East Yorkshire nature reserve gets television showcase

The BBC's Autumnwatch programme has visited Spurn Point to film migrating birds.

The finger of land jutting out into the Humber Estuary is a vital feeding site for birds flying south for the winter.

Presenters Chris Packham and Michela Strachan spent a day with wildlife wardens filming the birds before setting off to their next destination.

The item will be broadcast on Friday 14 October.

The 3.5 mile (5.6km) long peninsula is run as a nature reserve by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT).

Warden Martin Batt said he hoped the television exposure would encourage more visitors.

"This is fantastic for us," he said. "Because, it is doing what we always want to do which is bring a higher profile to the nature of eastern Yorkshire.

"We know it's great, but not enough people outside our area know it's good."

According to YWT, wildfowl and wader numbers can rise to more than 200,000 at Spurn Point during the winter months.

The Trust is expanding the size of its reserves across the region.

At North Cave, west of Hull, a former sand and gravel quarry is being converted into a wetlands habitat.

Autumnwatch is broadcast on BBC2 and the BBC HD channel at 20:30 on Friday 14 October.