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: Out Newton and Burton Constable

It is overcast thanks to the northeasterly wind that has dominated the last few days. The wind has cooled the east side of the UK and spared us the heatwave that is afflicting the rest of the country. It hasn't rained in weeks, and the wheat is either already harvested or ready for it, all golden and proud on the fields. As I walk from Skirlaugh (8:10, East Yorks, 24 bus) and take Ellerby Road a Skylark rises and starts singing and a second and a third join it from other parts of the field. I decide to take a detour and walk on the Hornsea Railway trail to New Ellerby instead of the main road. It pays off, Yellowhammer, young Linnets, Blue Tits and Whitethroats along the track. Swifts and Swallows fly over New Ellerby. Today's main aim is West Newton, which involves walking around the perimeter of the Burton Constable estate, along Marton.

Linnet.

Blue Tit juvenile.

Young Whitethroat, its parent alarm-calling nearby.

Yellowhammer.

A Swift with a bulging throat full of insects.

Swallows.

Letterbox cottage.

This sign makes me realise I might have missed High Fosham for my village list. I check when I get home and I realise is just a couple of farms, but I'm giving it a miss today as the walk is long enough.

As I get to the corner of West Newton road I stop for a break. West Newton is a very elongated hamlet and I don't plan to walk to the end of it. As I walk along I hear the unmistakable call of a Quail. Again! I get my phone ready to record the call and eventually I manage. It is a field either fallow or with a mixed crop.  A Roe Deer watches me as I record, the call coming from its direction, but impossible to see the bird with the tall cover. This is my first Quail and it appears they are having a great year in the UK, with a much higher reporting rate than usual in Birdtrack. After the exciting Quail encounter I explore the hamlet a bit longer. There is a colony of House Martins and plentiful sparrows. A Starling alarm calls at the sight of a Buzzard. The Burton Constable estate is very wooded and was one of the first areas where Buzzards settled when they recolonised East Yorkshire. Great to know they are still doing well. 

Roe Deer.

Starling.

A cottage in West Newton.

I carry on to Burton Constable cafe, where I have my lunch. After making an enquiry to check that I can leav the grounds via the holiday park, I get my grounds ticket and head for the lake. The north section of the lake is blanketed by yellow lilies, a sight to behold. The sun makes brief appearances and butterflies and dragonflies follow suit.

Burton Constable Hall.

The Sperm Whale skeleton.

There is a cordon and new plaque by the ancient Sweet Chestnut that states that this is the oldest Sweet Chestnut in East Yorkshire with a girth of 7.8 m. It dates back to the late 16th or early 17th century. I remember making a rough measurement of the tree with the help of my kids years ago and reporting the tree to the Ancient Tree Hunt website so I feel I've somehow contributed to the recognition and protection of the magnificent tree.

Jackdaw.

A Mute Swan navigating the lilies.

Yellow Lily fruits and Great Pond Snails. 

A view of the North Lake

Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

I leave the holiday park and make my way to Sproatley, where I'm keen not to miss my 277 bus to Hull at 13:48. I have some time and I explore the Arboretum, where I find my first adult Long-winged conehead of the year. As I walk on the village, I find a couple of Holly Blues feeding on snowberry flowers and near them, a Purple Hairstreak! I'm just underneath an oak. I take some photos and as I carry on and in the canopy of a different oak, a flurry of Purple Hairstreaks! I manage to photograph three at once. What a way to finish the day!

Long-winged Conehead.

A view of the grand holiday park entrance.

Some decorative vases in the arboretum.

Holly Blue.

Purple Hairstreak.

Find the three Purple Hairstreaks.

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.