Holderness: Ottringham, Keyingham, Burstwick and Hedon

 I take the 8:10 bus to Withernsea and at 9:00 I am at Ottringham. It is a sunny, but breezy day. I walk around the small village and church. A few Swifts and House Martins fly above, while a Greenfinch sings from an aerial. I retrace my steps and walk along the to take a track, Fields Close Road, which takes me to the Withernsea railway trail. A stretch of road is lined by maples, with hawthorn and ash hedges. A Yellowhammer and a family of Great Tits along the way. Skylarks sing. The disused railway track has an open aspect, with Birds foot trefoil and lots of rabbit holes. It must be quite a challenge to cycle it, and I did come across a cyclist and a horse rider. Many birds are feeding young, and alarm as I walk past. A Whitethroat and a House Sparrow with bills full of insects stop on trees to keep an eye on me. I hear a Yellowhammer, but I struggle to find it, until I realise it is singing from the ground at the edge of the field, keeping away from the wind. The landscape is quite flat, with ditches and hedges. A Buzzard flies over. I see five Buzzards in my walk today, including a pair flying together.

Greenfinch.

Jackdaw.

St Wilfrid's Church, Ottingham.

Great Tit.

Looking back at Fields Close Road

Looking North across the Withernsea railway track.

Yellowhammer singing from the ground.

Whitethroat with food.

Male House Sparrow with food.

Green-veined White.

As I arrive at Keyingham, I note that the railway track has a gap that has been converted to private gardens. A big board announces that it is a Private Garden, no tresspassing! As the station was sold and converted into a private house, it took with it the land of the railway track, sadly. There is a detour north, but the walk around the village is more interesting, so I walk south along Eastfield Road and then make my way to St Nichola's Church. The church and green are in a rise, as many are, but not at the highest point of the village, about 17 m, which is the location of an old wind mill, at Mill Lane.

Rook at Keyingham.

Displaying House Sparrow.

St Nicholas' Church, Keyingham.

The Mill, Keyingham.

There is a lovely view of a shallow, flat valley as I carry on out of the village towards the NW. The hills around the area are the remains of ancient postglacial moraines, and the sand and gravels that form it have been exploited in quarries, which are now filled with water. The lakes of Kelsey Hill are the flooded quarries that supplied ballast to build the railway line, and the railway line started to be laid in the area. The quarrying revealed remains of ice age mammals, like mammoth, reindeer and the very well preserved bones of a Walrus, indicating that the hills were then islands on a shallow, cold sea, were found in the quarries of these hills. I cross Keyingham Drain by a footbridge and then walk along it to join the railway track briefly. I scan the fields north of the track and spot a Lapwing and a Hare. Then I follow the public right of way across Kelsey Gardens, where I stop for a hot drink by the cafe by the lakes. A Sedge Warbler and a Willow warbler sing. A family of Mute Swans feeds by the shore, and in the distance I spot a Great Crested Grebe. The grounds are wooded and there are two lakes.

Looking north from Mill Lane.

Footbride across Keyingham Drain.

Footpath across a wheat field.

A view of Keyingham Drain from the railway bridge by Kelsey Hill

One of five buzzards seen today along the walk.

Great Crested Grebe.

The Mute Swan cygnets gather around their mother as she pulls plants from the bottom...

...and then they rapidly pick whatever she has brought to the surface.

Four Spotted Chaser.

It's a good day for butterflies, as they settle on the ground to avoid the wind. A Red Admiral here.

Small Tortoiseshell.

A Red Cardinal Beetle about to fly off.

I find the footpath leaving Kelsey Gardens and walk along the track along East Carr Drain towards Burstwick. A Kestrel and a Buzzard. It has got cloudier and more humid. A Yellowhammer takes a bath on the drain. I made my way across Burstwick and follow the track by Burstwick Drain. I notice my first singing Reed Buntings, more Skylarks and Yellowhammers. As I get to the outskirts of Hedon it starts to rain. Burstwich Drain crosses Hedon and has footpaths alongside it. It is very well vegetated and a green corridor in the town. The footpath is very overgrown in places, which means my trousers are soon drenched. I walk towards the town centre along Love Lane. I am a bit early for the bus back to Hull, so I walk around the church and get my lunch. A Sparrowhawk fly over wreaks havoc among the Feral Pigeons, who fly around the church. As I wait for the bus I notice a Jackdaw landing just below a Herring gull. It looks at its tail and before I can take another photo it has jumped and pulled the gulls tail! They find big birds tails so irresistible. What a great way to finish this lovely walk.

Kestrel.

Swift.

A chapel at Burstwick, the former Methodist church, which lost its spire in 2007.

Burstwick Drain.

Burstwich Drain at Hedon.

St Augustine Church, Hedon.

Jackdaw Watching the gull's tail.

Today's walk route.