Should've Stayed In Bed

Yesterday was Bev's day off so, despite the cold easterly winds, we went out walking and birding for the day with Kylie. We've been exploring the (highly recommended) disused railway line from Scarborough to Whitby in recent weeks, however, we decided to try another disused line, the Hudson Way, running from Beverley to Market Weighton, for a change. To be honest, it was the most boring walk we've ever been on. Just mile upon mile of trees, gravel, thick brambles and, well, that's about it. I wasn't expecting Kilimanjaro, sweeping dune fields or stampeding Wildebeest but this was the pits. The trees were so dense that you couldn't see any Wold's scenery, apart from a breif glimpse of a few golf bores. Even the birds stopped singing. I commented early on that there was very little litter about and now I know why - people lose the will to live after half an hour and commit suicide in the hedgerow.

In a desperate attempt to salvage the day, we spotted a promising place on the map called Watton Nature Reserve. After a short drive we found ourselves walking beside a land drain next to the River Hull. This was slightly better but there were notices everywhere put up by the Environment Agency politeley reminding you to F**k Off, Go Away Now and Entertain Yourself in some other Manner. The only bird hide, positioned behind a wire fence, covered in Are You Still Here? signs was accessible for a mere £2.50 per person, no dogs allowed, closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I've never been to such an unfriendly place, so we decided to have an early tea and go to the bird colony at the RSPB Bempton Cliff reserve.

Result! Plenty of birds, hardly anyone around but so COLD and windy. We had four layers on and it was still absolutely bl**dy freezing. I couldn't hold my binoculars still enough to see anything. It didn't matter because my eyes were running so much that the world was just a blur. After 10 minutes we'd had enough and returned home. We did see a few Puffins, Gannets and Kittywakes for our efforts but we were glad to get back to a warm house and a hot shower.