Spurn.....what a day !!

We were going to head to Hemswell Car Boot today as Simon is looking for an Aladdin paraffin heater for his greenhouse. It's the sort of thing that crops up at car boots among the piles of rusty nails ! They don't make these heaters anymore, typical as they are brilliant and all we have now are Chinese imported piles of rubbish. But we were up late and after looking at the pager we knew Spurn was the place to be. 

Birds were everywhere, falling from the skies, one of those magical days that are very rare these days. We didn't get any further than Sammy's Point. The first bird we saw was a male ring ouzel followed by another and another. The bushes were alive with ouzels, redwings, blackbirds and fieldfares and it was fantastic. We headed down into the bottom of the ditch where they were all coming for a drink. just got settled, happy to watch the birds until a local chap in a florescent yellow coat walked down with 3 terriers and flushed the lot. The pics we could have got.......

So we headed down the path along the paddocks to see what else was about. Thrushes were still dropping from the sky, literally thousands of them. Our binoculars were full everywhere we looked. Simon soon found himself a yellow-browed warbler and attracted a good friendly crowd. Ring ouzels were in every bush but as soon as they landed on top, they disappeared into the bushes never to be seen again ! We estimated we saw around 30 ouzels, a yellow-browed, blackcaps, chiffchaffs, 3 short-eared owls, 1000's of redwing, a flock of brambling, what a flipping good day !!

Curlew

A few ring ouzels coming down for a drink, a never ending stream until a dog walker well and truly put paid to it

Ouzels and ouzels !

Lots of stonechats

and a self-found yellow-browed warbler. A fantastic day !

This deserves a post of it's own !

Jumbo haddock and small chips !  OMG absolutely delicious from Johnsons of Gainsborough. Just look at it, I am slavering just looking at that fish. It was white and flakey and the batter was crispy and it was flipping yummy ! Never tire of eating good fish and chips and we haven't had any for months so being as it was double pension day we treated ourselves with a drive over to Gainsborough. Well worth it x

Last weeks bits and bobs

 

Lots of stonechats around

Dunlin

Blue Tit

Stonechat

Robin

Dunlin

Our garden

A spud harvest and we still have a few more to go. These are absolutely delicious. Simply rub under the tap to clean, paint with olive oil and sprinkle on sea salt then bake in the oven......scrumptious !

Our new greenhouse is finally completed and is now filling with plants. Pixi has also moved in and loves it !

Pink-footed geese over the garden

and one day last week these flew over 

Local woodland fungi

 

Collared Earthstar, one of our favourites

Our woodland floor is starting to come alive with beautiful fungi. It will soon be in full glorious bloom and I am sure it will be stunning this year. Watch this space !

Blacktoft Sands

A few waders from Singleton Hide a couple of weeks ago, the day before the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper turned up. A couple of very enjoyable hours in the hide with plenty on the lagoon including Dunlin,  Curlew Sandpipers, Spotted Redshank, Ruff and a good supporting cast. A few pics below. 

and lots of Pink-footed Geese over

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, RSPB Blacktoft Sands

 

What a day !  Both up to our necks in gardening with literally stones of tomatoes being harvested, the plants shredded and Simon digging them back into the ground as compost. It's a massive task but the sun was shining and seemed a good day for the job. My phone rang, JH ringing from south Wales......have you seen your pager, are you there ?  Tomatoes dropped and off to Blacktoft we went. It's really not too far for us (20 minutes max) so we were soon pulling into a packed car park (which fills me with dread!). The hide was stuffed to the gills and the bird was as far away as you can imagine, on the far mud. Very difficult to pick out as viewing was severely restricted on the left hand side of the hide due to the location of the bird and reeds obscuring views. But see it we did and Simon took a few pics before we beat a retreat. Far too busy and with more and more people cramming into the hide it was the right choice. Only our second sharp-tailed sandpiper in the UK. A brilliant couple of hours with the staff at Blacktoft well organised as ever. If it hangs around we can always go again.