A walk to the Spurn Lighthouse

 

Yesterday I travelled to Spurn with family. It was expected to be cloudy all day, although, in the end, we had some wonderful sunny spells (and a couple of drizzly showers). It was an hour before high tide when we got there. We started in the Spurn Discovery Center and walked to the lighthouse and back.

The last high tides had removed large chunks of the cliffs north of the seawatch hide and flattened the vegetation. We had to walk away from the path at times as it looked close to collapse.

We went down the steps by the warren. Some lovely clumps of sea mayweed.

In the wash over, a large mixed flock of sanderling and dunlin were roosting. A small raptor, a Merlin, caused panic and flocks spiralled like starling murmurations on the Humber side. 

Eventually they settled on the spit. A Knot was with the flock and there were several Ringed Plovers about too.

From the other side of the wash over the land rises and there were great views of the estuary. The flock of Sanderling painted a white band on the spit.

The view framed by a metal post. Looking North towards the wash over.

Sea Holly.

It is on this area that we found some Sea Aster bees, feeding on rocket flowers.

This one appeared to be marking a stick.

Common Field Grasshopper.

From the Chalk Bank hide, we counted 42 Curlew roosting. There were a few terns, usual gull mix and Cormorants.

This sad and gruesome photo is just part of the contents of a drinks can that had been discarded by the path to the Chalk Bank hide. It contained dozens of carrion beetles, including Silpha tristis, Tanatophilus rugosus and Nicrophorus vespillo. Discarded drinks cans and bottles are traps for insects

We loved the wire butterfly sculpture by the lighthouse.

A sunny spell brought out more invertebrates.

Dune robberfly.

Sea Aster bee on cat's ears.

Small heath butterfly.

After the sun, a dark, ominous cloud. We were near the high tide refuge when the rain started. A Pied Flycatcher landed on the path ahead of us, a migrant on it's way back to its winter quarters.

At the car park, this trio of Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers, a female and two males.