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Wednesday 19 November 2014

Donna Nook

Donna Nook!  Not a singer but a nature reserve.  

It’s used by aircraft from some of Lincolnshire’s many RAF stations for bombing practice but from October to December it’s a maternity ward for grey seals.  Hundreds of them.


Yesterday I made my annual visit and it is pure joy.  It must be one of the bleakest places out but these lovely creatures make it their home.  







Over seven hundred of them have been born there already this year and some of them seem to think humans are the best entertainment out.  




There’s a double fence to keep the seals and humans apart but it’s hard to say which species is more fascinated by the other.  Significant numbers of seals gather near the fence to watch the ever changing parade of people.  Humans come with such wonderful costumes on; some push tiny wagons with tiny humans in, others ride little machines but most just walk past for the entertainment of the seals who watch whilst doing very little.  



The seals don’t need to eat (apart from the pups suckling from their mothers) so they don’t need to take time out from the fun to find and eat food.  Life is pretty good when you are a seal - you just wallow in the water or mud or you lie and think.  Not a bad life.

4 comments:

  1. What a fantastic place! We have seals that gather on a beach near us, if I could get a dry day and my day off co ordinated I hope to go and see them

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  2. Such a great day out, we haven't gone this year yet but we usually do.

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  3. We occasionally see them around the Cornish coast.

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  4. I've been twice to see them in previous years. It is a lovely sight, well worth the effort of standing in the cold for an hour.

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