When first created the Spurn Migration Festival was held at Westmere Farm, where I stay. The farmer, Andrew Wells, built an observation platform at the eastern end of "the big barn" mainly, at that time , so that exhibitors of optical equipment could be afforded views over to the North Sea. Since then it's been extended up to another level and provides open views of the whole area. A morning spent looking out for birds migrating through can be well spent along with a pot of tea to hand.
I'd decided to have a morning session and was able to take advantage of a warm, virtually calm morning with good visibility. The session provided a good selection of bird species including a dispersed party of Whimbrel calling excitedly as they made landfall. But, on this occasion , it wasn't birds that stole the show but a Brown Hare and a Stoat. The hare was feeding on an open area of grass just below the platform, the Stoat put in an appearance and proceeded to stalk the hare using a variety of strategies and cover. The hare seemed oblivious to all this as the drama enfolded. The whole episode took on a military element of contain and strike except the hare continuously moved its position and frustrated things! No drama set in the savannahs of Africa could have been as spellbinding as the drama continued, eventually being almost half an hour in duration. The Stoat tried so hard, but eventually the hare moved away into open space even further away and the whole thing fell apart!!
Set aside the Mustelids and enter the Lionesses !
Well done , girls ! Just as dramatic, I enjoyed every minute.
The afternoon provided a phenomena worth experiencing too. The NE wind had strengthened and a quite dense sea fret had formed over the coast and inland for 200m or so. The alternative was to go on Humberside which, by contrast, was quite hot and produced very little.
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