A warm, sunny day with barely any wind. I get to Reighton Sands Lane at low tide. The large expanse of sandy beach is exposed with the clear sky showing the eroding cliffs of Filey on the horizon. I descend the steep, concreted slope at Reighton Gap. Before the walk proper, I must walk towards Speeton Black Cliff, where I left it on the last stage. The massive metal boilers of the Wreck of the 'Laura' mark the walk's starting point. A woman is taking photographs of the wreck. She approaches and is very happy to explain to me the developments leading to the stranding of the steamship. A Rock Pipit sits atop some of the WW2 anti-tank blocks nearby. Three Rooks pass overhead, first north, then south. A Stonechat feeds at the clifftop bushes.
The cliffs of Filey Bay are made of soft, sediments forming layers of Cretaceous and Jurassic marine clays, interglacial estuarine shell beds and glacial boulder clay on top. These deposits are cut by narrow valleys or ravines, also locally called 'gills' from Old Norse, which allow access to the beach (the 'gaps'). In contrast with the often bare lower cliff faces and the developed or arable cliff tops, the ravines are wildernesses, with scrub and trees, providing shelter and food for migrant birds. Today, the hawthorns and brambles had plenty of berries, and on the south facing slopes, insects swarmed around the bushes. In addition to the constant attrition by the sea, the clay cliffs of Filey Bay suffer from landslides or slumping as clay liquefies when wet, which can be seen as areas of less vegetation intruding onto the beach. Beware this clay can be very soft after rains or storms and become a shoe trap!
The stage today started near Old Beck, near Speeton, where there is a right of way to the beach. Shortly after I pass by The Gill, where a slipway allows access from Reighton Caravan Park). People from the caravan park congregate around the slipway. Dogs chasing balls, children make sandcastles, walkers and horse riders make use of the beach. It is such a wide beach that it is easy to maintain social distance.
A Kestrel hovers near Hunmanby Gap. Here, another small ravine with a beck reaching the beach. Pillboxes on the beach. I find a dead adult gannet on the tide line with no head or legs. The walking is easy on the beach by the cliff, as the tide line is right at the bottom of the cliff and the sand is compacted by the previous high tide. I reach another small ravine, Butcher Haven, its beck, Flat Cliff Gill, freely flowing onto the sand. This one doesn't seem to have access, vegetation clogging it quickly near the beach. On the way back later, a Grey Wagtail has found it good for a stop during migration.
Filey Bird Observatory and Group recording area starts on Speeton, with a sharp boundary between the Flamborough Bird Observatory recording area and the FBOG recording area, this shows how fantastic is this bay for migratory birds! Hunmanby Gap is a well watched visible migration site and ringing station part of the bird observatory, this is its Trekkelen site.
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