Early 'Autumn' at Spurn

Ive been a bit pressed for time just lately so havent been down to Spurn as much as I would have liked.

However last weekend I managed to get down there with the hope of seeing and photographing a long-tailed skua. I started at Kilnsea on the sea side and although it was quite cloudy the light wasn’t too bad. Some sanderlings on the shoreline and oner or two ducks off shore made for some nice photo opportunities. No sign of any skuas so I made my way back to the car. I was met by a waver of birders heading hurriedly back to the cliff top. ‘Long-tailed skua heading north over the warren close in!’ was the message crackling over the radio. As quick as a flash I set up my gear and the shape of the skua quickly came into view. Unfortunately it was heading out to sea rather than along the coast but very nice to see and a welcome addition to my bird photos collection.

I then had a quick look around the bushes near canal scrape but there wasn’t much doing so I headed for Sykes’ field. There were a few migrants kicking around including a pied flycatcher. I was hoping to see one of the recently reported red-backed shrikes. I wasn’t to be disappointed as two were performing out in the open at quite close range feeding on bumble bees. Also nearby was an elusive barred warbler, it didn’t show that well but still very nice to see.

Quite a few more common migrants around including good numbers of pied flycatchers. A quick look at Sammy’s Point produced anotherpied fly. Two short-eared owls and a marsh harrier ahead of a rain band were nice-then the rain came and drew the visit to a close.

This morning I was up early and at Kilnsea Wetlands for 6am. Some nice waders in the rising sun were photogenic. A look in the hide produced some nice waders. High tide was around 9a.m and there was a constant stream of birds coming in off the Humber. Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper and Ruff all performed well in front of the hide.

I moved off to Canal Scrape after a while and I was treated to some nice views of a Water Rail in the newly cut back clearings in the reeds. It then became evident that there has been a reasonable fall of migrants. Willow warblers were the most prominent along with the odd redstart and pied flycatcher. I thought I would have a look in the bushes and so it proved-lots of willow warblers and also a cracking juvenile cuckoo.

More wader action at the gate and as I walked back up one of the new-in short-eared owls took flight briefly.

Two marsh harriers were heading south and a quick look on Well field produced some good numbers of Whinchat.

All in all a top visit. Nothing particularly scarce but great birding for late summer.

Spurn being Spurn is the greatest place to watch and photograph wildlife in the UK. It never lets me down.

Sanderling

Sanderling

Long-Tailed Skua

Long-Tailed Skua

Long-Tailed Skua

Long-Tailed Skua

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

Red-Backed Shrike

Red-Backed Shrike

Red-Backed Shrike

Red-Backed Shrike

Red-Backed Shrike

Red-Backed Shrike

Dunlin

Dunlin

Dunlin

Dunlin

Waders

Waders

Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

Black--Tailed Godwit

Black--Tailed Godwit

Little Stint

Little Stint

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Water Rail

Water Rail

Redshank

Redshank

Magpie & Kestrels

Magpie & Kestrels

Cuckoo

Cuckoo

Curlew

Curlew

Redshank

Redshank

Willow Warbler & Small Tortoiseshell

Willow Warbler & Small Tortoiseshell

Willow Warbler & Small Tortoiseshell

Willow Warbler & Small Tortoiseshell

Willow Warbler & Small Tortoiseshell

Willow Warbler & Small Tortoiseshell

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Whinchat

Whinchat

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

East Yorkshire Butterflies

I always see the end of July as ‘High Summer’ the point in time when we are fully out of Spring and the flowers associated with this time are in bloom.

Rosebay Willowherb, Privet, Knapweed, buddlia and bramble to name but a few. The scent of privet is especially evocative and takes me right back to my childhood . It is then I start making connections with the past -Withernsea Carnival, school holidays, flowers laden with butterflies, catching moths under the street light in our old front garden-the memories flood back in an instant.

This year especially with the re-discovery of one of my childhood bibles (The I Spy book of Butterflies) combined with 2 weeks leave have re-kindled my interest in these most enigmatic of creatures.

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It is well documented that the amount of butterflies on the wing is a good barometer for the health of the rest of the ecology in our environment. It would appear to me that there are some good numbers of them around at the moment creating some optimism, offering some hope giving a much needed boost in what has been pretty dark times just recently.

As I leafed through the pages of my I Spy book I looked on with some amusement at some of the descriptions I put in against a sighting ‘my friends house’, ‘on a field’, ‘the allotments’ and ‘the railway lines’. To anyone else reading those early notes they would have no idea where in the world those records came from, yet I could take you now to the nearest square yard and show you where those early sightings were made over 40 years ago.

Some of the butterflies to a young lad with a passion for lepidoptera held almost mythical status (some still do)-The Swallowtail, Purple Emperor and Fritiliaries were never going to show up in a small East Coast town and as such were sightings I could only dream about.

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Given the recent declines in numbers of most of our wildlife in recent years, I would have been blissfully unaware of what would been an abundance of flora and fauna at the time. Me and my mate Russ used to spend hours on a night catching moths in our butterfly nets-nearly every one was a Silver Y moth but given their size we always thought there would be a chance of something more unusual. Imagine the day when I saw and caught my first hummingbird hawk moth-I remember it as though it was yesterday and seeing one even today brings the same excitement.

My first forays beyond our garden were down the railway lines at Withernsea, This opened up a new group of butterflies that were different from my previous standard fare of red admirals, small tortoiseshells, peacocks and whites.

The railway lines were home to meadow browns, ringlets, the odd gatekeeper (hedge brown in those days) and what I mistakenly thought was silver studded blue but were in fact common blue. Importantly it was the prospect of seeing something even more unusual that made it all the more exciting.

I can remember the remains of the old railway platform being overtaken by nature-brambles down the back and massive (or seemed to be at the time) groups of privet which at this time of year were teeming with butterflies. I used to go down there with my dad-his mission was to bring back as many brambles as we could-enough to keep us stocked up to make bramble pie and jam until well after Christmas. It was here amongst the brambles that the butterflies abounded.

Memories from over 40 years ago which are so fresh in the mind it could have happened yesterday.

So back to the present-my mum and I had a walk down the railway lines last Sunday. Nice and sunny, warm but quite breezy. The change from then until now is very apparent, some may say it looks overgrown, The once wide track is now a footpath not much more than 3 foot wide. For me it all looked pristine and it is a credit to those who have allowed it to develop and enhanced it with tree planting.

It was teeming with all kinds of insects including lots of butterflies. We walked maybe a third of a mile down and not only the number but the diversity was fantastic. It seemed like every flower in bloom had some sort of insect on it-it was teeming with life,

This was only a snapshot-there is no data to compare it against, but this little piece of East Yorkshire, a place so close to my heart is a clear beacon of hope. The butterflies are a gauge for how well the environment is doing and clearly in that small place they are doing very well.

Our natural world is under pressure from all angles right now and areas protected from the threat from farming or development must be given the highest levels of protection.

Their value for allowing us to connect with nature, for uplifting the spirit and calming the mind and their enduring message of hope is something that is priceless in the madness of the world we are living in right now.

Thanks for reading.

Comma- Withernsea Railway Line

Comma- Withernsea Railway Line

Common Blue-Withernsea Railway Line

Common Blue-Withernsea Railway Line

Essex Skipper-North Cave Wetlands

Essex Skipper-North Cave Wetlands

Essex Skipper-North Cave wetlands

Essex Skipper-North Cave wetlands

Gatekeeper (Hedge Brown)-Withernsea Railway Line

Gatekeeper (Hedge Brown)-Withernsea Railway Line

Gatekeeper (Hedge Brown) Withernsea Railway Line

Gatekeeper (Hedge Brown) Withernsea Railway Line

Green Veined White-Withernsea Railway Line

Green Veined White-Withernsea Railway Line

Meadow Brown-North Cave Wetlands

Meadow Brown-North Cave Wetlands

Peacock-North Cave Wetlands

Peacock-North Cave Wetlands

Purple Hairstreak-North Cave Wetlands

Purple Hairstreak-North Cave Wetlands

Purple Hairstreak-North Cave Wetlands

Purple Hairstreak-North Cave Wetlands

Red Admiral- Withernsea Railway Line

Red Admiral- Withernsea Railway Line

Ringlet- Withernsea railway Line

Ringlet- Withernsea railway Line

Small Copper-Beverley

Small Copper-Beverley

Small Skipper- Withernsea Railway Line

Small Skipper- Withernsea Railway Line

Small Skipper-Withernsea Railway Line

Small Skipper-Withernsea Railway Line

Small Tortoiseshell- Withernsea Railway Line

Small Tortoiseshell- Withernsea Railway Line

Small Tortoiseshell- Withernsea Railway Line

Small Tortoiseshell- Withernsea Railway Line

Speckled Wood-North Cave Wetlands

Speckled Wood-North Cave Wetlands







Humberhead Levels

I thought about heading for the coast today but my concience got the better of me and I decided to head to a place where I thought would be less crowded.

As I arrived in the car park I was pleased to see I was the only one there (just how I like it). First sighting was some distant but magnificent red deer-they soon evaporated into the background as soon as they knew I was there.

Not quite a dawn chorus more of an early morning one, still impressive all the same with blackcap, whitethroat, wren, blackbird,robin, willow warbler, chiff-chaff, yellowhammer and cuckoo all playing their part.

I headed off to the area where I thought a red-footed falcon had been seen for the last couple of days. Given that I had never been to the South Yorkshire side before it was all a bit blind, however after a good walk I saw 2 birders who had reliable information that this was the spot. A hobby had been showing distantly but no sign of the falcon.

I hung around for half an hour without any joy so filled time by photographing swifts. The 2 birders moved off leaving me to my own devices. Not long after a grey falcon cam over my right shoulder and carried on, I managed a few record shots which confirmed it was the red footed falcon. I had a wander further along the track and it was hunting over the adjacent field. It was interesting to watch it catching dragon flies-flying up when the sun came out and the temperature rose sending the dragonflies on the wing. Once it clouded over it settled down sometimes for up to three quarters of an hour.

It never came really close but put on a nice show nevertheless.

Both reserves looked in very good shape with lots of birds and insects around-the most impressive thing was the amount of cuckoos around-there must have been at least half a dozen.

I kept very socially distant and only saw about a dozen people all morning.

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