October 2026 Almost Done

 The last few weeks have been hard going trying to find and capture images of the wildlife that is coming and going through the autumn bird migration period. Finding the birds has been more difficult for me this year as I'm not doing the miles anymore. Where I used to visit multiple sites during a walk, I find I can only cover one or two now. For example the promenade, north cliffs, KP and the south side was a good route taking in the sea, cliffs, beach and Mere but involved walking over 8 miles. Consequently this post is sadly lacking in new or different species.

 

Never mind, life goes on and so do I 😀

 

We've had up to five Great White Egrets at the Mere in the past week and here are more than enough shots of them.

Great White Egret in flight

Two GWEs in Bull Hole

Two GWEs over the Mere

 I've taken loads of photos of Mere birds as they have been the easiest to access. Common enough species and always good to see.

Male Shoveler in eclipse

Pintail

Teal taking off

A few Scaup in with Tufted Ducks

Common Buzzard being hassled by a crow

Kestrel along Southorpe

Grey Heron over the hide roof

 From the sea front I've scraped together a few images to provide a flavour of what's been seen.

Westermost Rough is always picturesque

Hornsea sea front from the south

Common Scoters going south

Hornsea beach with a ridge showing the tide's reach over the week

Flamborough Head in a bit of haze

My first Turnstone of the autumn - taken this morning

 Elsewhere there was a plague of Whiteflies all over town. I looked them up for an id and it turns out they are Aleyrodidae - which didn't help me much! 

Whiteflies

 Autumn is the time for fungi so here is a pic of one species that is well known. 

Shaggy Inkcap aka Lawyer's wig

I've walked along the railway line a few times in the hope of getting decent views of theRedwing and Fieldfare that are arriving now. No show I'm afraid (although there have been good numbers at the Mere). Here's a view of the railway line instead.

The old Hornsea railway line

That's all folks for now and I'll leave you with one of the ever-present mammal species that never fail to appear during a walk.

The usual suspect - Roebuck at Wassand