Figham Common with Hull Nats

A warm day with barely a breeze, it was great to record insect along the river Hull and the drain and common. The common was very dry and there was no pooled water. I had taken a bus to Beverley and walked along Beverley Beck and then south along the river Hull. At the end of the beck, I hear and then see a juvenile Peregrine chasing an adult which seemed to be carrying something in its bill. The Minster family in Peregrine school mode. A patch of Himalayan Balsam dampened my excitement. It really has been a long time since I've visited Figham, and the previous time was during my walk along the River Hull in 2017, but that was in Marsh, when the main interest is birds. The marginal vegetation is flourishing in a narrow belt along the river, where the cows and horses of the common can't reach. At the other side, there is a Reedbed, from where Reed Buntings and Reed Warblers sing. The river looks placid and inviting, its waters transparent and I can see plenty of fish. A big surprise is a Common Tern, which I see in the morning and then in the afternoon. It stays only long enough to catch a fish and then fly westwards. I can only think of Common Terns nesting at North Cave wetlands west of Figham, but this is 19 km away! I meet up with the Hull Nats group at Woodmansey after lunch and then we explore the common, walk upstream by the river and return south along the west shore of the Barmston drain.

Beverley Beck

Moorhen and Yellow Water lilies at the Beck.

The Barmston drain at its crossing with the beck. The drain is channelled under the Beck.

A boat at a dry dock at the Beck.

Peregrine juvenile and adult.

Patch of Himalayan Balsam at the river Hull.

The River Hull.

Barmston Drain.

A Black-headed Gull adult and a juvenile rest on the floodbank.

One of a pair of Oystercatchers over.

Buzzard.

A peak flowering River Water-dropwort.

Curlew over.

Common Tern with just caught fish.

A very rushy section of the common.

Butterflies

I recorded 16 species of butterflies on the wing, many nectaring on the abundant thistles, other salting or egg laying. The hedges along the Barmston Drain were especially productive. Many Peacocks, Red Admirals and Painted ladies were fresh, just emerged for the summer generation. 

Comma.

Red Admiral

Small Skipper.

A Painted Lady basking on a cowpat.

Small Whites salting at the bottom of a dry ditch.

And not far off, Green-veined Whites.

A Small Copper on Ragwort.

A few very fresh Peacocks of the summer generation were about.

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Red-eyed Damselflies were plentiful at the Beck. But, once on the river, Banded Demoiselles where the stars of the show, with small groups of males chasing females along the shore. Although the river is still tidal here, the water is fresh and this is demonstrated by the abundance of marginal plants, fish and dragonflies.  

Red-eyed Damselfly at the Beck.

Male Banded Demoiselle.

Female Banded Demoiselle.

Male Emperor Dragonfly patrolling along the river shore.

We watched as this femaleBanded Demoiselle dived underwater to lay eggs in the vegetation.

While we were watching the egg-laying demoiselle, this female Southern Hawker did some astounding behaviour,it propelled itself against the water and somersaulted up, only to repeat the performace a few times before flying away. Apparently they may do this to cool down, although it looks like quite a risky behaviour too!

Back at the drain, two Brown Hawker females egg layed near each other ona floating log.

Southern Hawker.

Robin Pincushion.

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.