Spurn

I wanted to ask about autumn bird migration and whether you experience much of it.

I've just spent the weekend at Spurn Bird Festival.

I think that's...

Yes, Spurn Point is up the coast, isn't it? Yes, it is.

Humberside.

The bird festival is Migfest, which focuses on just that.

The highlight for me was watching mixed flocks of herondines passing over Spurn Point.

It put a huge smile on my face.

He had taken no steps, however, to check the levying and equipment of forces in the northern counties, and an army of 3,300 men were before long prepared to take the field under Balliol and the confederated English nobles.

The invaders took ship at Ravenspur, a harbour near Spurn Head in Yorkshire, famous in after years as the landing place of Henry IV's invasion, but now long since buried in the sea.

They made for and safely reached Kinghorn in Fifeshire, where the undisciplined crowd which flocked to oppose their disembarkation were soon put to flight by the showers of arrows poured upon them from the English ships.

They then marched westward by Dunfermin underneath Perth, and finally took up a strong position in the heart of the country with the river Erne in their front.

Josh, I'll start with you.

For any listeners who don't know, where is Spurn, and what exactly is MigFest?

Yeah, so Spurn's situated at the southeast corner of Yorkshire at this very south end of the Holderness coastline.

Um, it's a long promontory, sandy spit really, that sticks out into the Humber Estuary.

Uh, the Humber itself is several miles wide, so it forms this natural barrier for migration, uh, or attraction for, for migrant birds as well i-i-in some cases, uh, sort of in Eastern England.

Uh, and Spurn's position kind of at the south, uh, southernmost point of Yorkshire and at the, on the north side of the Humber, uh, means that it's a place...

It's a bit of a bottleneck for migratory birds o-of all varieties really.

Um, it's very well-positioned being on the east coast to receive direct arrivals during easterly weather, nice fall conditions.

He had taken no steps, however, to check the levying and equipment of forces in the northern counties, and an army of 3,300 men were before long prepared to take the field under Balliol and the confederated English nobles.

The invaders took ship at Ravenspur, a harbour near Spurn Head in Yorkshire, famous in after years as the landing place of Henry IV's invasion, but now long since buried in the sea.

They made for and safely reached Kinghorn in Fifeshire, where the undisciplined crowd which flocked to oppose their disembarkation were soon put to flight by the showers of arrows poured upon them from the English ships.

They then marched westward by Dunfermline underneath Perth, and finally took up a strong position in the heart of the country with the river Erne in their front.