My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen

 A dry walk today which was most welcome after a couple of very soggy days, which served to confirm that my coat really needs re-waterproofing. I've sorted that today and the coat is drying in the sun as I write this blog.

I found a couple of specimens of one of my favourite plants today - Wild Arum aka Lords-and-Ladies:

Lords-and-Ladies have red poisonous berries

 Earlier in the morning at silly o'clock I was down on the sea front enjoying the tranquility of the early morning and watching the waves break on an almost empty beach. A little more wind would have been nice to whip up a bit of spindrift, but that will come soon enough in autumn and winter!!

Almost spindrift in the early morning sun

Not much was visible out at sea through the bins, but I did see a flock of about 40 Common Scoter flying north and 9 Sandwich Terns also going north. A Common Gull was on its own on the beach and wouldn't fly off despite a dog walker coming along.

An uncommon Common Gull

Further out, the off shore wind turbines are multiplying as Hornsea 1 and 2 come on stream, which is great for renewable energy, but some of them are positioned wrongly and are a threat to feeding Gannets. Those further to the south off Withernsea were just about visible.

Wind turbines off Withernsea

Westermost Rough wind farm off Hornsea, with passing Cormorants

Back to my local patch and first field edge is almost submerged after the rain and is strewn with beached vegetation. A couple of Common Sandpipers were on there.

Common Sandpipers on first field edge

Our pair of Kestrels and their young have dispersed and haven't been seen for a while so it was nice to see one of the birds back over second field this morning:

Kestrel hovering over second field bank

Not many Swifts or hirundines this morning and I guess this may be the last photo I get of Swifts this year (taken yesterday).

One of two Swifts over second field

Back home, as I was putting my coat outside to dry after re-proofing it, I spotted a grasshopper on the patio. Looks like a Field Grasshopper to me.

Sunday Walkies

 I set off to visit Seaton Pond this morning to have a look at the dragonflies but I got waylaid and didn't make it. The sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher and subsequent watching consumed more time than I realised, but it was worth it.

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Spotted Flycatcher near Wassand car park

The photos are poor quality as I was equipped with my Nikon bridge camera today ready to get photos of dragonflies. The Nikon is great for close up photography but is very  poor for zoomed images. Time to change it I think as I'm done with messing about with technology that doesn't work as it should.

On the way over I stopped off at first field as a couple of Little Ringed Plovers were there again. These photos were taken at the equivalent of an 800mm lens with the Nikon P900, but had I used my Canon DSLR they would have been much better and clearer:

Little Ringed Plovers on first field edge

Can't make out the eye ring which was obvious through bins

 At Ouzel Hedge there were lots of birds flitting around, mostly Reed Buntings, but there were at least 2 Whitethroat and a Garden Warbler with a few Willow Warblers and a Chiff Chaff. I haven't seen or heard Whitethroat at all this month until now so I was pleased with this record.

While I was looking for dragonflies at Wassand I wandered off piste a little and came across a small patch of Fleabane being visited by a few Green-veined White butterflies. They were very worn but still managing to get about OK.

Green-veined White butterfly on fleabane

Male and female Migrant Hawker dragonflies were the only species I managed this morning, but they were plentiful with at least 10 individuals sighted.

In the set aside field I saw Painted Lady butterfly again, having seen my first of the year there yesterday. Just like number 19 buses these butterflies 😂

Painted Lady butterfly

So although I didn't get to my planned destination I had a good morning on all three fronts - a reasonable walk at about 7 miles, fine wildlife and some nice photo opportunities. All this in warm sunny weather, what more could you ask!?

Black and White Day

 Every now and again you have a morning where everything is monochrome. The sky was grey, the sea was grey, the sand looked grey, the birds were black and white...

A groyne joining the black and white themed day

Sandwich Terns on the beach

Sandwich Terns off the beach

Immature Gannet heading for Bempton I guess

Little Gulls feeding over the Mere

Common Tern at the Mere

Pied Wag - pity the grass was green :)

The sun has been absent without leave for some days now, but things are looking brighter on the forecast.

Cliff Walk and a Seal

I had a walk down the cliffs this morning in a cool north easterly breeze, hoping to see something a little out of the ordinary. This is the third day we've had a very leaden sky with no hint of the sun, but at least the mist has gone.

It was a very quiet walk I have to say, with the only sounds on land or over it being a pair of Goldfinches and a few remaining Sand Martins. No Meadow Pipits were seen or heard, likewise Skylark, Linnet, Reed Bunting and any other bird species apart from Crow.

There were a few birds out at sea though to capture my attention, along with the highlight of the morning - a seal.

Seal - too far away to say Grey or Common

Seal in foreground, 7 Wigeon in background

Also out there, a couple of Sandwich Terns were calling as they flew north, feeding as they went, and several Gannets further out.

The usual morning flight of Cormorants made their way from the Mere out to sea and these four seemed to go into an aerobatic routine as they passed by.

Cormorant aerobatics team do their best

but the judge isn't impressed and just looks on with a stony face -

A trio of Mallards was thinking about going into the surf but they still hadn't taken the plunge as I passed out of sight. We don't see many ducks on the beach here in Hornsea so they were out of the ordinary, just what I hoped for 😂

Sun, Sea and Sands

The walking is going OK. I'm not covering the miles I did last month for some reason as I feel somewhat jaded. We'll see how things go but I'm at 1,345 miles for the year.

Sun

An early morning start and, as has been the norm recently, the weather was fine, warm and sunny.

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Sunrise over the boat launch tractors

Sunflower rising at the set-aside field

Sea

A boat with passing Gannet

 Not a lot else happening out there really!

Sands

A few Common Sandpipers were on KP and took off when they heard my soft-footed approach. Note to self - work on yer field craft a bit more.

Common Sandpipers leaving the scene

 

Through the fields on the Mere's south side the birds have gone into silent mode. The daily sound of Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Skylark and others is sadly absent now. Chiff Chaff and Willow Warblers can still be heard intermittently and their young are now all over the bushes and trees.

Juv Willow Warbler

 

Common Terns out on the Mere also have young ones but these are making more noise and want feeding.

Juv Common Tern

Apart from a couple of Hobby and a close fly by of a Sparrowhawk, the rest of the walk went by enjoyably and peacefully 😎

Hobby

Sparrowhawk