Spurn new visitor centre

A relatively quick first visit of the year to Spurn, with the excuse of having a look at the new visitor centre. On arrival, the effect of the winter storms were obvious, with a lot of sand on the sea side of the pond and around the Blue Bell car park. A large group of people were doing a beach clean between the Blue Bell and the warren. We walked by the cliff footpath and then on the beach towards the warren and the breach. The tide was high and by the estuary side there was many Brent Geese, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Knot close by the marsh. People walking on the breach flushed a large mixed flock, which took a while to re-settle.
 We walked back to the visitor centre, nestled between the sea wall and the road, and completely obscured from view at times by the hawthorn hedges. The building is mainly wooden, with a flat roof and large windows. The body of the building sits atop a flood-proof ground level which includes the main toilets. The centre shape curves around a stepped amphitheatre, which will be very useful for school visit picnics. There is a wheelchair friendly ramp with a willow hedge/fence and viewing area which will screen people from birds on the marsh at high tide and steps. On the building itself there is a workshop/classroom, private rooms and a bright cafe/shop with great views onto the Humber estuary side and canal scrape. After a hot drink we moved outside for a picnic, as the day was quite mild. A nice touch is the Tree Sparrow nest boxes that are included in the design of the centre. My only quibble is that I would have liked another level (a tower hide?) to improve the view, but I guess a trip to the top of the lighthouse serves this purpose. The banks will quickly cover with vegetation, but even with the almost bare banks it is impressive how contained the building work has been, with the reeds of the canal scrape growing almost to the edge of the building. My first impression of the visitor centre is good. Not as large, bustling and thoroughly breathtaking as the Cley Marshes NYT visitor centre, which is probably my favourite ever and hard to top, but I think a definite improvement over the Blue Bell and/or the shipping container! The Unimog is now parked right next to the visitor centre too, which is convenient.
 After lunch we moved to Kilnsea Wetlands. The are at the other side of the road was flooded and some Brent and Ringed Plovers fed on it.

The sand over the path by the Blue Bell pond.

Beach clean!

Eroding cliff near Numpties.

Brent Geese, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Knot

The Breach.

Information Panel by the Breach.

New Information panel.

Mute Swan on nest. 

Redshank. Two of them with plastic colour rings.

The visitor centre from the amphitheatre where we had our picnic. Note the Tree Sparrow nest boxes under the windows.