Cormorant.
Dunlin and Redshank on Stoney Creek.
Common Seals.
After chatting to a birdwatcher by the creek I move onto the flood bank. In the first half of the walk the bank is near the high tide line with a narrow band of saltmarsh giving way to mudflats crossed by a deep channel parallel to the bank. Shelduck and Curlews are particularly plentiful on the mudflats.
Dunlin
Shelduck.
Curlew. Part of a 50+ strong flock.
Shelduck.
The land lies under the 5 m marked by the vantage height of the floodbank. I walk by a series of large, flat arable fields framed by drains, and hawthorn hedgerows with buds bursting. Wide horizons and featureless landscape on a mainly straight floodbank. A gate in the distance, or a bridge on the drain by the bank provide something to aim for during the walk. This is solitude, no dog walkers, no birdwatchers, I don't meet any one in the walk other than a couple of birdwatchers at Stoney Creek. Skylarks sing, small flocks of Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings abound.
A pair of Kestrels hunt near each other over the saltmarsh. I see a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk using the element of surprise by flying low over the floodbank. The bird highlight were two male Yellow Wagtails on a hedge, face to face with a Yellowhammer, the brightest yellow bird species seemed intrigued by each other.
There is a continuous belt of saltmarsh and mudflats on the Humber side that is rarely disturbed, which is very wide in the second part of the walk, known as the Outstrays, where there are a few large ponds. A dozen avocets, greylag and shelduck are using them.
Insect, wise I see two butterflies, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock, several bumblebees, a mining bee and a dronefly. It feels like spring!
A pair of Kestrels hunt near each other over the saltmarsh. I see a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk using the element of surprise by flying low over the floodbank. The bird highlight were two male Yellow Wagtails on a hedge, face to face with a Yellowhammer, the brightest yellow bird species seemed intrigued by each other.
Linnets
Spot the Meadow Pipit amongst the flotsam and jetsam of the tide line.
Kestrel.
Buzzard.
Grey Heron.
Yellowhammer and Yellow Wagtail males face to face
Avocets and Greylag
A pond by the tide line.
Here in the Outstrays, odd wooden poles stand on the saltmarsh at regular intervals. These have survived over half a century, and ponds with cement banks: the relicts of WW2 docks decoys. The poles held lanterns that reflected on the ponds at night, creating the illusion of the docks of Hull, to dupe the German bombers away from the city. Now they provide vantage points for singing Reed Buntings.
One of the surviving poles on the saltmarsh.
Insect, wise I see two butterflies, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock, several bumblebees, a mining bee and a dronefly. It feels like spring!
Dronefly, Eristalis tenax
Peacock.
Bombus lapidarius.
Mining bee Andrena sp.
Land reclamation
The Humber estuary has historically been an area with extensive land reclamation, with over 700 km2 gained from the estuary via saltmarsh draining and embankment. Large stretches of land adjacent to the estuary, including Broomfleet island, Sunk Island, and the marshes of Keyingham and Ottringham, were drained, embanked and put into cultivation. Despite the engineering and maintenance costs associated to reclamation, the lands were coveted, as the returns in the few years after reclamation were very high, with the new land providing excellent pastures and high crop yields and also a reliable income as tax to the lord of the manor and government. Cherry Cob used to be a sand bank parallel to the Humber shore, separated from the mainland by a narrow navigable channel. In 1750s the channel substantially silted up. After the land built up and become larger and above the tide line, the Constables were involved in an ownership dispute with the Crown over the new land, which had become an attractive opportunity to add to their estate. The land was reclaimed, embanked around 1799 and drained by engineering work, deliberately encouraging silting of estuary water, a technique called 'warping'. The sand bank became eventually attached to the mainland and warping was used to level the fields. This interfered with the course of Keyingham drain, which had to be re-routed to Stone Creek to keep draining the land behind the bank.
The Humber estuary has historically been an area with extensive land reclamation, with over 700 km2 gained from the estuary via saltmarsh draining and embankment. Large stretches of land adjacent to the estuary, including Broomfleet island, Sunk Island, and the marshes of Keyingham and Ottringham, were drained, embanked and put into cultivation. Despite the engineering and maintenance costs associated to reclamation, the lands were coveted, as the returns in the few years after reclamation were very high, with the new land providing excellent pastures and high crop yields and also a reliable income as tax to the lord of the manor and government. Cherry Cob used to be a sand bank parallel to the Humber shore, separated from the mainland by a narrow navigable channel. In 1750s the channel substantially silted up. After the land built up and become larger and above the tide line, the Constables were involved in an ownership dispute with the Crown over the new land, which had become an attractive opportunity to add to their estate. The land was reclaimed, embanked around 1799 and drained by engineering work, deliberately encouraging silting of estuary water, a technique called 'warping'. The sand bank became eventually attached to the mainland and warping was used to level the fields. This interfered with the course of Keyingham drain, which had to be re-routed to Stone Creek to keep draining the land behind the bank.
This nest box had been taken over by Jackdaws.
Brown Hare running on a field.
Flooded fields. As was driving to Stone Creek, a man, spade in hand, was digging a channel to drain the flood in the corner of his field. The area is flood-prone and the latest rains haven't helped.
This trig point is halfway up the floodbank, a remain of a time when the floodbank was lower.
A pumping house by a drain.
The remains of a gate and fencing on the saltmarsh.
A stile with no fence, with safety feature.
A sailing boat on the Humber.
A herd of roe deer resting. The industrial south bank of the Humber in the background.
These curved ponds appear to be remains of old creeks.
Radar tower by Stoney Creek
North Channel, bringing the waters from Ottringham and Winestead drain to Stoney Creek.
Featured bird: Yellow Wagtail
This is a stunning bird of wet pastureland, often associated to cattle, sheep or horses, feeding on the insects disturbed by the grazing animals. Yellow Wagtails now often take advantage of rape fields for nesting. It is a migrant bird, who arrives from mid April from their wintering grounds in West Africa. The whole population of the Yellow wagtail subspecies (flavissima, or 'the yellowest') breeds in the UK, and is now regarded a red listed bird, after strong and rapid declines in the last decades, likely as a result of agricultural intensification resulting in decline arthropod availability and pasture land. The Humber area still holds some good breeding areas for this species.
Today's 12 km round trip.
A blog post on WW2 Cherry Cob Sands decoy docks. here.
Sheppard, J. The Draining of the Marshlands of South Holderness and the Vale of York. East Yorkshire local history series, 1966. Here.
Beazeley, A (1900) The Reclamation of Land from Tidal Waters - A Handbook for engineers, landed proprietors, and others interested in works of reclamation. Available here.
Sheppard, J. The Draining of the Marshlands of South Holderness and the Vale of York. East Yorkshire local history series, 1966. Here.
de Boer, G. (1964) Spurn Head: Its History and Evolution. Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers) 71–89 . Here.
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