Holderness: Roos, Owstwick, Hilston, Tunstall, Sand le Mere

A beautiful summer day with light breeze and warm temperature. I take an early bus to Withernsea. I'm amazed by the colour of the sea, on the falling tide, so clear blue, unlike the usual two-banded sea with the land ward sea brown with the suspended clay. I don't have long to wait for bus 129 to Roos and it is not a long ride. Around 9 am I start my walk. It is a day of U-turns due to poorly kept or impassable rights of way, and, as a consequence I have to walk much of it by roads, but only in the first half on busy roads, thankfully. Screaming Swifts chase at Roos, and I find roadside verges with flowering thistles brambles with many Small Whites and other butterflies. It is nice to have a good day to record insects in Holderness.

Withernsea sea front. Such a blue sea!

At Roos, I spot a fresh Small Tortoiseshell. This summer generation with larger numbers than the spring one.

A House Sparrow with nesting material.

Small White Butterflies on Creeping Thistle.

A bridge over a ditch overgrown with brambles stops me from accessing this Public Right of Way.

A grown oil-seed rape field, where you are supposed to walk across the crop to reach Owswick, with no path cut. I tried for a few minutes and turned round, too hard work and little reward.

I took this quiet road instead, lined with trees. 

This Yellowhammer singing from one of them.

I walk along the hamlet of Owstwick, with farm houses and cottages, and plenty of birds. As I came out, Reed Buntings and Whitethroats sing. Young Swallows are lined on a wire, with an odd young Starling joining their party.

Reed Bunting near The Elms.

I love an old wooden road sign.

At Hilston, I admire Admiral Storr's tower.

It is guarded by some Jackdaws.

Hilston's St Margaret church is a brick building, which replaced the previous church destroyed by a bomb during WWII. It looks peaceful, but look more closely and you'll see a man with a petrol strimmer around the headstones. Although, it was a nice view from my lunch-time bench, it was not so tranquil. 

A dead Common Shrew on the churchyard wall.

A few mares with foals grazed on a ridge and furrow field by Hilston.

With some apprehension, I take Hogsea lane to reach the sea and hopefully, the coastal path. A Chaffinch sings from the hedgerow, and a surprise male Marsh Harrier quarters the field. The only marshy area nearby is old Gills Mere. A Roe Deer watches me from the edge of the mere.

Chaffinch.

Marsh Harrier.

Roe Deer buck.

The end of Hogsea Lane, with a beautiful view.

I can't stop taking photos of the sea.

This time I don't have to turn round, the path goes along Pastures Lane, but at some point it disappears on a section that has fallen onto the sea due to erosion. It is only a short detour to the village of Tunstall.

A fledgling Tree Sparrow near Tunstall, one of the few I've seen in the Holderness walks.

This chicken came to check me out as I tried to get onto another right of way, this one overgrown with nettles, ouch!

Again, I take the road. It's a great view of Tunstall's All Saints church.

I head to Sand-le-Mere and after the fourth or fifth, blocked right of way, I find the restaurant, have an ice-cream, and get my water bottle topped up. I still have some time to wait for the last bus to Withernsea, which I use recording the dragonflies by the ponds next to the bus stop. It's now quite warm and ideal for them. An Emperor dragonfly also patrols the pond, but it's too quick for good photos. No swans, but a Mallard family with ducklings swims about, the ducklings occasionally chasing damselflies.

Southern Hawker.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

Ovipositing Small Red-eyed damselflies.

Four Spotted Chaser.

A Herring Gull poses in front of Pier Tower at Withernsea, while I wait for my bus back to Hull.

 

Holderness: Garton and Grimston

A pleasant day with light cloud and a cool breeze, I take a couple of buses to Garton. There is some waiting time at Hornsea in between them, and I walk north to the edge of the defences doing some recording. Linnets and Goldfinches are feeding on dandelion seeds on the lawn of the Floral Hall. Its amusing to see how linnets jump on the stem to make the seeds more accessible. A group of about a dozen Swifts chase around the cliff, their vibrant squeals a wondeful soundscape. As I walk back to catch the bus, a find a male Stonechat on the bank of the sea wall, a bird I don't expect this time of the year. 

Linnet eating sunflower seeds.

Goldfinch eating sunflower seeds.

Male Stonechat.

Chasing Swifts.

A bit late, bus 129 turns up. It's the same driver than the Spurn Explorer, a true gentleman, he even stops the traffic to let some old ladies with zimmer frames cross the road after they alight. He remembers I'm walking the Holderness villages. The dearth of bus service between Hornsea and Withernsea means that I get to Garton at 10:30, and I must be back for the last bus of the day at 14:26. I had planned a third village for the day, Fitling, but given the interest of the walk I am slower than usual and I leave Fitling for another day. I start by visiting the churchyard at Garton, more properly Garton-in-Holderness (or East Garton), to distinguish it from Garton in the Wolds. The fact that many medieval churches in Holderness are made with local cobbles, collected from fields or the beach is something I take for granted, but they have a special character grounding them in the landscape. In addition, the cobbles, dragged by glaciers from distant rock formations have different chemical features that mean they offer a diverse substrate for lichens. Over 40 lichen species were found in a lichen survey carried out in 2017. I am keen to move onto the neighbouring community young woodland. A Green Woodpecker calls, and I see it flying across the road moments later. I take the public right of way through the old Poplar farm, where I'm greeted by a friendly donkey and a turkey displaying to chickens, while Swallows come in an out of the derelict outbuildings. Soon, I'm at St Michael's community woodland. I first walk the perimeter of the growing wood, a Willow Warbler singing. then I get to the pond, where I spend some time watching and recording dragonflies.

St Michael's church.

Turkey.

The friendly donkey.

Painted Lady.

Reed Bunting singing at the pond.

Four-spotted Chaser.

Small Skipper.

The pond of St Michael's wood.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

I continue to the gate of the woodland using a broad mowed path. A Roe Deer buck along the path stands and stares at me for a moment before bounding away. I then take the road to Grimston, and the sea. The land rises and, by a wheat field flanked by a grassy shallow bank by a ditch, I surprise a Corn Bunting carrying food. A male is singing from the wires, but it flies closer and then away along the road, appearing to entice me away from his presumed partner and the nest. I get great views, the sea in the horizon, as the male Corn Bunting lands on the fence at Moat Farm, which is on the site of the original Grimston Hall. The farm now sits very close to the edge of the cliff. I take a quick look at the sea view (top shot), where the path turns inland around Corn Bunting field. This large field has a broad margin with wildflowers, which bodes well for the continued success of the Corn Buntings.

Roe Deer buck.

Female Corn Bunting with food on the wheat field.

Male Corn Bunting at Moat Farm.

I have a quick look at the coast (top shot). A Curlew calls repeatedly from the beach. I continue towards the wooded hall grounds. This parish has more woodland than usual at Holderness, with the young community woodland, another woodland at Garton and the perimeter belt and parkland of Grimston Hall. A comparison between the 1908 OS map and the current satellite map shows that the woodland cover is more extensive. It is nice to be in the shade in the middle of the day. The path is being guarded by a Red Admiral. I weave across the grounds of the hall, and find a bench overlooking a sheep field, where young Jackdaws are pestering their parents for food. There is also a Rookery, but it's hard to see the nests through the foliage. Another Green Woodpecker flies over.

Common Blue.

Corn Bunting Field.

A ha-ha at Grimston Park.

The stables of Grimston Hall with their castellated tower.

Young Jackdaw, in the centre, with its parents.

Rook.

The quaint village of Grimston with a red telephone box.

This bench is much posher than the one I took my lunch on.

I leave the village or hamlet as there is no church or pub, and take the road back to Garton. An Oystercatcher is feeding on top of a manure pile by the road, but it flies off before I can take a photo. I check the bus timetable again. No time for Fitling, but I walk around Garton before sitting down by the bus stop for the long trip back home.

Oystercatcher.

Blue mill, at Garton.

Speckled Wood.

Pied Wagtail.