Mid-Winter

December 18, 2022

Winter certainly bit hard this week and we had temperatures down to at least -4 in Beverley, but undaunted we planned to spend another night at the caravan on Saturday.

We got to Kilnsea late morning and all was well with setting up until it was time to turn on the water-it was frozen solid.

We chose to stay for the afternoon and after a bit of Christmas lunch and mince pies I went out with the camera.

First stop was Crown and Anchor and the view from the roadside was pretty spectacular. The water on the Humber has frozen and then got pushed in by the tide. It made for a polar landscape and just looking over the edge out towards the Humber it was bitterly cold. there were hundreds of birds feeding mainly dunlin and knot but a few redshank, bar and black-tailed godwits as well as curlew and a few shellduck.

There was news of some waxwings in Easington and I had a drive out there for just the briefest of looks (there was no sign) before heading back to Kilnsea. There were a few whooper swans in fields outside kilnsea and on the fields near grange farm golden plover and lapwing were feeding close to the road. I used the car as a hide to get some close views and they were joined briefly by a black-tailed godwit.

There were some big flocks of winter thrushes, mainly redwing and fieldfare feeding on the hawthorn berries and periodically taking flight as they were disturbed or moving on to the next clump of bushes.

I made my way to Kilnsea Wetlands but there was nothing in view-the water must be frozen solid.

A barn owl hunting in the south east corner had me hurrying to the screen closer to the bank and thankfully it put on a very nice show catching at least one field vole although it was being hassled by a kestrel so I’m not sure if it actually devoured its catch.

There were lots of redwings in listening dish hedge as well as a couple of yellowhammers.

Beacon Ponds was almost frozen solid but there was a big flock of wildfowl on Holderness Field that included mainly brent geese and wigeon.

I went back to Crown and Anchor for sunset, however grey clud mostly obscured the sunset and there was only a small amount of orange light.

On the mamal front, a few roe deer were around as well as a single hare. A fox darted into the dish as I made my way back to the van.

It was a fantastic afternoon, the undoubted star of the show was the barn owl but there was still plenty of other stuff to see and photograph.

The temperature never rose above 1 degree and unsurprisingly there weren’t many people around. Winter is my favourite time for photography and it was a pleasure to be out despite the freezing feel to the day.

Winter Arrives!

December 12, 2022

We had some reservations about staying in the caravan when the forecast was to barely rise above freezing all weekend, but travel we did. We were greeted by the remainders of the day before’s snow and the whole place glistening with a covering of frost-the temperature inside the van was 3 degrees!

It didnt take long to get the van warmed up and my alarm was set for 6.15 the following morning. The sun was due to rise at 8.10 and I was already on the bank of the Humber for 6.45. A steady walk to my chosen spot produced a barn owl and short-eared owl hunting in the gloom and a flock of pink-footed geese could be heard in the distance.

Eventually I arrived at my remote spot on the Humber and took up my position. It didn’t take long for flocks of waders and wildfowl to start whizzing around as the darkness gave way to a grey gloom-not the spectacular sunrise I hoped for. However the birds put on a great show. A flock of pink-footed geese that must have roosted on the Humber took flight in front of me accompanied by brent geese and a sprinkling of wildfowl. Flocks of knot and dunlin were flying up and down river as well as a close flock of lapwing numerous curlew and the odd grey plover, golden plover and redshan. The morning brightened slightly prompting flocks of pintail and teal to fly by some at close quarters. Eventually the tide began to drop and waders were alighting on the mud in front of me in desperate search for their first meal of the day. Eventually the sun broke through but too late as the tide had ebbed and all of the action moved off with the tide.

A. quick scan for a raptor produced an immediate reward in the form of a hen harrier, initially hunting over the salt marsh it the headed east along the top of the bank and frustratingly dropped out of view as it passed by.

The temperature remained below freezing and around half nine it was time to head back and thaw out. A woodcock flew up from cover as I walked back but nothing else of note eas on view.

I spent a nice morning relaxing in the caravan-we had curlew feeding in front of the caravan and a fox was on the scene briefly in the distance.

News of a waxwing at Southfield Farm had me grabbing my kit in the early afternoon and before I got out of the door, it had re-located to corner firld-literally just around the corner. Within a minute of being there it popped up on some hawthorns and fed on some berries sitting out in almost perfect light. It came briefly closer and dropped out of view in search of more berries before eventually flying off in the direction of Beacon Lane.

Next morning was even darker, duller and foggier than the day before. I waited until it got properly light before venturing out. The light was abysmal but my target was to capture the mood of the day-fog and all.

A wander to Kilnsea Wetlands produced a single whooper swan as well as some common waders sat out on the ice. A few deer from the screen on the way to Beacon Ponds stood watching me through the fog. A sparrowhawk flushed before I had chance for a photograph. I walked up to the north end of Beacon Pods in search of the shore larks that had been reported the previous day but the fog was too much. I retraced my steps and the buntings around the sacrificial crop near the listening dish were posing nicely.

On the way back news of a waxwing (most likely the previous days bird) was at Kew Villa. It was eating apples strategically placed in the garden and every now and then flew up giving some nice views.

Back for some breakfast for around 11 and our trip came to an end.

65 species of birds, some great close encounters and challenging conditions for photography but what a great weekend. Winter nature watching at its best, I cannot wait to get back.

Thanks for reading.

Late Autumn in the Humber

November 13, 2022

I had a brief but satisfying visit to Spurn this weekend.
Arriving in the dark the thing that struck me was how mild it was.
The morning dawned clear and I was up and out well before dawn. I wanted to try a spot on the Humber which I knew would be a fair walk. At 630 there was enough light to see where I was going and by 650 I was at my preferred location.
The first birds I saw was a good flock of lapwing darting out over the Humber and flying low over the water. It was a bit dark to get a shot but some of the photos captured the scene nicely.
Waders started moving as it got light mainly curlew and the odd redshank.
A merlin perched briefly on a dead branch washed up by recent big tides, but flew off over the bank before I could get a shot.
A sparrowhawk shot through and a pair of marsh harriers began harassing the waders and wildfowl in the distance.
After a while the sun had fully risen and the colour had gone out of the sky. Just as I was packing away a woodcock flew round in a circular loop and I just managed to get a few shots off.
A kestrel was perched briefly near the pumping station and a mixed flock of finches and buntings were flitting around the bank-top hawthorns.
I went back to the van for some late breakfast and then was back out this time at Kilnsea Wetlands.
The first birds I saw as I got out of the car was a couple of stonechat, after a while they were joined by a third bird.
I spent the afternoon on the top of the bank between Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds.
There was a nice drake pintail, albeit quite distant as well as other common wildfowl mainly wigeon, shoveler and teal.
A flock of twite bounced past and then a short eared owl appeared. It flew past me and then doubled back about half an hour later.
The sunset was nice and provided some nice photo opportunities of roe deer, waders and one of the stonechats on the look out for flies in the very last moments of sunlight.

As we move towards winter, the likelihood of migrant birds especially rare or scarce ones diminish, however the opportunities to carry on photographing wildlife at Spurn and on the Humber still abound.

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Mid-Winter

Winter Arrives!

Late Autumn in the Humber