A Magical Sunset at the End of a Wet Day.

It had been raining all day today when we decided to take Jet for a quick walk around Irby Dales late in the afternoon.  Not expecting to do any photography, I left the camera in the car.  I should have known better.  As the light began to fade the sky in the west began to clear and we were treated to the most magnificent sunset as the sinking sun lit up the whole sky.  Amazing.

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Atlantic Grey Seals at Donna Nook, Linconshire Coast.

I made my annual trip to see the Atlantic grey seals at Donna Nook nature reserve on the Lincolnshire coast today.  Living so close it's an easy trip but it is to be recommended to anyone interested in wildlife; it is one the best wildlife spectacles this country has to offer.  Donna Nook is home to around 3000 grey seals and in November and December they come ashore onto the beach and dunes to pup and mate.  Around 1000 pups are born each year and this year the first one arrived on October 25th.  On 8th November there were 218 pups, 427 cows and 278 bulls. As well as the seals it was good to see large flocks of brent geese and impressive wader flocks feeding out on the beach and mudflats, every so often rising and whirling like smoke before settling back down to feed.

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Autumn Colour at Swallow Vale

Had an excellent walk with the dog, Jet, today around Swallow Vale Woods on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.  It was a beautifully sunny Autumn afternoon with the beeches absolutely glowing with Autumn colour.

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Autumn at Horsehoe Point

I needed to do some retakes for my photography degree so a trip to Horseshoe Point on the Humber Estuary was in order.  Picking up Jet first, we set off, arriving in the car park ready for our lunch which we enjoyed before the walk.  It was a beautiful afternoon with a rising tide and a large tanker tied up and offloading at the monobuoy out in the estuary.  The bird life had changed shifts since my last visit; gone were the noisy breeding avocets and their place was taken by brent geese and large mixed wader flocks.  It was good to see large numbers of starlings and linnets too.  Photography over, we began our journey back along the beach enjoying the views of the wader flocks whirling and twisting like smoke as the caught the light; they were being driven off the mudflats by the rising tide, flying up and settling again.  The bird of the day, though, was the beautiful short-eared owl which took from in front of us and drifted moth like over the dunes; beautiful.

Tanker tied up at Tetney Monobuoy.