Migrants Way. Stage 16. Flamborough Head

A family walk today, we head to Flamborough village, the start of this circular walk for the Migrants Way. It is sunny and warm, with a light breeze. We walk along South Sea Road to reach South Landing, where I left the way last week. The plan is to walk all round the peninsula on the cliff top path, until we get to North Landing, then back to Flamborough village.

South Landing 

We descend the slope on the road to the landing. The ravine at South Landing is an ancient valley, with a glacial till infill, probably dating at least from the previous interglacial. The tide is right out, exposing the intertidal platform and sandy beach, and two parallel rocky spits, possibly the remains of an old pier?

South Landing. Two parallel strips of rocks are visible at low tide.

After a quick stop at the beach, we climb the steep steps to take the clifftop path. There are so many Wall Browns about, flitting alongside the path, briefly settling to bask.

Wall Brown, photo by my daughter.

 House Martins are a constant presence along the walk, probably indicating the presence of nests on the cliffs all round the peninsula. A Kestrel hangs from the sky ahead of us, immobile, over the cliff. Some Herring Gulls passing by swipe at it. A Fulmar circles around the cliffs, at some point making a low pass over the wheat, an incongruent image that I fail to capture with my camera.

I hadn't checked the tide, but it was a nice surprise that it was so low. It does make a difference to have the intertidal platform exposed even when walking on the clifftop, as there is so much more to see. A Grey Heron flying along the cliffs sends the loafing gulls flying. Oystercatchers and Curlews feed on the rocks. The path is relatively flat and straight, flanked by a grassy strip on the cliff side and arable fields. Occasionally, small creeks have more scrubby vegetation and need to be crossed with steps, or walked around.

Cretaceous chalk
The chalk forming the cliffs now exposed from Sewerby to Reighton developed on shallow, very warm seas between 100 and 70 million years ago. The skeletons of tiny planktonic organisms, mostly those of Coccolithophores a single cell algae surrounded by calcite plates, rained on the sediments over millions of years. This lime-rich mud at the bottom of the sea got transformed by pressure and heat into chalk. At Bridlington Bay the chalk bed is now between -30 to -35 m under sea level. The chalk was formerly more extensive, then much of it was eroded, leaving the ridge of the Wolds and Flamborough Headland.

Rising over fields of barley and wheat, we can see the lighthouse at Flamborough Head. 

Seals

I notice some odd lumps on the rocks jutting from the peninsula, they are seals hauled on the rocks in clumps! We count over 60, but there are probably about a 100. Most of them are Grey Seals, with a few  some common seals too. We can hear them howling, as they are jostling for position on the rocks, and many are on the edge of rocky shelves comically trying not to get their flippers wet. It is quite common to see Seals around Flamborough, but the most I've seen there is six or seven, this is by far the largest seal concentration I've seen in East Yorkshire.

A menacing raincloud is coming our way. We are now at the head of the cape, the lighthouse just by us. It is only light rain and it stops soon.

We stop for lunch on a pill box by the Golf Course, overlooking Selwicks bay and the sea. 

A cluster of Gorse Shieldbugs, Piezodorus lituratus, including adults, and nymphs of various sizes beautifully camouflaged on gorse seedheads.

Cormorants and Shags pass by over the sea. Gannets fly straight east in small groups, almost touching the water with their wings.

We carry on the clifftop path. It is getting busier now with walkers and there are many stops to let people pass socially distancing. Another rain cloud is coming. We get to Breil Nook (top shot), a beautiful nook in the cliffs with a stack and some rocks sticking over the water. A handful of Kittiwake chicks are still on nests. Seven shags are on the rocks and a Fulmar chick is briefly in the company to both its parents. Other Fulmars circle the cliffs.

Shags and Herring Gull.

Lone Kittiwake chick.

As we are arriving at North Landing, a Short-eared Owl flies over us towards the lighthouse, I manage a single sharp shot. What a wonderful sighting!

North Landing is very busy, the car park almost full, buses bringing even more visitors, so we don't hang around much. A large Starling flock flies around the houses by the landing. It is a half an hour walk by the road back to the car from North Landing to Flambororugh Village.

Yellowhammer.

Singing Swallow at Flamborough village.

Featured bird: Fulmar
Fulmars underwent a spectacular range expansion and population increase, from the only place where they bred in St Kilda to then Shetland and steady colonisation of all rocky British shores. According to Nelson, before the 1900 they were rare winter and autumn visitors, most frequently met by offshore fishermen, who gave them the name of Mollemoke. As described in the monograph by Fisher, which documented the expansion around the UK, Fulmars first bred in the cliffs of Flamborough and Bempton around a century ago, the first eggs were collected by cliff climmers in 1922. Since then, they have steadily increased their numbers. However, Fulmars have declined 38% during the present century in the UK, and also at Flamborough and Bempton, so that they are now Amber listed, and considered as endangered in Europe.

Walk information

10 km circular. Start and end at Flamborough Mereside, TA228705 (free parking). Toilets on South Landing (Living Seas Centre), and Flamborough Lighthouse and North Landing car parks. Access to beach at South Landing, Thornwick Bay and North Landing, best with low tides.

More information

Flamborough is a bird migration hotspot. If you are visiting, check out the website or twitter stream of the Flamborough Bird Observatory for the latest sightings.

Sections of the cliffs and grasslands in the peninsula, East and West from North Landing are a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve.

Fisher, James,1952. The Fulmar. New Naturalist, No. 6. 496 pp.

Nelson, T. H. 1907. The Birds Of Yorkshire: Vol. II. 843 pp.

Walk from Danes Dyke to Thornwick bay: https://www.walkingenglishman.com/eastyorkshire09.html

The beaches at Flamborough:

https://www.michaelbshannon.co.uk/the-beaches-of-flamborough-hea

Migrants Way. Stage 15. Sewerby to South Landing

A sunny, warm day with a light breeze. The sea is flat and its high tide when I start the walk on the cliff by Sewerby steps so I take the clifftop path to start with. Finally, the route gets me to the chalk cliffs I've been watching in the horizon for weeks. At Sewerby, I meet the Headland Way, a 26 km coastal clifftop footpath from Bridlington to Filey, which I'll follow the rest of the way. 

Flamborough Head
Flamborough Headland is an impressive landmark of the British coast. Formed by vertical Cretaceous chalk cliffs, it juts 10 km into the sea between Bridlington and Filey bays. The south side of the peninsula has a relatively straight coastline and the cliffs are of lower height (30-40 m), whereas at the more exposed north side there are small bays, with caves, arches and stacks. The cliffs reach their maximum height at Buckton (135 m OSL). Flamborough Head is highly protected, designated as a Special Area of Conservation for vegetated sea cliffs, chalk reefs and caves; Special Protection Area for its breeding seabirds; SSSI and a European Marine Site, with a ‘no take zone’ and a Heritage Coast. Additional protection figures include three Local Nature Reserves (Danes Dyke, South Landing and Flamborough Outer Headland), RSPB Bempton Cliffs and YWT Flamborough Cliffs.

Unlike some of the previous walks, I know and love Flamborough and I've been visiting it regularly for years, however, I've never walked the stretch between Sewerby and Danes Dyke and I tend to visit more in the winter and spring than in summer. I pass by an enclosure at Sewerby Hall with Fallow Deer, where a male Kestrel hunts from a tree.

Fallow Deer at Sewerby Hall.

The clifftop path then runs by a golf course. A stretch of grassland by the clifftop and patches of rough ground add interest. Only the views from this stretch of cliff are worth the walk: the whole of Bridlington Bay early on, then the cliffs of Flamborough and the ravine of Danes Dyke.

The headland ahead, with the woodland of Danes Dyke on the left.

Danes Dyke

It is dark and fresh when entering the wooded ravine of Danes Dyke, where I take a detour. The ferns are at their best, despite the lack of water in the creek. I see two Treecreepers and a Nuthach. This is probably the only place in Holderness where you can see Nuthatches regularly. Danes Dyke is a local nature reserve, SSSI and a Scheduled Ancient Monument due to the Bronze Age dyke that takes advantage of the drop of the natural ravine. The stretch of coast between Sewerby and Danes Dyke is a no take zone.

The view of the cliffs just before descending onto Danes Dyke.

The ravine at Danes Dyke, now dry.

I climb the steps from the bottom of the ravine to rejoin the clifftop path. In a small scrubby ravine a family of Whitethroats notes their displeasure at my presence. 

A young Whitethroat.

 

Looking back towards Danes Dyke.

A gang of Carrion Crows mobs a Buzzard near Beacon Hill. I'm getting close to South Landing.

Flamborough Butterflies

The butterflies are out in the sunshine. These are just a few I saw.

A Speckled Wood resting on the hand rail of one of Danes Dyke paths.

At least four Wall Browns basking and flying along the footpath between Danes Dyke and South Landing.

Green-Veined White at South Landing.

At South Landing, I first descend the steps and then climb up to to take the woodland footpath. A Migrant Hawker hunts in a grassy clearing. 

I get back for lunch to the beach. The tide is now low enough that I can do the return walk on the beach. I'm hoping from breeding Fulmars. Although I have seen two from the clifftop I fail to spot any nests. The beach is made of large chalk rocks, but near the ravine there is enough sand, and the walking becomes easier. At the lower beach platform, on the exposed rock pools and sea weed beds there are Oystercatchers, a few Redshank, Ringed Plover, Turnstones, a Curlew and plenty of Crows and gulls. 

Looking back towards South Landing.

Danes Dyke.

A Rock Pipit looks on.

Well, I had never seen a cormorant resting atop the cliff!

A very worn Meadow Pipit with a beak full of caterpillars (thanks to James Spencer for the ID).

Featured Bird: House Martin

House Martins, relatives of Barn Swallows, are one of our most familiar summer migrants. Although most nest under eaves in houses and other buildings Flamborough is one of the places where House Martins still nest in their ancestral nest sites: cliffs. There are small scattered colonies at North Landing, Thornwick Bay, and on my way back I was very pleased to find some more occupied nests at Sewerby Rocks, taking advantage of overhanging cliff ledges. House Martins are amber listed in the UK due to population and range declines.  

Walk Information
9 km. Start at Sewerby Steps TA201686. Finish at South Landing. Pay and Display at North Beach car park nearby. It is possible to walk along the beach in the south side of the Flamborough headland, but only attempt in ebbing tides and when there is enough space at the bottom of the cliff. Note though, that the upper beach is made of large chalk rocks, that makes for slow progress, and focused walk. Parts of the lower beach are sandy, and easier going, but beware slippery weed-covered slabs. Access to beach at Sewerby steps, Danes Dyke and South Landing. Toilets at Danes Dyke and South Landing Living Seas Centre.

Migrants Way. Stage 14. Bridlington to Sewerby

The tide was ebbing as I got to the empty Bridlington Park&Ride at 8:30am. There was high clouds and a steady SW wind after an early morning shower. Before I start the walk, I look back to the dunes towards Fraisthorpe.

The beach is quite deserted, I walk on the promenade by South Sands. There is a large 'creche' of juvenile Herring gulls at the beach -with a few Lesser Black-backed gulls. A few adults are in attendance, presumably the others are looking for food for the hungry young. The young gulls are quite active, playing to pick and drop objects, stealing the toy from each other. One finds a crab and runs and flies with it, other starts chasing some passing Sandwich Terns. Yet another pair follow a Black-headed gull that is walking by, whistling in hope of receiving some food.

Juvenile Herring Gull chasing Sandwich Tern.

Juvenile harassing parent to be fed.

A lucky juvenile gets some food regurgitated.

'It's mine!' a lucky juvenile Herring Gull found a crab.

Gypsey Race

The stone piers in the harbour at Bridlington defend a small creek, the Gypsey race (top shot), which probably provided a safe natural harbour in ancient times, with the protection of the Flamborough cliffs from northerly winds. The Gypsey Race is an intermittent stream, of which there are several in the Wolds. Despite its small size and actual disappearance underground in some stretches its course now runs through the Great Wold Valley.

A Kittiwake nest with an adults and young, closely guarded by an odd falcon.

Town Kittiwakes

As soon as I get to the harbour I can hear the calls of Kittiwakes. I scan the buildings, there are a few nests on most old building ledges and window sills, some on sloping roofs. There are more Kittiwakes on the outer wall. Many of them have juveniles sitting on them, although many others would now have fledged.

A Kittiwake juvenile has wandered out of the nest in a sloping roof. Juveniles in cliffs cannot move much from the nest cup.

The nesting Kittiwakes are one of the highlights of Bridlington. Others are the Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers, which feed on the harbour walls and slipways. Today I count 53 in total. Some individuals are in full adult summer plumage. I see only 2 purple sandpipers.

Turnstone.

Purple Sandpiper.

Adult male Turnstone

Juvenile Turnstone.

Great Black-backed Gull.

Another attraction from the harbour are the Great Black-backed gulls, often affording close views. One loafs on the roof of the outer harbour building with some cormorants, another sits on the marker post of a groyne.

I walk on the North Beach promenade, the arch of the Flamborough cliffs in the horizon. Sandwich terns pass by with their chirrupy calls. 

Sandwich Tern calling.

The tide is now almost low, and this is the time when the area is best enjoyed. The harbour mudflats and the rocky pools by the harbour walls become exposed, attracting waders. The rocky platform at the bottom of Sewerby cliff also are exposed, and become attractive to a range of birds.

Courting Black-headed gulls on the north beach.

After a brisk walk up the north beach I get to Sewerby cliffs. 

Here, Carrion Crows have perfected the mussel dropping technique. At low tide, they hang out with the gulls and oystercatchers, looking for mussels on the rocks. When they find one, they fly to the top of the beach, gain some height, and then they drop the mussel onto the rocks until it cracks open and they can enjoy the delicacy. Sometimes it takes a few attempts.

Carrion Crow dropping a mussel

A beach combing crow amongst the gulls.

Eating a cracked mussel.

The Last Interglacial: Yorkshire’s lost world
Today we are living in an interglacial period, the Holocene. The previous interglacial (129,000 to 116,000 years ago) is known as the Ipswichian. This period was up to 2oC warmer than today, with a higher sea level (+6 to 9 m, possibly up to 12 m higher) due to extensive melting of Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Holderness didn’t exist as we know it, the area was under a shallow sea with a coastline lapping a chalk cliff - now mostly buried by glacial till - at the foothills of the Yorkshire Wolds approximately following the 10 m OSL contour line. If you had stood on Nafferton, Beverley or Cottingham at the time, looking eastwards, you would have been watching the sea, forming a wide expanse known as Holderness Bay.

The location of the raised beach at Sewerby. 

Most fossil and other evidence for the last interglacial however, was later eroded by the last glaciation. Fortunately, pockets survived in sheltered spots. Near the Sewerby Steps, where the glacial till cliff meets the chalk cliffs, there is a raised fossil beach and wave cut platform, underneath sandy and clay deposits (above). The sand on top of the raised beach was dated to 120,000 year ago. Fossil bones were found amongst the shingle of the beach. These fossils belonged to animals now typical of the warm environments of tropical and subtropical Africa, which expanded from southern latitudes and were able to move from northern Europe and formed successful populations in Britain due to the warm climate: bear, Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta), Straight-tusked Elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius), giant elk (Megaceros giganteus), bison, narrow-nosed rhino (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus), and water vole. Another of those pockets of Ipswichian treasure was discovered inland, at a small limestone quarry at Kirkdale (North Riding of Yorkshire). In a cave in the quarry, a Spotted Hyena’s den was found in 1821, containing the fossil bones and teeth of prey hunted or scavenged by the hyenas: straight-tusked elephant, narrow-nosed rhinoceros, hippos, cave lions (Panthera spelaea) and giant elk. In the book, 'The Hippos', Eltringham reviews the fossil evidence for hippos in the UK during the Ipswichian, concluding “It is very likely that most of the rivers in southern Britain were swarming with hippos much like the African rivers today”.

No archaeological evidence of human occupation has been found from this interglacial in the UK, despite Neandertal populations in Northern France and Belgium, possibly as Britain was an island. 

After a spot of crow and gull watching from the Sewerby steps, it is time to turn back. The much wider beach at low tide helps keep my distance, as it is becoming quite busy. A flock of 20 Redshank are now feeding on the harbour. I make it back to the car by lunch time.

Redshank at the harbour mudflats.

A male sparrow with a very large bib on the beach near the Park and Ride.

Featured bird: Kittiwake
The name 'kittiwake' alludes to the calls of these gulls in their nesting colonies. They are quite small gulls, with plain grey backs and wing tips that looked like they've been dipped in ink. Kittiwakes usually nest in the smallest ledges of sheer cliffs, where they build their nests of seaweed, grass and mud, adding to it year on year. Buildings and other human constructions are really not that different from cliffs, and some Kittiwakes are now urban birds during the summer breeding season. The colonies near Flamborough may take advantage of a large sandeel fishery in Dogger Bank. The colony at Bridlington appears to be expanding, but the species as a whole is not doing so well in the UK, as due to population declines the Kittiwake was recently moved to the Red List, likely due to changes in the marine environment partly due to climate change. Kittiwakes are not migrant birds, they are oceanic gulls that move widely outside the breeding season, wintering in the North Atlantic and reaching N America, although some overwinter in the North Sea.

Walk Information
10 km circular. Start on Park and Ride TA172649. Finish at Sewerby Steps. Public toilets at Park and Ride and several along the promenades at Bridlington. Several beach accesses through ramps and steps onto the beach.

More information
Bateman, M. D. & Catt, J. A. An absolute chronology for the raised beach and associated deposits at Sewerby, East Yorkshire, England. of Quaternary Science: (1996).

Boylan, P. J. (1967) The Pleistocene Mammalia of the Sewerby-Hessle buried cliff. Proc. Yorks. Geol. Soc. 36, 115–125.

Buckland, W. (1822) Account of an Assemblage of Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Bear, Tiger, and Hyaena, and Sixteen Other Animals; Discovered in a Cave at Kirkdale, Yorkshire, in the Year 1821: With a Comparative View of Five Similar Caverns in Various Parts of England, and Others on the Continent. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 112, 171–236 (1822).

Eltringham, S.K. (2010) The Hippos.