea and framed our view with a base layer of sand and Marram Grass and then the blue of the Wash with the occasional Sandwich Tern flying back towards the colony on Scolt Head Island to our east. Seal heads occasionally appearing glinting in the summer sun. In front of us the meditative sound of the waves rolling on and off the beach and behind us  the songs of Meadow Pipits and Linnets.

From land to sea, Holme dunes

Kids and some summer birds

Sunday and we decided to break with our routine of the last few weekends and not go as a family to our beach hut. Instead we drove further east along the coast road than we would normally go, past Wells next the Sea pausing at Morston to allow no 2 son to get over some threatened car sickness and then to Blakeney Harbour to take the boys Crabbing.

Blakeney Harbour crabbing

The Harbour was packed with space for crabbing limited, nonetheless we found a space and having inserted some cheap bacon into our baits bags we threw our crab lines into the water and the boys were soon pulling out crab after crab and dropping them gingerly into their blue buckets which they normally use for making sandcastles.

After an hour of this we cleaned up in the harbour side toilets and had a pub lunch. Then onto Cley Marshes Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve. Here we walked out to Daukes hide in the middle of the marsh along a boardwalk and over a wooden bridge from which the boys spotted some Sticklebacks and then through the reeds to the thatched hides over looking a freshwater marsh. Initially I thought we were in for a tough time as most of the birds were a fair way off. But then a Marsh Harrier appeared and landed on a island enabling the boys [age 4 and 7] to get great scope views. After this a Spoonbill fed along the nearest bit of Marsh edge to the hide, perhaps twenty feet away and then the female Harrier returned and landed even closer to the hide.

Cley Marsh Harrier, digiscoped

The boys enjoyed this and it clearly made a mark as today no 2 son said he wanted a pet bird either a duck or a Spoonbill and if it was a Spoonbill we needn't worry as he'd catch fish for it.

Spoonbill, Cley

Home via Wiveton Hall for a punnet each of Raspberry's and Strawberry's.