Flamborough Headland to North Landing

The day had started frosty but it was sunny and with a very light southerly breeze it warmed fast. After parking was faced with a newt, walking towards the toilets! I was a bit puzzled, as I don't know of any ponds near the car park, so I moved it to the grass at the distant end of the car park, hoping that it would find its way. At that time it was around 3oC.

Probably a Smooth Newt

 The tide was right up. I took the coastal path by the golf course and almost immediately a wonderful sound: a raft of Kittiwakes calling just offshore. I came across a few sitting on the cliffs, but most of them were still at sea. Not so Guillemots and Razorbills, which were sitting on ledges on their hundreds, together with plenty of Fulmars cackling on the ledges or circling by the cliffs. Squadrons of Gannets passed to and fro from Bempton, their slow wing flapping contrasting with the almost suicidal flights of auks coming to land on the cliffs.

Kittiwakes kittiwaking.

The patches of gorse looked fantastic in full bloom.

A single Kittiwake on the cliffs with Guillemots and Razorbills.

Kestrel over the clifftop path.

On the grassy fields, small groups of Rock Pipits (above) fed with Skylarks (below).

Skylark.

Jackdaw.

Guillemots.

Cackling Fulmars. They remind me of a calling partridge some times.

It was a bit misty but the views are amazing in this walk when going west, near North Landing, Bempton Cliffs on the horizon, the pale feature is Staple Newk protruding from the cliff face.

North Landing has to be the most photogenic beach in East Yorkshire (above). I descended the slipway to the beach and after a wander I started to return. I took my lunch on the cliff top, surrounded by circling Fulmars and with skylarks singing behind me.

Gannets.

Passing Cormorants.

Shag in breeding plumage. Two were on the same rock at Breil Newk.

Razorbill.

One of the highlights of the trip today was coming across some Black Oil Beetles, I counted nine, with a pair mating. I used to see oil beetles in Spain, usually during easter holidays and it was wonderful to see them, my first in the UK. There are only 4 oil beetle species in the UK, and they are priority species. They have a complex life cycle, they emerge early in the spring and feed on grasses and plants. After mating, the females lay their eggs in the soil. The tiny larvae, called triungulins, climb on flowers (Lesser Celandines, hawkbits and others) where they sit until a mining bee comes to feed. They catch a ride on the bee to her nest, where they feed on nectar, pollen and bee eggs. The larvae pupates inside the bee's nest and emerge the following spring. Find out more about them here.

Male Black Oil Beetles have kinked antennae.

Male Black Oil Beetle.

A mating pair.

Another highlight of the day was watching a large flock of gannets feeding off shore. You can watch a clip here:

An early morning trip to Alkborough

I had an early trip to Alkborough today. Arrived at 7:00 and parked in the village as wanted to avoid the steep descent on an icy road. It was a still and clear morning. As soon as I joined the flood bank I spotted a Barn Owl, my first of the year, hunting alongside it. It went back and forth a few times before disappearing on a bend, too dark for good shots.
 I walked to the main hide. On the way, some reed buntings, singing Skylarks and Cetti's Warbler and a stonechat. A Sparrowhawk displayed above.

A very confiding Reed Bunting feeding on reed seeds.

Female Stonechat.

From the hide, a large flock of Lapwing with Black-tailed godwits. Shelduck moaned and displayed, with ritual underwing preening and head shaking. Three Ruff were about. Two marsh harriers regularly flushed the Lapwing.

Little Egret fishing.

Grey Heron.

A group of Shelduck displaying.

I carried on towards Trent Hide. Was this one another Barn Owl? It was hunting by the path and sat nicely on a fence post a few times (top shot). It then flew over a field with long grass and then the reed beds.

 

Wren.

I was planning a circular walk but there was a sign indicating the path was flooded, so after a while in Trent hide I turned round. A large flock of Pink-foot appeared in the distance, getting closer. At some point the sky overhead was scribbled with skeins, the air filled with their high pitched contact notes.

Pink-footed geese.

Pink-footed geese.

I popped in the main hide again. A few Teal were feeding on the mud.

Drake teal.

The view from main hide.

I walked to Tower Hide, where I had my lunch, but there was not much on the way or back other than a Buzzard mewing above. The walk was lovely with barely any wind, the temperature in the sun quite pleasant.

Female Stonechat

View from the top public footpath.

I ended up returning to the main hide before I left. A Water Rail emerged from the reeds and gave great views for a few minutes.

Water Rail.

Water rail.

 Five Roe Deer near the Trent, from Julian's Bower.

Welwick and Kilnsea Wetlands

A windy day, not particularly cold, I headed for Welwick Saltmarsh in the hope of catching up with some raptors. I found it far too windy. Welwick is quite exposed and the wind mainly from the south-west, so it was hard to shelter from it. It was pretty quiet, with birds hunkered down. A few Redshank were on the Marsh. A male and later a female Marsh flew over the Marsh. After an hour or so I decided to head towards Spurn so a walked towards Sheep Trod Lane. I had a fleeting glimpse of crows mobbing a silver grey bird with long wings, a male Hen Harrier? A kestrel was hiding at the bottom of a hedge. Then I saw the Hen Harrier flying low across the field opposite. I hadn't seen one in several years, and never a male before in the UK.
 At Kilnsea Wetlands, a group of swans were feeding on distant fields by long bank. I could just see some were Whoopers with some young. While watching the curlews on the fields across the road, two hares came into view, briefly squabbling, but then they briefly mated and run along together.

 On the car park, a pair of Stonechats. Hard to take good shots with the wind though! Skylarks were plentiful, with some singing.

 Stonechat.

The new hide is open at Kilnsea Wetlands, much bigger than its predecessor. The cutout waders provide decoration and some dim light useful when opening the window latches. Comfortable and functional, it seems the birds are already used to it, as a Lapwing fed just in front of it.

 

Wigeon and Dunlin.

Feeding Wigeon.

A breeding plumage Cormorant on open wing stance.

Curlew.

Lapwing.

Courting Mute Swans.

Male Mute Swan successfully seeing off rival.

I decided to walk the bank to the area north of Beacon Ponds, hoping to see the Shore Larks. I saw a Buzzard and three Roe deer, but no larks. 

 I returned by the beach. A fresh Fox carcass lay on the sand.

 I got back to Kilnsea and was pleasantly surprised to find the long staying Green-winged Teal (top shot and below) with a small group of teal feeding on one of the scrapes. A lifer!

The Green-winged teal in the center.

A sunny spell revealed the drake Teal colours. Green-winged teal on the right.