Foxy Essex Seal

When my sister and I went for a walk on the Dengie marshes in Essex the other day we didn't encounter much wildlife so I booked us on a boat trip.

It was raining when I left home but when we climbed on board Discovery at Burnham the weather was beautiful. Our skipper told us all about the RSPB Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, an imaginative solution to the problem of what to do with all the spoil from Crossrail. As we motored up the river Roach it seemed weird to see the breaches in the sea wall. We used to sail here when we had our little yacht and loved visiting The Plough And Sail pub with its aviary.

We motored very slowly into a little creek and were delighted to see lots of seals staring at us from the saltings. I was surprised by how close we were able to get to them.  What beautiful animals they are.

I got so many good shots that it has been difficult to decide which to Blip. I've gone for a pup that we saw first. There are two species of seal in our waters, the common and Atlantic grey seal. This common seal's fur has been dyed a rich foxy red by iron oxide in the mud, this only happens in Essex. Pups can swim almost from birth. 

I'm a a bit of a Blip purist and try to keep to just one pic a day but I've relented and added some extras. :)