Holderness: Garton, Fitling, Humbleton and Sproatley

This is the last of the planned walks of the Holderness series. A warm day with an easterly wind and wispy high clouds, I get the three buses to Garton, actually four, as just short of the last stop, we are asked to leave the bus and board another one! At least it's a quick change and I get to Garton by 9:20, the earliest that can be done with public transport. I take back lane and then Humbleton Road towards Fitling. A Kestrel hunts from a stack of straw bales, whilst a young Buzzard calls over a copse. 

Kestrel.

A promise of a cofe turns to nothing, as the Spotted Duck cafe is not open on a Monday.

Black Bryony, their heart-shaped shiny leaves obvious on the hedges along the route.

The hamlet of Fitling sits between two minor single track roads, connected by a third. I take the route around the hamlet, which includes a caravan site, fishing ponds, stables and farms. Swallows and House Martins fly about. House Sparrows have a dust bath on a rough track. There is a flock of about 50 Rooks with a few Jackdaws and a Greylang feeding on a grassy field. Many young birds are more obvious than the adults: Robins, Whitethroats and Pheasant. This time of the year, with adult birds moulting, they tend to stay out of the way. 

Painted Lady.

Moorhen on fishing pond at Fitling.

Young Robin.

Chaffinch.

Rooks.

The arable fields are all harvested, the straw in bales or stacks.

Returned Common Gull.

Young Pheasants.

The single track road heading north towards Humbleton Road.

Adults and young Swallows.

Linnet.

I follow the road to Humbleton. It is getting to the middle of the day and the tarmac increases the feeling of heat. It is not too busy, which is good. The fields feel parched and there is not much of interest. At Humbleton, I head for St Peter's Church (top shot). The churchyard is very inviting, the lovely gate opened, Feral Pigeons and Jackdaws call from the church tower. I have my packed lunch sitting on one of the niches in the shade of the church, watching Migrant Hawkers hunt by the trees.

A lovely set of well kept cottages.

And one in need of TLC, the front door covered on an overgrown cotoneaster. 

A wonderful tree as I leave Humbleton.

I take Lelley road, which is not too busy, and I'm relieved at the sight of the bridleway sign, which meanders along ditches and fields all the way to Sproatley. I check the time, I'm making good progress to catch my bus to Hull. I have a bit of time, which I spend on the churchyard at Sproatley and the field just south of the church.

Bridleway sign from the road.

The view from the briddleway.

Ruddy Darter.

A pond with Bullrushes is the home of some Reed Buntings.

Friendly horse on a paddock near Sproatley.

I welcome the sight of this bench on the outskirts of Sproatley.

Looking back from Sproatley.

A dead mole on the path.

A Migrant Hawker landed for a quick rest near Sproatley Church.

And this is the end of this series of walks celebrating south Holderness and its wildlife. I will link back to these walks when I walk in the area in the future, which I most certainly will do!

Holderness: Burstwick and Burton Pidsea

A sunny, warm day with little wind, I take the 75 bus to Burstwick and leave the bus just before the village to have a look at the pond south of it. Two Emperor Dragonflies are hunting over the water and along the hedgerows. Domestic Geese, Mallard, a juvenile Black-headed Gull and Pied Wagtails is all I see. I walk across the village and take the public right of way along Burswick Drain. By the bridge over the drain there is a small patch of long grass and I do some recording of butterflies and grasshoppers. A pair of Common Blue butterflies are nice and also some Roesel's Bush-cricket. All along the drain in the stretch along the golf course, there are plenty of butterflies. As I get to Thack Carr Bridge, I see a Brown Hare running top speed towards me. I freeze and the hare seems to realise I'm there, does an incredible U turn and runs away. Later I spot two hares on the fields of the Carr. A Curlew flies away and lands beyong that field. The heat haze is strong and the photos not great, but there are about 9 Curlew feeding at Thack Carr. 

Juvenile Black-headed Gull.

Common Green Grasshopper.

Female Common Blue Butterfly.

Male Roesel's Bush-cricket singing.

Brown Hare.

Ruddy Darter.

I get to Braemere Drain and cross the new bridge. Six bay horses feed on the paddock, one of them watching me intently. I reach Fielden Lane, a busy road and turn right towards Burton Pidsea. A huge flock of Rooks and Jackdaws takes flight, apparently spooked by a hunting Buzzard. I take Back Lane and walk to St Peter and St Paul church, a 12th century, Grade 1 listed, building, the construction with cobble and stone dressings and some brick. There is a small park by the church, with wildlife garden features. It's time to turn round, but to make it more interesting I walk back by Greens Lane and then join Burstwick Drain by the golf course and make my way back to Burstwick bus stop.

Horse at Braemere Farm. 

A large flock of Rooks and Jackdaws flew up and away from...

...a Buzzard.

St Peter and St Paul church at Burton Pidsea.

A pair of Swan Geese and two goslings was an odd sight at Burton Pidsea.

Mill at Burton Pidsea. 

Yellowhammer.

I had never seen a field planted with Fennel.

Linnet.

Curlew at Thack Carr.

A Swift over Burstwick.

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.