Late Summer at Spurn

Martin Standley August 31, 2025

We had a very nice few days at the caravan this week. mainly spent chilling and absorbing the peace an tranquility of Spurn. The mornings were beautiful, days relaxing were sublime and the sunset was magnificent. A spectacular storm on the second night just added to the whole experience-wonderful.

I was up early on Wednesday morning and a look on Beacon Ponds yielded a nice sunrise with some common waders and the remnants of the little tern colony-most of which will be on their way to wintering grounds in Africa.

The morning also had a flypast of the biggest flock of glossy ibises ever to be seen at Spurn (the previous record was 3) I heard a call on the radio that they were heading south past Easington. Its always a lottery when birds heading south are called out-do yo stand on the Humber? Head for the Warren or stay where you are? I chose the latter so I walked from the caravan to ‘Wozzers’ bench and sure enough about 5 minutes late the flock appeared and they were heading straight towards me. Their flight was almost effortless as the cut into the south westerly breeze. At one point I thought they were foing to land in Well Field but alas they carried on heading south.

During the day it was time for relaxing although a few willow emerald damselflies were a nice distraction.

We spent the evening watching the sun going down sat utside the caravan with a nice glass of wine.

Unfortunately electrical issues prevented ne from setting up the moth trap but the trail camera produced some entertaining footage of badgers in the garden.

On Thursday morning I was up early but a very clear start to the day, with bigh tide not being while after 10am had me heading to try a new spot.

I was watching waders on the incoming tide with the sun behind me in perfect light. All I needed was some subjects!

Little egrets were most obliging and I didn’t see a very close marsh harrier until it was too late. As the tide pushed in, some waders came close and it was nice ‘target practice’ to carry on getting used to my new gear-I’m getting more and more impressed with it each time I use it!

The next major event is Migfest in the middle of september. For anyone lucky enough to have got a ticket (they all sold out in July) I will be doing my usual photography workshops on both days.

So concludes another fant

Little tern (with Spurn tern wardens de-camping in the background)

Migfest 2025 (Preview)

Martin Standley August 20, 2025

Well the most prestigious wildlife festival of the year is almost upon us. Such is the draw of this event, tickets were sold out weeks ago.

For anyone attending with an interest in photography or just wanting to make the most of their visit to Spurn, I will be holding my usual photography workshops.

Both sessions are between 9am-11am but places are limited to make sure that you book at the main reception in advance.

I will be talking about settings, composition, light, fieldcraft and much more. There will be a focus on making the most of your trip to Spurn that includes the importance of tide times, weather conditions and what could be expected throughout different times of the year.

I will also be running my stand in the main marquee so will be available throughout the weekend for more detailed knowledge sharing. I also have a limited set of A4 prints for sale all proceeds going to Spurn bird Observatory.

Each year there is a ‘bird of the weekend’ and a few photos from years past are below.

See you there!

Migfest 2019-Terns heading north at dawn

Migfest 2023-Spoonbills over Kilnsea Wetlands

Masked Shrike from 2014 around the same time as Migfest this year-who knows what might turn up!

Clouded Yellows

Martin Standley August 5, 2025

Compared to recent years, 2025 has been an exceptional year for butterflies.

We moved in to our new house in the Autumn of last year and after spending some time creating spaces for wildlife, I was pleased to count 14 differenst species visiting.

Locally there have been some great counts of common butterflies and Spurn has had its best ever year for number of species recorded.

I was hoping, however that given the fantastic conditions, there might be a showing from my favourite UK butterfly-the clouded yellow.

Clouded yellow don’t breed in the UK but are generally seen annually in select locations usually after favourable winds.

I’d heard of a few in East Yorkshire and last week got a tip off that a few were showing in a meadow in South Holderness.

I went last week in unfavourable conditions and managed to see one skulking in damp vegetation.The next time i went it was bright, hot and sunny. The buterflies in the meadow were like confetti at a wedding. Mainly large and small whites with green-veined mixed in. A closer look revealed common blue and small tortoiseshel with the odd, worn meadow brown.

And there, like turbo charged pac men a flurry of clouded yellows were bombing up and down.

A conservative count yielded 12 and despite numerous scans accross the meadow I couldnt get the count any higher.

But woe what a priveledge, an honour to see such a spectacle and because of all of the pressures our natural world is under, a spectacle I thought I would never see, at least in the UK.

Clouded yellows are the epitome of Summer, the Ladybird book What To Look For In Summer has an iconic image and description that takes me right back to the golden years of the seventies when I was just starting out on my natural world adventure. To see a clouded yellow then would have been almost mythical as my knowledge was only as limited to the common butterflies we saw in our garden and on our allotment.

Whilst I couldnt quite replicate the image, the feeling of travelling back in time was very real.

Seeing clouded yellows and all of the other butterflies at the weekend was more than just an observation. It was a journey back in time and for a few hours, all was well with the world.

Late Summer at Spurn

Migfest 2025 (Preview)

Clouded Yellows

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