Migrants way. Stage 9. Mappleton to Hornsea

A sunny, warm day with a south westerly breeze. I start my walk at Mappleton at 8:30, about an hour after high tide. Today's walk is mostly on the beach. As the tide ebbs, the huge expanse of the sandy beach opens. The cliffs are about 15 m high, with a reddish till at the top and a purplish one at the bottom.

At the top of the beach there is a band of exposed clay bed with stuck pebbles, occasional glacial erratics, and shingle with some pieces of wrack in the tide line, then there is clear sand.

Fossil hunting
This is a good fossil hunting area. The fossils were brought here in the till with the glaciers from the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Carboniferous clays and rocks from Flamborough and more northerly areas. I find an ammonite fragment, Gryphaea, a snail, and coral fragments. The photo above shows my little haul.

Mappleton and Rolston sands
A Curlew flies north by the beach. An then a Cormorant. I can hear a Skylark singing from the fields above.

At Rolston Sands there is a busy Sand martin colony.

 The Sand Martins fly low over the beach in groups: one lands and the others follow, just to fly again. It looks like a dare game, or maybe they are collecting nest material?

I move to the top of the beach and, on the tide line, I find a dead Puffin. No rings. Sadly, this is my first Puffin this year.

A Buzzard hovers overhead. Linnet sing from the soft cliffs.

A Gannet flies south, then changes its mind, rises and drops down into the water to fish, like a missile. A little splash, it missed! Then it laboriously takes off.

 As I arrive at Hornsea I spot a Great Crested Grebe on the sea.
I get to Hornsea defences. These are widely used as an example on the effect of hard structures on rates of erosion.

I climb the steps to the promenade and after the boating yard I walk by the public footpath by Stream Dike.

Up to now the drains and streams flowed towards the Humber estuary, from now on. the streams flow directly to the North Sea. Stream Dike is the outflow to the sea from Hornsea mere controlled by a sluice. My plan was to visit Kirkholme Point at Hornsea Mere for lunch. Unfortunately, the entrance to the point is gated, and locked. A local lets me know it opens Thursdays to Sundays. I walk to Fair Place instead and sit on a bench and watch the swifts and hirundines above. Then a Swallow alarm calls and I see a Hobby in hunting mode chasing swifts! A Cetti's Warbler sings. Then I hear two booming notes, a Bittern? After a short rest, I move to the southern side of the mere, from where one of the islands, Swan Island, and a gravelly spit behind it, are visible.

Hornsea Mere
Hornsea Mere is the largest natural lake in Yorkshire and the only surviving mere in Holderness. It is a freshwater, shallow lake (1.2 m deep on average) of glacial origin, forming as the ice melted and the water dammed by a moraine. The lake is fed by several streams. It is fringed with a belt of reedbeds and fen and grasslands. Carr woodland is best developed on its west end, at Wassand. It is a SSSI for its aquatic plants, wetland habitats and wintering and breeding bird populations, and Special Protection Area due to the large numbers of post-breeding and moulting Mute Swans and over-wintering Gadwall. In addition, Hornsea Mere is also well known for its autumn concentrations of Little Gulls. It is a magnet for swifts and hirundines, and Hobbies are not uncommon. The birds of the mere are documented on the Mere Birders Blog. The fact that the lake is close to the sea and the combination of habitats means it can attract a range of marine birds, especially in rough weather, and rare migrants. The mere bird list is an impressive 232 bird species.

Swan Island from the SE corner of the mere.

I make my way back via the Hull to Hornsea train track, and retrace my steps.

The tide is now almost fully out. Gulls coast or loaf by the water line: Herring Gulls mostly, but also the occasional immature Great Black-backed gull and two Lesser Black-backed gulls. Two Black-headed Gulls and a Common Gull.

Immature (2nd summer) Common Gull.

Great Black-backed Gull (3rd summer)

The gulls' loafing place.

Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls.

An Oystercatcher flies over and starts feeding not far from the loafing gulls. The gulls are keeping a close eye on it, as when it catches something, a Herring Gulls pursues it.

Herring Gull chasing Oystercatcher.

It has been quite interesting to be back on the beach for a walk. Next week, I'll start at Kirkholme Point, where there is a much better view of the Hornsea Mere and its birds.

Record shot of Hobby today.

Featured bird: Hobby

The Hobby is a migratory falcon. It hunts on the wing, and is very agile, catching hirundines, swifts and dragonflies in mid air. It gives a dark, giant swift impression. I was lucky today to watch a Hobby as it hunted, flying very fast and doing stoops. Although it is by no means common, the Hobby is expanding its range, possibly following the expansion and increase population numbers of their dragonfly prey due to climate warming or habitat availability, as Hobbies favour gravel and sand quarries. It is Green Listed.

Walk information
13 km circular. Start: Mappleton Beach car park TA227438 (free). Finish at Hornsea Mere. Walk on the beach. Check tide tables. Beach can be accessed at slipway at Mappleton Cliff lane, and though steps by promenade at Hornsea. Coffee shops and toilets at Mappleton and Hornsea.

More information
Fossils at Mappleton beach https://ukfossils.co.uk/2010/03/16/mappleton/