Shearwaters and whales from Staithes

Every few years, I do enjoy a boat trip, despite getting seasick easily. This Sunday, me and some friends had booked a Seabird and cetacean watching boat trip with Yorkshire Coast Nature, led by Richard Baines. The boat, with skipper Sean, sailed from the picturesque village of Staithes at 9 am. We were going to be six hours at sea, looking for pelagic seabirds and cetaceans. There was some light wind from the NW and the sea was a bit choppy, but it was mild and pleasant to be out. After a brief light shower to start with, we had some long sunny spells and great visibility. 

In the last few years, the North Yorkshire Coast has become a cetacean hot spot. In particular, Minke Whales and Bottlenose Dolphing gather close to shore in the late summer for the herring and mackerel spawning season. Other species are seen more occasionally. On the trip, Sean kept a close eye on the boat's radar for signs of spawning fish, and on the horizon, scanning for feeding gannets, which are visible from long distances. Once we were out at sea, Richard started chumming, throwing pieces of fish off the boat to attract pelagic birds. Some of these, like Shearwaters and Fulmars, have a keen sense of smell, and can hone in on the free feast. That's probably what attracted a group of Sooty Shearwaters to our boat. I had never seen them so close and for so long, my best views from another pelagic trip from Bridlington, were very distant. Not only they had close by fly passes, but one of them landed right by us. 

One of two Dunlins at Staithes Beck.

Grey Wagtail.

Leaving Staithes.

The boat's radar showing a spawning aggregation (the orange and red blobs at the bottom of the screen).

Gannet flyover.

Anglers at work.

Two Sooty Shearwaters.

Sooty Shearwater. A photographical challenge today on a choppy sea rocking the boat, I'm pretty pleased I managed, with a lot of straightening photos for the blog!

Sooty Shearwater.

Fulmar.

We had gotten as far as five miles out. It was time to head back to have a hot drink and cake provided by Sean sheltered at Runswick Bay. As we headed towards land, the views of the rugged North Yorkshire coast, with the towering cliffs of Boultby, the tallest in England were breathtaking. We saw the Grey Seal colony at Kettleness, with many seals bobbing by the rocks.

Guillemot. 

Young Guillemot following dad. There were fledgling Guillemots and Razorbills calling or following their fathers closely.

An aggregation of gulls feeding just as Sean showed us a column of emerging sand-eels.

Kittiwake, only a few by the coast, the rest having moved offshore to the open sea.

Great Black-backed Gull. Much more numerous than Herring Gulls once we were far from the coast.

Seal colony at Kettleness.

Razorbill.

Bobbing Grey Seal.

After the break, we went back to an area where a Minke had been seen the day before. A butterfly flew in from the sea and we followed it as it flew towards the land. Just at that moment, the dark back and dorsal fin of a whale surfaced, Minke! This was my first baleen whale ever, just before heading back to harbour, when we thought we were going to miss out on the whales! The Minke Whale surfaced in front of us five or six times, giving everyone a chance to spot it. Surprisingly quick, a brief short blow, and in a couple of seconds, the back and dorsal fins emerged and disappeared under water. We managed to take some photos of the dorsal fin, which was quite distinctive (top shot) with a blunt tip and a nick on the trailing edge. Richard has made some research and compiled and named distinctive local whales, and amazingly, we could identify the whale as 'Bitse', a whale that hadn't been seen in the area for many years (since 2013!). Later on, we spotted another whale surfacing a couple of times. Sean explained how the presence of the whales is related to the abundance of fish and spawning and showed spawning mackerel and hatching sand eels on the boat radar. Whale MacDonalds indeed!

We even finished with a rainbow.

Back at Staithes, ready for our lunch to top up an unforgettable day!

A trip to Filey Bay and Primrose Valley

A beautiful day for a walk, warm with a breeze, as I got to Filey on the train. The high tide stopped me from the pull of walking on the beach, I took the coastal path south towards Primrose Valley. A Kittiwake flies east towards the Brigg as I descend the steps from Crescent Gardens. I record plants and butterflies along the path, on the side of the golf course. A Pied Wagtail family feeds on the golf course. Sandwich terns rattling calls announce them feeding just offshore, together with the howling cries of a young Guillemot begging to its parent. I descent the Primrose Valley ravine, with the luxuriant vegetation including ferns and woodland plants tucked in well sheltered from the elements. I wander up and down the ravine before climbing to the clifftop path. Now the coastal path goes through the holiday park. Just off the car park, I peek onto the cliffs and spot some Marbled Whites, too distant and active for photos. These are soft, boulder clay cliffs like those at Holderness, but the protective effect of Filey Brigg tothe north and Flamborough to the south means they erode much more slowly. They are less vertical, wider, and more irregular cliffs, allowing a diverse vegetation to grow, particularly plants that thrive on bare patches arising from slippages. These slippages have created hollows that also hold water, from small puddles and mires to large ponds. The cliffs hold their own regarding botanical diversity, including some rare species in other areas of South East Yorkshire (VC-61) like Marsh Grass of Parnassus - which I found, just about ready to flower in two patches -, Bloody Cranesbill Marsh Fragrant Orchid, and Saw Wort.

Kittiwake.

A new bridge for the coastal path.

Linnet.

Sandwich Tern.

Primrose Valley ravine.

A magnificent Hart's Tongue Fern.

I take my lunch on a lopsided bench overlooking a pond on the descent to the beach. Afterwards, I spend some time trying to work out how to get close to the shore of this pond. Unfortunately, the only accessible shore is too soft and the marginal vegetation too luxuriant. On another side a wall of creeping thisle blocks me. I take some photos of an Emperor dragonfly patrolling and a distant blooming Tubular Water-dropwort, a first for me. Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids dot the slope by the pond. The tide has released its grip on the beach, leaving a vast expanse, now taken by groups of people. I descend to the beach at Butcher Haven, pause to admire the distant cliffs of Flamborough, and walk back by the shingle at the top of the beach, with occasional short climbs onto the bottom cliff. 

Elongated pond south of Primrose Valley.

Pyramidal Orchid.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

Painted Lady on Hemp Agrimony.

Small White butterflies salting on a seepage.

A bud of Grass of Parnassus close to opening.

A vegetated bottom cliff with a wet seepage including photo-bombing Meadow Brown butterfly.

Common Field Grasshopper.

This Marbled White landed in front of me on Devil's-bit Scabious.

Looking south with Flamborough in the distance.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Gannet and diving Sandwich Tern.

Diving Gannets, just offshore of Filey.

A Wool carder bee male rests near a large patch of Stachys byzantina at Crescent Gardens.

I was also ready for an ice-cream, which I took at the beginning of the promenade, just before I took my train back home.

More information

A report from the YNU visit to Primrose Valley in June 2006.

Holderness: Hornsea, Mappleton, Cowden

On the ground, little is left of the original Great Cowden, one of the lost villages of the Holderness Coast. The lane that would have taken to the centre of the village, Garthends Lane now ending sharply at the edge of the boulder clay cliff (top shot). The name, Cowden, though, brings great memories of one of my favourite walks along the Holderness coast, so I had included it in the list of places to visit. On the OS map there is Cowden Sands, a few farms like Cowden Magna, Cowden Parva and Little Cowden; Cowden Road from Withernwick, and of course Cowden Firing Range. Two roads leading to Cowden also survive: Eelmere Road and Garthends Lane. The public right of way parallel to Garthends, and now part of the coastal path was also a footpath from the lost village. The old 1889 OS maps show the village then and the presence of a methodist church. The locals responded dynamically to the loss of the village. Several farms were set up inland to common land, and bungalows were built along Eelmere. A caravan park was set up in the 1950s also carrying the name. 

Today, I get the 24 to Hornsea and walk around Stream Dike. A Sedge Warbler sings from a patch of reedy scrub. I then take Hornsea Burton road towards Rolston Road, and take bus 129, which was running late, the few stops to Mappleton. It is a showery day, but it promises to clear later. I plan to walk back to Hornsea later from Mappleton on the beach, on the falling tide. But for now, I walk on the footpath at the base of the cliff between the granite groynes in Mappleton doing some recording. A high school Geography class is on a field trip from Barnsley, and one of the teachers apologises if I was expecting a quiet walk. No matter, I'm walking to Cowden, so it should be fine. 

Sedge Warbler.

Horses at Mappleton.

Bee Orchids.

Mappleton defences.

I take the coastal path to Cowden. The rain has left the wheat soaking wet and there is not much of a footpath, the field ending perilously on the cracked clifftop. I move inland to a tractor track parallel to the cliff edge, and marvel again how the farmers really cut it very think when ploughing and planting these field edges, as often large chunks of land with crops ends at the bottom of the cliff. The coastal path takes a detour through the caravan park and some farms and is on the road for a while. At last there is now a footpath by the road between the caravan park and Garthends Lane. At Garthends Lane I watch a Yellowhammer singing and then I delight at hearing a distant Cuckoo, only the second I hear this year. After a few minutes it is closer and louder, the sound coming from Cowden Range. Today, I don't walk to Aldbrough, but to the end of Garthends Lane.

Looking back towards Mappleton.

Yellowhammer at Garthends road

The Cross Keys. An old pub had just been demolished in the OS map of the village from at the edge of the cliff, and was rebuilt inland in 1943, at the crossroads of Eelmere Lane and the Aldbrough road.

A few Swifts fly over Garthends Lane.

Cowden Firing range in the distance.

Singing linnet.

A Woodpigeon on the fence at Eastfield Farm, using the Cowden name.

The name Eelmere may derive from a lost mere. In the 13th century there is evidence of an Eelmere, or 'eel pool', and a Broadmere. There is no trace of these or of basins in the area in old OS maps, so,they are likely to have been lost to erosion, as other meres in Holderness. There is Eelmere Bottom and Eelmere Hill nearby.

A Reed Bunting singing from a rapeseed field.

There are very short showers, but later in the morning the weather steadies and at midday, from the edge of Garthends, I turn back towards Aldbrough on the main road. Since my last walk there has been the welcome improvement of the pedestrian pavement along the road. Although narrow, it is a relief not to constantly have to check for the traffic. This facilitates the connection between Cowden and Mappleton beach, as there is no access from the caravan park to the beach. As I get to Mappleton beach, the students are on a break, but they are back at the beach as I eat my packed lunch. I hurry and start the beach walk back to Hornsea on the falling tide. Other than a couple of dog walkers, it is quiet. I stop to take some photos of the young Sand Martins in their nests, close to fledging.

Sand Martins.

Another Sand Martin colony on a sandy area of the cliff.

These caves on the cliff front might be due to ice blocks formerly enclosed by the clay

The sea by Hornsea south cliff.

A Painted Lady on the beach.

Stream Dike.

A Reed Warbler at Stream Dike.

Herring Gulls at Hornsea.