Thornwick Bay to South Landing

A Saturday outing to celebrate the start of the East Yorkshire Walking Festival. I take the train to Bridlington and walk along the Gypsey Race park to catch bus C14 to North Landing. Its a mild day with a light breeze. There is a spring tide today and the harbour water is as low as I've seen it.  

A Blackcap feeds on aphids under sycamore leaves.

Black Horehound by the harbour at Bridlington.

A few pairs of Kittiwakes are still on their nests at Marlborough Terrace, this pair was preening. No young on the nests.

I catch the bus, which is approaching North Landing an hour before the walk is due to start. I leave the bus at Thornwick Holiday village and walk along the cliff to North Landing. 

Starlings gathering by Thornwick Bay.

Thornwick Bay from the coastal path.

A Beewolf, used to be quite rare but expanding north. They feed their larvae with honeybees they stock in nests in sandy banks. I've recorded them by the Humber before, but this is my first Flamborough record.

Beewolf.

Linnets.

Five or six Fulmars circle the cliffs as I get to North Landing. I descend to the beach and watch them. I can't find any nests though. The sea is flat and out, with some people preparing to go to the water on inflatable waterboards. Oystercatchers piping and young Guillemots begging calls ringing from off shore. I climb the ramp to meet the walkers at the car park. The walk is led by the Flamborough Ramblers. Thirty people have assembled, and after a short information talk by the leader we set off towards Flamborough. I take the rear as I'm likely to stop to take photos and record in iNaturalist and chat with the woman in charge of closing the rear and a man with a small dog that stops every time I stop, unwilling to leave me behind. 

North Landing.

A young Stonechat at North Landing.

The rear of the walking group today.

Highland cows and Greylag Geese on the YWT nature reserve.

Breil Nook and the Queen rock.

Shags, including some juveniles, by Breil Nook.

Jackdaw.

We soon get to Selwick Bay and the Lighthouse. Most of the group do a look to see the Grey Seals. The tide is starting to turn and the seals comically lift their flippers and heads to stop getting wet. As the tide is so low, the seals are not in their spot in the beach, but out on flat rocks offshore. The seals call and at times a waft of their smell reaches us.

A very nice day for a snooze on the rocks.

I have a hot drink in the cafe and leave the group to carry on towards South Landing. The wind is now picking up, but mostly light. There is bright clouds and occasional sunny spells, ideal for walking.

A flock of Common Terns with many juveniles settle on a rock, they are spooked several times, but they return to the same rock again.

Common Terns.

Cormorants.

Over 60 Great Black-backed Gulls loafing, most adults.

I reach South Landing and sit down on a bench to have my lunch. At that moment I notice a small group of Bottlenose Dolphins, one of them breaching repeatedly and falling on its side making a big splash in front of the others. I take a short video and the following are two screengrabs. 

Bottlenose Dolphins.

 These are the first dolphins I see at South Landing. What a way to finish the walk! I walk to Flamborough village to catch my bus to Bridlington and my train home.

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.