Skegness is so bracing! But, like this cow, we prefer the quiet life…

The first day of our latest adventure in Bessie finds us in Lincolnshire and camped on the gravel drive of a little certificated site near Boston.  We arrived in the afternoon yesterday and, in spite of the warning from our genial campsite owner, attempted to park Bessie on the grass behind his house – the normal area for camping.  We reversed up with no trouble but soon found we could not move an inch forwards.  We were stuck.  Luckily our host had a four by four with a chain and he managed to haul us back down to the drive.  That will teach us to think we know best!

So, we are camping on his front drive, luckily able to plug into the electricity in his garage (good job our cable is a long one!) and our hose just about reaches the water pipe if we reverse up a bit.  A bit weird but it’s cheap!

The area is rich in birdlife and we decided to start with a visit to Gibraltar Point, a wonderful nature reserve run by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.  Although it is situated on the Wash a mile or so south of Skegness, it is necessary to drive through that seaside town, memorably featuring on those wonderful 1930s John Hassall posters for the Great Northern Railway, to reach it.

It was probably a wonderful place for good family fun in those innocent times, but today it looks rather lurid and tawdry.

The road leading to the delightful Gibraltar Point takes us past sturdy middle-class villas and a magnificent golf course.  There are two car parks and for £3 you can park all day in both or either of them.  The first one is the starting point for three hides on the coast side set in marshy land leading to the sea wall.

The day is bright and sunny – no coats needed – and the first hide opens out onto a lovely mere edged in reeds.

There are quite a few Mallards but also these lovely Black-tailed Godwits and their little Dunlin friend, all very successfully camouflaged.

We noticed several dragonflies skimming past us and this one handily landed on a post:

We passed some cows on our way to the sea wall – this one seemed quite content to provide a comfy resting place for a magpie, as did the dreamy white cow in the featured image above!

Some steps lead up to Mill Hill from where you can see the sweep of the Wash below.

A Redshank was walking along the shore:

From another hide we found these sweet little Grey Plovers, engaging in what looked suspiciously like a energetic courtship dance!

A beautiful Little Egret landed and came close to the hide, enabling me to capture this close-up.

We drove a few hundred yards to the main car park where there is a visitor centre, complete with a shop and cafe.  We decided to have a latte and a piece of cake each.  The coffee was nice but the cake a little dry – probably because it was the end of the day.  We visited a couple more hides, one in woodland where there were plenty of bird feeders and plenty of customers, including several fairly agressive goldfinches!

Quiet reflection in a pond beneath the feeders:

From another hide there were several Shovelers to be seen – this male looks particularly striking.

And a group of colourful Teals:

Overhead there was a fly-past of Greylags:

These Mallards look glorious in the evening sunlight:

The boats lined up along the nearby bank glowed…So, it was back through lovely Skegness and a journey of about 30 miles back to our gravel drive in Kirton End…