Grey Seals

Grey Seals

23/09/2012

Ravenscar

Another trip to the Grey Seal colony below the Raven Hall Hotel, Ravenscar.

As stated before access down the cliff and back up!! is not for the faint hearted!! but the place is fast becoming one of my favourite places locally due to the colours, views, wildlife, clear waters and generally being by the sea.

Long Tailed Tit

Long Tailed Tit

22/09/2012

Filey Dams

Heron

Juvenile Heron Fishing

22/09/2012

Filey Dams

 



 

Turnstone

Turnstone

22/09/2012

Ravenscar Rocks

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

15/09/2012

Top Hill Low Nature Reserve, Driffield

 

 A quick fly by of a Female Marsh Harrier was a late surprise as I was just packing up after a day of not seeing a great deal at the Reserve, but that's wildlife.

 

Marsh Harriers were generally found mainly in southern and eastern England and are an Amber registered bird with under 400 breeding females throughout the Uk. They are the largest of the harriers, distinguishable from other harriers by its larger size, heavier build, broader wings and absence of white on the rump. The females are larger than males and have obvious creamy heads.

 

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

15/09/2012

Tophill Low Nature Reserve

Think these are my best photographs of the beautiful bird the Kingfisher.

Curlew Catching a Crab

Curlew

15/09/2012

Scalby Mills, Scarborough

Early morning viewing of a Curlew looking for food and catching a crab at Scalby Mills Gap. Not great photographs due to poor light, and at a long distance, but great to watch.

Dunlin

Dunlin

Ravenscar Rocks

08/09/2012

Dunlin a great little wading bird, it landed about 20 feet from us and just started feeding on small mussels and winkles etc.

Never worried about us even when we stood up and walked off, it just kept feeding.

Grey Seals

Grey Seals

Ravenscar

08/09/2012

Grey seal colony below the Raven Hall Hotel, Ravenscar.

Colony of about 50 to 80 Grey Seals (but can vary up to 150 from various verbal reports).

Access down the cliff is not for the faint hearted!!!!

Grey seal adults may be up to 2.5 metres in length and weigh up to 250kg, with males tending to be larger than females.

Males may live for about 25 years, females for about 35 years.

The coat colour is variable shades of grey, brown and silver with the back tending to be darker than the underside. Males tend to be darker than females and also have a noticeably arched "Roman" nose, whereas a female's nose has a straighter outline.

Grey Seals give birth around teh NorthYorkshire coast around Novemeber and at birth, grey seal pups weigh about 13 kg, are covered in long, creamy white hair. A bond is formed between mother and pup at birth, and a mother can recognise her pup from its call and smell. For the first three weeks of their lives, pups rarely swim, suckling from their mothers 5 to 6 times a day, for up to 10 minutes at a time. The milk is rich in fat and the pups rapidly put on weight. The mother tends to remain just offshore between suckling bouts and rarely feeds, losing up to a quarter of her body weight before her pup is weaned. Grey seal pups are weaned after losing their baby coat at 3 to 4 weeks of age. At this point, they weigh 45 to 50 kg; three times their birth weight. The pups live off these fat reserves whilst learning to feed, which may take several weeks.

Grey seals moult annually in the spring, 3 to 5 months, after the end of the breeding season.