Dawn to Dusk at Spurn

August 09, 2022

We had another fantastic trip to Kilnsea this weekend and it was truly a case of wildlife from dawn to dusk.

Starting on Friday night , there had been a report of a white rumped sandpiper near Chalky Point. I went up there an hour before sunset and it was just the most gorgeous evening. The sun was setting, yje silence was only punctuated by calls of various wading birds. I had an interesting chat with The Biking Birder and it didn’t matter that the white-rumped sandpiper didn’t show.

Next morning I was up early and on the beach before 5-just as I like it. There was no=one around yet the wildlife is at its most active. My plan was to shoot waders and terns over the sea into the rising sun. It seemed unusually quiet as I walked up but there was still half an hour to go before sunrise.

As dawn got nearer, birds became more active and pretty soon there was plenty to look at and photograph. Little terns were busily hurrying out to sea and returning with fish in what seemed like a conveyor belt of activity. Waders were zooming up and down the beach but given that it was low tide I guess most would have been feeding on the humber. A grey seal made its way down the beach towards the sea after being hauled out overnight, swallows flew north in their droves no doubt after roosying on Sykes Field.

As the sun rose, the light went back to ‘normal’ and the activity slowed up. Imade my way back and after an uneventful look on canal scrape and Kilnsea Wetlands I made my way back for breakfast.

I spent a while looking for butterflies and whilst not as busy as previous weeks I was pleased with a count of 12 species in the Kilnsea area-the highlight being a nice female common blue.

The day finished with a nice session on ‘Wozzas Bench’ watching the swallows flocking in their masses against a magnificent sunset with the added attraction of a flyby barn owl

Next morning I was up early again. I missed the very early start but was till on the beach before half 5. I had the sam plan as the day before but I was lucky because there was slightly more broken cloud and this prolomged the sunrise effect keeping yellows and pinks in the sky for longer.

There must have been a hatch of flies overnight as there were loads of birds feasting on the masses that were mainly around the high tide line. Mainly dunlin and ringed plover but the glorious morning was puntuated with even more colour as a small flock of yellow wgtails fed with the odd pied wagtail amongst them.

Again the sun rose past the ‘golden hour’ effect and it was time to go. News came over the radion of a convolvulus hawk moth that had been trapped overnight in Church Field. A beast of a migrant moth along with a couple of other nice ones-orange swift, salt-marsh plume and gold spot.

Back for a couple of hours relaxing and a bit of breakfast. A roe deer and its fawn were feeding in well Field and a peregrine falcon shot through just as we were packing up.

There is no place like Spurn-it is a natural marvel and theres no place on trhe planet I would rather be.

Until next time-thanks for reading.

White-rumped sandpiper (from a previous visit)

Waders at Dawn

July 29, 2022

I am firmly of the belief that the best time to photograph wildlife especially for creative photography is the half hour before and the hour after sunrise.

Someone who I was very privileged to meet once said, when talking about performance ‘there’s very little traffic on the extra mile’. What he meant by that was when you are trying to get your best results, being there first, being at it all day, being the last one there at the end-how many other people do that? That is the extra mile.

I use it as a driver to get me up and out because theres no doubt that whilst the half hour before and the hour after daybreak (especially in summer) are the best times, I quite often find myself being the only one there-even at popular places like Bempton.

My plan earlier this week was to get out early in the hope that it wouldn’t be too cloudy and photograph some waders at high tide.

I got to my chosen spot around 4.30am, it was approaching high tide and I used the cliff behind me to break up my silhouette.

The wind had been in the north-east for a couple of days but had died away leaving a nice swell but out to sea it was oily calm-conditions were perfect.

All I needed was for the wildlife to oblige. It wasn’t long before oystercatchers and terns were flying by. Then the waders were most obliging as the came along the shore running backwards and forwards in search of food. Ringed plover, a turnstone and a group of sanderlings posed nicely along the high waterline with crashing waves lit up by the rising sun made for a great photo opportunity. An inquisitive hare ran along the sand and stopped abruptly for a few seconds before shooting off in the other direction when he realised I was there.

It was all over by around 6 o’clock. The waders were still around and the waves were still crashing but crucially the sun had risen making the photos far less interesting.

It was a joy to be out on such a fine morning the only company I had on the extra mile was the wildlife.

Spurn Butterflies

July 29, 2022

We have just got back from a few days at the caravan at Spurn.

Given that its a little bit quiet on the birding front I went with the hope of seeing some of the ‘other’ wildlife that Spurn has to offer.

A quick unpack and then out in the warm (maybe hot) sunshine with the camera.

First it was a wander round Sykes Field and the inevitable encounter with a meadow brown-the first of a few. Then gatekeeper quickly followed by common blue. There were all 3 common white butterflies on the wing Large white was the least abundant but there were lots of green-veined white and small white.

A cracking find was a couple of wall browns (interestingly near a wall!). I have a particular soft spot for wall brown-it was a photograph taken with my ancient Nikon Coolpix of a wall brown butterfly that got me into wildlife photography 20 odd years ago.

A small orangey flutter had me checking for Essex skipper but of the few small skippers that were about, none had the diagnostic black antenna tips of Essex skipper (hopefully thats for another day).

From Sykes field I had a wander down Beacon Lane. High hedgerows both sides always give protection from the wind and it creates a type of microclimate of what seems like artificially high temperatures. Seemingly ideal for the butterflies. A buddleia in full bloom held red admiral and peacock. Further down there were a couple of nice commas and a single ringlet.

More of the same on the return visit but pleasingly there seemed to be lots of butterflies around, it harked back to bygone days…

On Sunday it was a stronger wind blowing from the south-west and a little less sunny. We planned to walk an extended version of The Triangle taking in Sykes Field, the coastal path from canal scrape to the warren and looping back up the road and joining the canal bank, finishing at Church Field.

I used Butterfly Conservations App to record what we found. despite the windy conditions it was pretty much more of the same- a brilliant total of 36 gatekeepers, 20 small whites and 17 green-veined whites making up the majority of the numbers.

The undoubted highlight of the day was a brimstone in Church Field. Not rare nationally but quite scarce at Spurn. Speckled Wood back at the caravan and a couple of common blues later in Sykes field added to the day tally giving a total number of species seen as 16.

There is something extremely heartwarming about having a walk in the countryside on a warm summers day and seeing things as they are supposed to be. Habitat being sensitively managed, no use of pesticides and lo and behold the wildlife is thriving-its not rocket science.

Our natural world is under massive pressure and no doubt there will be historical records from the Spurn area that indicate bigger numbers in times gone by. However the here an now offers a beacon of hope-the butterflies at Spurn are there to be enjoyed-treat yourself to a trip out, you wont be disappointed.

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Dawn to Dusk at Spurn

Waders at Dawn

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