Train trip: Filey in December

The run of cloudy days continues, but it was sheltered at Filey bay. The tide was high and rising, so I decided against walking to the Brigg. Instead, I walked along Carr Naze, more exposed at the top of the cliff. At the north side of the Naze, several pairs of Fulmars circled tirelessly or sat on nests. Hundreds of Guillemots flew from the sea and stood shoulder to shoulder on cliff ledges. A Kestrel took advantage of the updraft over the cliff slopes.

Redshank.

Rock Pipit.

Fulmars.

Fulmar.

Guillemots.

Female Kestrel, hovering by the edge of the cliff.

Guillemots.

Fulmars and Guillemots.

Shag and Guillemots.

At high tide, 24 Oystercatchers fed on the country park fields.

I walk back to Filey, to my favourite cafe, Frothies, for coffee and lunch before I take my train back.

Train trip: Filey and Filey Brigg in strong winds

I catch the 8:21 train to Filey and I'm there by 9:30. It is a day of unexpected showers, strong northerly wind and sunny spells. I donned my winter coat as the Brigg is very exposed. Low tide was at 11:08, so I decided to head to the Brigg by the beach and then return by Carr Naze. I was hoping the walk to the Brigg would be mostly sheltered from the wind, although it mostly turned out not to be. The flock of Ostercatchers comes down to the beach from the country park. I scan the beach and the bay, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see a drake Eider very close to the tideline. A bit later, I find a little corner in the cliff that is a bit sheltered and I scan the bay again. There are two Great Northern Divers and a Scoter, and a bit further what I think is a guillemot but turns out to be a Red-throated Diver. At the Brigg itself, Shags and Cormorants, a few Purple Sandpipers, a lone Knot and some Oystercatchers. Foam blows across the Brigg, the waves breaking against it. I brace myself and keep walking towards the end of the Brigg. Three Purple Sandpipers are feeding right beside me, oblivious to my presence. Two Herring gull juveniles chase each other over a piece of kelp.

Station Herring Gull.

Singing Linnet.

Drake Eider.

A Pied Wagtail sheltering from the wind.

There are two Great Northern Divers in the bay, a bit distant, but one looks immature and the other adult.

Scoter.

Shags, Cormorant and Herring Gull at the Brigg.

Red-throated Diver.

Knot and foam.

Purple Sandpiper.

Turnstone.

After the bracing walk to the end, it's time to return to the relative shelter of Carr Naze. On the slopes there is a Meadow Pipit and a male Stonechat.

Stonechat.

Filey Bay from Carr Naze.

Other than St Mark's Flies and some snails, there are few active invertebrates out. I move onto the north cliff. The wind is really strong and taking any sharp photos a challenge. That is why I don't even notice that this Kittiwake, the only one on the colony, is ringed. Fortunately I can read the code and have reported. Will update here when I hear back.

At the other side of the Kittiwake, there are a few Fulmars, some circling and enjoying the strong wind, others tucked in their nest sites.

Guillemots.

Puffin.

Razorbills courting. The female picked a stone.

Standing high and a bit of bowing

Wing flap and yawn.

The female crouched past the male, and they mated.

A bit more standing up.

Guillemot colony.

A view of the Brigg.

I had a packed lunch, but I decide to have a coffee and lunch out of the wind, so I head for Frothies, which has excellent coffee, before taking the 14:17 train back. 

Another Pied Wagtail.

Train trip: Filey Brigg

I hadn't been at Filey for a couple of years, and I missed the Hull Nats trip last weekend, so in view of the sunny weather, I decided to do a train trip there today. The 8:21 service was cancelled due to a broken down train, so before catching the following train I did a bit of plant recording around the city centre. The train trip went without a glitch, but the delay meant that I had missed the chance of walking to the Brigg by the coastal path. A beautiful blue sky, and a stiff southerly wind, with a pleasant temperature. I started by walking on the edges of the Country Park by the cliff. Aided with the bat-detector, it wasn't long before I spotted my first Long-winged Coneheads on the long grass fringing the cliff (top photo). Their abundance and presence of nymphs indicate they've been here a while.

Male Long-winged Conehead.

Female Long-winged Conehead.

Roesel's were also calling around the pond, but I failed to spot any. These records are the first of both bush-crickets in Filey and the only ones between a record in Bridlington a few years back and the ones from Scarborough a couple of weeks ago. It shows how under-recorded bush-crickets are!

The view of Carr Naze and the Brigg.

Small Tortoiseshell.

After the successful bush-cricket recording. I walked along the beach until the start of the rock-pools. A female Kestrel was hunting over the cliffs, the southerly wind creating a strong up-draft at Carr Naze, that the Kestrel took advantage of. 

Kestrel, perched on the up-draft on the edge of the cliff.

No chance of walking along the rocks to the Brigg, the tide was already quite high. I had an early lunch at the cobble ramp in the town. Sandwich Terns flew back and forth along the beach. A cormorant sat on a groyne marker post. Some people were swimming, kids squealing excitedly chasing waves. After lunch, up I climbed the steep incline of the ravine and I walked north along the cliffs. Gannets and rafts of Razorbills sat on the balmy water, sheltered from the wind.

Gannet.

Razorbills.

I returned to Carr Naze via the country park, a fresh comma basked on a hedge.

Comma.

Past high tide now, but still too early to cross along the coast. I decided to walk down the steep and narrow footpath half-way down Carr Naze. This is a sun trap that is often great for insects. Common Field Grasshoppers basked on the path itself. A Meadow Pipit wasn't happy with me interrupting whatever it was doing.

Meadow Pipit.

Common Centaury.

I got safely to the waters edge. A couple of dead Guillemots floated on the tide-line, some of about 8 dead auks I saw today, possibly avian flu? There were a couple of scrambling spots where the waves lapped the cliffs, before I made it to the Brigg. A Wren flew ahead of me. Cormorants sat on the rocks with roosting Oystercatchers. I sat on the rocks for a while watching a dozen Common Terns fishing north of the Brigg just by the shore, amongst Guillemots and Razorbills. They were very successful getting small silvery fish.

Juvenile Common Tern.

Razorbills.

Sandwich Tern, facing the wind.

Guillemot.

Guillemots.

Common Tern.

It was time to head back to the station, aiming for the 16:16 train. On the way back three Rock Pipits and a lovely Wheatear.

Rock Pipit.

Wheatear.

Wheatear.

I take the steep, eroded path up Carr Naze. It is less scary going uphill, and I avoid the slippery intertidal path just after high tide.