Donna Nook 2016 – An Excuse to Share Cute Seal Pup Photos

Today I made my annual pilgrimage over to Donna Nook, a nature reserve on the east coast of Lincolnshire that boasts a grey seal colony. I wasn’t going to write a blog about it this year, but the fact is I can’t resist sharing a handful of the cute photos I took… 

Grey seal pups at Donna Nook, November 2016.

Each year a huge number of grey seals descent on Donna Nook to have their pups. The place gets crowded with grey seals, and because of it’s relative ease to get to, also gets crowded with humans who want to see them. Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust do great work keeping the vulnerable animals and us humans apart, and volunteers are on hand every day to answer questions and help us learn about the colony.

The viewing area at Donna Nook.

A few seals dotted about. Give it a week or two and it will be much more crowded.

Welcome to the world, little one.

I managed to visit quite early on in the season this year, and several pups were born this morning. It really is a privilege to stand and watch nature this close. If you’ve never been to see the seals at Donna Nook, go, and soon – they will only be here for another month/six weeks or so.

A few hours old, if that. His exhausted mother was resting just out of shot. Taken on my iPhone.

As always, photographers were out in force with all kinds of amazing gear at their disposal. I chatted to one chap who had brought one of the longest and heaviest lenses I’ve seen, admitting he didn’t realise how close they’d actually be. But don’t let the sight of all the people with professional looking gear put you off; I snapped the image above with my phone, and the rest with my Nikon D3100 (an entry level DSLR) with my 55-300mm lens, handheld.

The seals are a huge magnet for photographers.

It was cold but sunny on the Lincolnshire coast this morning, I got there about 9.30am and there were already a number of people there; by the time I left around 11am the car park was pretty full. It’s such a popular place to visit these days, but well worth it if you can get there.

Fluffy and cute but vulnerable.

Want more photos? There’s this post from last year if you fancy it. And if you’re thinking of visiting Donna Nook, read the advice and weekly seal update here first.