Wednesday 30 November 2011

Grey Seals and a few Birds.

On Sunday I decided to go and photograph Grey Seals Halichoerus grypus. The UK has important populations of this species and there is a good sized colony which is a 90 minute drive from where I live. There is a big degree of sexual dimorphism between the males and females, males can get to over 300kg and females about half this. They come ashore in October and November to give birth, but the pups don't stay white and fluffy for long (up to 3 weeks) they grow and put on weight at an astonishing rate and can double their weight in 10 days. In fact I was too late this year and all the pups were already well grown. It was a really windy day with the seals getting a sand blasting and closing the eye that was into the wind. There were also a lot of wading birds on the sands along with Brent Geese Branta bernicla.
All photographs © Carl Corbidge






Bar Tailed Godwit
 Above and Below Brent Geese

 Dunlin
Sanderling

2 comments:

  1. Hello Dude,

    Really, you have created a nice site about the grey seal. It feeds on a wide variety of fish, mostly benthic or demersal species, taken at depths down to 70 m or more. Sand seels are important in its diet in many localities. Cod and other gadids, flatfish, herring and skates are also important locally. Thanks for sharing it......

    Birth Of a Manta Ray

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  2. Thanks Ritchie glad you appreciate the blog, it was a great day. Carl

    ReplyDelete