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: