On yer bike!

I left Ewell on 22nd July. I caught the train up to Hull & cycled to Janet's house on Holderness Road. It was great to see her again & we enjoyed a lovely meal together on Hull Marina.

Janet & me!

Good fit girl?

The next day we had a wander around the Old Town & had lunch with Jen. It was nice to see her again & catch up on all the news.

Hull is the City of Culture in 2017!

The Moths are a reference to Amy Johnson
 (who came from Hull) & flew her plane Gypsy Moth
across the Atlantic Ocean.

That evening I met up with Jim & we enjoyed a nice jazz group at Hull Truck Theater.  We enjoyed a bit of a late night! It was great to see him again & we might plan a couple of trips together next year.

Looking good boy!

Yours truly & Martin

Plus Amanda of course!

Amanda with a female 

Polecat Ferret!

One of the many babies!

Antonia.

On 24th July I cycled to Beverley to stay with Martin & Amanda. We enjoyed a great evening in, talking & watching TV. They now have eighteen ferrets! What?

It's brilliant!

The pub is 100 m away!

The view from the observatory & pub.

Humber Estuary.

Lots of information here for visitors.

The huge new Heliogoland Trap at Kew.

Common Starling

I cycled to Kilnsea the next day to stay at the brand new Spurn Bird Observatory. And what a place it is! It is brilliant! So different from the old observatory & the many days I spent there when I was young. Had a great night in the pub with Mike Ibbotson, Lance, Johnny Mac & Paul Collins.  Great to see you guys again. It has been a while!

Bill, Rob, Gary & me at The Warren.

Looking north from The Warren

The breach of the peninsular.

Beacon Ponds

Kilnsea Wetlands

Gary, Rob & Bill.

Lance

Along the coast towards Easington.

Great Cormorant

One of at least 12 Little Egrets in the area.

Mute Swan

Pied Avocet

A young one: breeding in the area now.

Common Gull

A mixed flock of terns & Black headed Gulls.

Black head Gull, Sandwich & Common Terns

Common & Sandwich Tern

Little Gull

Rob Adams drove over to see me the next morning, But he had a little surprise for me in the forms of Bill & Gary who are great old friends from my Thorne days. I left Thorne over 43 years ago! Amazing to think really. We enjoyed a great day out doing a little birding a lot of talking & even a bit of drinking in the pub!

I left the next day & caught the train back down to Ewell. I arrived a little earlier than planned, as two friendly builders gave me & my bike a lift into Hull as it was pouring down with rain! Thanks guys, that was great! Hope to see you both again.