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: Garton and Grimston

A pleasant day with light cloud and a cool breeze, I take a couple of buses to Garton. There is some waiting time at Hornsea in between them, and I walk north to the edge of the defences doing some recording. Linnets and Goldfinches are feeding on dandelion seeds on the lawn of the Floral Hall. Its amusing to see how linnets jump on the stem to make the seeds more accessible. A group of about a dozen Swifts chase around the cliff, their vibrant squeals a wondeful soundscape. As I walk back to catch the bus, a find a male Stonechat on the bank of the sea wall, a bird I don't expect this time of the year. 

Linnet eating sunflower seeds.

Goldfinch eating sunflower seeds.

Male Stonechat.

Chasing Swifts.

A bit late, bus 129 turns up. It's the same driver than the Spurn Explorer, a true gentleman, he even stops the traffic to let some old ladies with zimmer frames cross the road after they alight. He remembers I'm walking the Holderness villages. The dearth of bus service between Hornsea and Withernsea means that I get to Garton at 10:30, and I must be back for the last bus of the day at 14:26. I had planned a third village for the day, Fitling, but given the interest of the walk I am slower than usual and I leave Fitling for another day. I start by visiting the churchyard at Garton, more properly Garton-in-Holderness (or East Garton), to distinguish it from Garton in the Wolds. The fact that many medieval churches in Holderness are made with local cobbles, collected from fields or the beach is something I take for granted, but they have a special character grounding them in the landscape. In addition, the cobbles, dragged by glaciers from distant rock formations have different chemical features that mean they offer a diverse substrate for lichens. Over 40 lichen species were found in a lichen survey carried out in 2017. I am keen to move onto the neighbouring community young woodland. A Green Woodpecker calls, and I see it flying across the road moments later. I take the public right of way through the old Poplar farm, where I'm greeted by a friendly donkey and a turkey displaying to chickens, while Swallows come in an out of the derelict outbuildings. Soon, I'm at St Michael's community woodland. I first walk the perimeter of the growing wood, a Willow Warbler singing. then I get to the pond, where I spend some time watching and recording dragonflies.

St Michael's church.

Turkey.

The friendly donkey.

Painted Lady.

Reed Bunting singing at the pond.

Four-spotted Chaser.

Small Skipper.

The pond of St Michael's wood.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

I continue to the gate of the woodland using a broad mowed path. A Roe Deer buck along the path stands and stares at me for a moment before bounding away. I then take the road to Grimston, and the sea. The land rises and, by a wheat field flanked by a grassy shallow bank by a ditch, I surprise a Corn Bunting carrying food. A male is singing from the wires, but it flies closer and then away along the road, appearing to entice me away from his presumed partner and the nest. I get great views, the sea in the horizon, as the male Corn Bunting lands on the fence at Moat Farm, which is on the site of the original Grimston Hall. The farm now sits very close to the edge of the cliff. I take a quick look at the sea view (top shot), where the path turns inland around Corn Bunting field. This large field has a broad margin with wildflowers, which bodes well for the continued success of the Corn Buntings.

Roe Deer buck.

Female Corn Bunting with food on the wheat field.

Male Corn Bunting at Moat Farm.

I have a quick look at the coast (top shot). A Curlew calls repeatedly from the beach. I continue towards the wooded hall grounds. This parish has more woodland than usual at Holderness, with the young community woodland, another woodland at Garton and the perimeter belt and parkland of Grimston Hall. A comparison between the 1908 OS map and the current satellite map shows that the woodland cover is more extensive. It is nice to be in the shade in the middle of the day. The path is being guarded by a Red Admiral. I weave across the grounds of the hall, and find a bench overlooking a sheep field, where young Jackdaws are pestering their parents for food. There is also a Rookery, but it's hard to see the nests through the foliage. Another Green Woodpecker flies over.

Common Blue.

Corn Bunting Field.

A ha-ha at Grimston Park.

The stables of Grimston Hall with their castellated tower.

Young Jackdaw, in the centre, with its parents.

Rook.

The quaint village of Grimston with a red telephone box.

This bench is much posher than the one I took my lunch on.

I leave the village or hamlet as there is no church or pub, and take the road back to Garton. An Oystercatcher is feeding on top of a manure pile by the road, but it flies off before I can take a photo. I check the bus timetable again. No time for Fitling, but I walk around Garton before sitting down by the bus stop for the long trip back home.

Oystercatcher.

Blue mill, at Garton.

Speckled Wood.

Pied Wagtail.