Virtual Tour of Spurn and district

The Spurn area offers dramatic scenery, spectacular views over the Humber estuary and the ugly sight of several thousand waxed jackets chasing after a tiny, bald, starving, tiny storm-fucked Pallas's Warbler in early November.

We start off with light refreshments in the famous Crown and Anchor public house:

A couple of pints led to a couple more.

Once I've got the taste, I just want to carry on.

Five pints in here.
There has been some good stuff in the car park of this pub.
Like Red-Flanked Bluetail and Pallas's Gropper
although that got brought here in a bag.

I'll tell you what let's pop into Easington to show you a few more places.

Might as well pop into 'Neppy' The Neptune.

First pub as you go into Easington from Kilnsea.

Not far from here is Easington Lagoon where there is stuff.

A couple of ciders in here just as a quencher
then a couple of Jack and cokes.

Just around the corner is The White Horse.

Near here in the last few years there's been Pine Grosbeak and a furkin White's Thrush.

Two lagers, a cider, Double Jack and a bag of Pork Scratchings in ere ya bastads.

The Marquis of Granby.
My local at home is also called the Marquis of Granby.
You can find me in there most days drinking with the kids and
feeding them only on pork scratchings and crisps..

I like Cheese 'n' Onion crisps.

I had some in ere along with three lagers, two ciders and a Jack ya bastads.

Berra get back to Kilnsea then....

En route to Kilnsea:
"Is that King's Kebabs?"
"Yes sir, what would you like?"
"D'ya deliver?
"Yes sir we do".
"Right I'll have some liver then!  Wi' chips and gravy.  Ya geddit?  I bet you've never heard that one before av ya? Eh?  D'ya deliver?...eh?...that's a good one..."
"Okay sir, what's the address?"
"I'm in Easington but I'm off back to Crown in Kilnsea soon"
"We don't deliver out there sir, sorry, we're based in Withersea, goodbye"
durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........
"Ya baaaastads.  Might as well av another pint in the Crown......"

Fell over.
Bastad.

..........

Hooked

Over on BirdingBlogs Big Tommy Mac (that's how I know him even though I've never met him) has asked the public to give their stories on how they became 'Hooked' on birds or birding.  Here, for what it's worth is my tu'penneth:

It all started long, long ago in the darkened playground of Hessle C of E Infants School whilst playing football.  Benny Sinclair, who wore a gumshield for football, was usually on the opposing side to me.  It was usually, well always, his lot against my lot.  The game (which revolved around breaks and dinners) ALWAYS ended up with his lot lining up along their goal line (perhaps 20 of them) and singing "We've got a wall...the wall saves the ball.....we've got a wall....the wall saves the ball..." to which my lot would hammer the 'ball' against their 'wall' usually to find that their 'wall' did indeed 'save the ball'.  Defence at its best.  Post match, Benny and I would discuss the game and talk tactics when one day I asked him what he did at the weekend.
"Me Dad took us to Spurn.  It's a hundred miles away and it's 20 miles long and there's millions of different birds there" said Benny.  Everything seemed bigger when you were a kid.
Fast forward a year or so after more discussions about the wondrous secret world of Spurn Point and there we were.  Benny and I, plus Benny's Dad who was a nurse which I found a bit odd as only women were nurses in my mind.  Lots of visits followed until the age of 15 when by that time we'd been joined by Adam and we were now travelling via the famous Connor and Graham bus services which dropped us at Spurn at 9:00 then picked back up around 16:00.  Now this can be a long day at Spurn on the odd occasion there is nothing to see and/or it's pissing down with rain or worse, so the Crown and Anchor was often visited for a bumper lunch of a couple of pints and a truly excellent basket of chips served up by Big Gay Kev who may or may not have thought we were legal.
I mean Alcohol-wise you sick-minded fuckers.

Big Gay Kev certainly took a shine to Adam and greeted him with an "Hiya Tiger!" every time we walked in, which always made me bend over double at the bar and piss myself laughing whilst pointing at Adam out of sight from Big Gay Kev, much to Adam's annoyance.

Let's face it, fuck the spectacle of thousands of wintering waders being spooked by a Peregrine against the backdrop of a dramatic estuary, or the excitement of rarities being found in the point dunes, chips in a basket and underage drinking served by Big Gay Kev who fancied Adam is literally all you need.

Chips in a basket, only these have scampi with them too.

We never used to get scampi with ours.

We just didn't order it.

Although I bet you could've got it if you wanted.

It was probably on the menu.

They used to use little pieces of Monkfish as scampi.

But before it got trendy as a food fish.

It was really cheap back then.

They even used to use Monkfish as lobster bait.

Now look at it.

I like Monkfish.

Nice meaty fish but not got loads of flavour.

You can add big flavours to it as it won't overpower the the Monkfish.

Which is good.

Got carried away there.

..............