Train trip: Flamborough's North Landing to South Landing

 

Saying train and bus trip would have made for a very long title, but I caught the train to Bridlington and then walked to the bus station to catch East Yorkshire bus 14 to North Landing. In today's walk I followed the coastal path from North Landing, around the tip of Flamborough Headland and then returns via South Landing to catch the bus back at Church Street, Flamborough. The walk is about 11 km.

A Red Admiral on the Gypsey Race park.

Little Egret at the Gypsey Race.

Still some Kittiwakes around Bridlington.

I start by descending the ramp to South Landing to check the House Martin colony on the cliffs. The beach is busy with people. A coble is about to leave for a boat trip, passengers on board. I walk to the west end of the beach. There are several active House Martin nests and in one of them the chicks were visible.

House Martin nest and chick.

Perfect conditions for a walk. Sunny spells, mild and light breeze. This is the sea at North Landing.

North Landing beach.

I don't hang around much and ascend the ramp. Fulmars are circling by the cliffs, but I fail to spot any nests.

North Landing from above.

Fulmar circling.

Lines of Gannets were moving north all morning.

Around 20 Shags were present at Breil Newk.

One of the Shags was ringed, it looks it might be DAN.

Staple Newk.

One of the Highland cows in the YWT nature reserve enjoys a good horn scratch.

A lone Swift flies over the headland, the old lighthouse in the horizon.

Several seals were bobbing just offshore by Selwicks bay.

Flamborough Lighthouse.

One of my aims for the day was to see the seals at the little beach at the headland by High Stacks. I hadn't tought about the tide though. It had been high tide an hour earlier, and there was a fair amount of beach exposed. There were many seals just off the beach, watching. There was a thick band of seaweed between the seals and the beach. A couple managed to go past the weed and onto the beach, but there was a fair amount of growling.

The seals appeared unsure to cross the weed onto the beach.

Unhappy seals in the seaweed.

Seal and Herring Gull. Many of the seals by the beach looked like young individuals.

Harebells.

The beach was busy with waders, all in small numbers: Turnstones, a Ruff, a Sanderling, a Ringed Plover. Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed gulls completed the cast. I have my packed lunch on the grass over High Stacks, by a lovely clump of Harebells, hoping for the tide to ebb a bit, and afterwards I watch the seals some more before carrying on with my walk.

Turnstones.

Stonechat.

Sanderling.

A Great Black-backed Gull scavenging a young Grey Seal carcass at the top of the beach.

Oystercatcher.

Carline Thistle.

Kestrel.

Ruddy darter

Speckled Wood.

Kestrels hover over the cliff top at regular intervals, the cries from Oystercatchers coming from the hidden beach below. South Landing comes into view, I glimpse an arrow of dark wings disappearing behind the cliff: a Peregrine! I wait and it reappears, chasing a flock of small waders, they fly close to the water and the Peregrine leaves them, only to cause mayhem amongs gulls, some hurriedly diving to escape. It chases a Black-headed Gull and misses, and then it disappears again behind the cliffs after a couple of passes overhead. Wow! One of those amazing wildlife moments! Only then I see a male Kestrel, hunkering on the cliff edge near me. I guess he's seen all the action too! What a way to finish the walk. I take a short detour around the woods before heading to Church street to catch the bus back to Bridlington.

South Landing.

The Peregrine flushing the gulls, note the splashes of gulls flying into the water or diving.

A chase of a Black-headed Gull.

The Peregrine fly pass.

The hunkering Kestrel.

 

Wilsthorpe Dunes and Fraisthorpe Beach with Hull Nats

I was keen to visit Wilsthorpe dunes on a warm summer day to check on its invertebrates. Other than at Spurn, sand dunes is not a common habitat in East Yorkshire, and I was curious to see if this small patch of dunes at the top of Bridlington Bay held something of interest. Today's was a day visit with Hull Nats. It was warm, with a breeze and sunny spells. I had brought my bat detector and checked for bush crickets, both Long-Winged Coneheads and Roesel's sung from the more grassy areas.

We spend some time identifying the dune grasses: Lyme grass, silver blue at the front, and Sea Couch in the next fringe. On a low hump by the edge of the dune we identified Sand Couch, with long, creeping rhizomes.

Sand Couch, Elymus farctus.

Both Long-winged Bush-cricket and Roesel's were present. A possible Short-winged conenead on a dune slack coudn't be confirmed.

It's worth looking up and admire the setting every now and then. The Flamborough headland is in the horizon.

Gannets were fishing offshore.

Many dry seedheads of Hounds Tongue and young rosettes of its distinctive leaves.

Sandwich Terns. This time of year a visit to the dunes has the background sounds of calling Sandwich Tern juveniles chasing adults.

Plenty of Linnets and Goldfinches feeding on thistle seeds.

I was very pleased to spot a Sand Bear Wolf Spider, Arctosa perita, at the front of the dune by the anti-tank blocks where we had our lunch. I've only previously recorded it in Spurn.

Some chicks looking like they are close to fledge are still present at the Sand Martin colony at Fraisthorpe.

We saw a flock of 10 Ringed Plovers, this one lander a bit nervous as the tide was high amongst the passers by.

Common Field Grasshopper.

I believe this is a sand digger wasp, Ammophila sabulosa. The adult female captures and paralises caterpillars and stocks nests she digs in the sand with those, and then lays eggs on the caterpillars.

A dune robber fly, Philonicus albiceps.

We found a few clumps of Sea Rocket and other coastal dune specialists.

Saltwort, Salsola kali.

This was the most bizarre find of the day, a mummified rabbit that Andy uncovered at the beach.