Train trip: Scarborough to Crook Ness

 

I took the train to Scarborough for a walk along the coastal Cleveland Way. The day started a bit misty, but warm, and soon the sun was shining and the light breeze atop the cliffs made for a wonderful summer feel walk. I headed straight for Scalby Mills, as I was keen to explore two ravines, Scalby Mill and Crook Ness. Both have a southerly aspect and I was wondering if an undiscovered population of Dark Bush-crickets might be lurking there. I'll give you the answer now: no Dark bush-crickets were found, however, there were other bush-cricket surprises!

Looking back with Scarborough Castle on the horizon.

It was nice to see a female Common Field Grasshopper jumping down from a concrete post and start to lay eggs on the soil. This is the only grasshopper species seen, but it was plentiful. 

Long-winged Conehead habitat by the road.

Of course I had taken my bat-detector along. The first surprise was Long-winged Cone-heads on a patch of grassland by the road just up from the Scalby Mills pub. This wasn't a very large surprise through, as we saw the species at Ravenscar, a more northern location. Long-winged Cone-heads were calling all along the walk, they seem very established as they've been there for a while. Unfortunately the high temperatures meant that they weren't showing much, so no photos, just sound recordings of them.

I cross the bridge over Scalby Beck, always picturesque and much better on a sunny summer day!

View while climbing the small valley to carry on the Cleveland Way.

From the sea came the wailing calles of Oystercatchers and Curlew. Cormorants dried their wings on rocks as the falling tide exposed them and Grey Heron stood by rock pools having a go to pond dipping.  

Grey Heron.

The walk gets more interesting as I start picking the first Roesel's buhs crickets on the grassland over Scalby Beck. They are numerous and the habitat forms a long strip along the path, so their whirring accompanies me along. Although I try to triangulate their position with the bat detector, I fail to spot any, probably also hiding inside the grass tussocks. When I get home I check and find these are the first Roesel's in VC62 and some of the northernmost in the UK.

The views of this walk are truly spectacular!

An interpretation board for Scalby Lodge ponds. No water was visible from the footpath.

Curlew.

I'm very pleased to spot a few Wall Butterflies basking on the footpaths... 

or feeding on Creeping Thistle.

Arriving to Crook Ness.

The interpretation board has fallen to the ground. Interesting to read that the track to the beach along the ravine was used to collect building materials with donkey and cart. The cliffs are quite high and this is one of the few access points to the beach. The ravine is very narrow and steep, and there is a trickle of water on the beck. Ferns clothe the sides of the ravine, but it is very enclosed and as soon as you are on the beach it feels very dry. The only orthopterans to be seen or heard were Common Field Grasshoppers.

Common Field Grasshopper.

I have my packed lunch on a large boulder overlooking the sea. I'm quick, as there is a long way back to the train.

The bottom of Crook Ness.

There are reeds, but not many brambles at the bottom of the ravine.

Migration at Pickering Park

 

An overdue Wetland Bird survey at Pickering Park. A lovely morning, sunny and still. I wake up early and head towards the park, hoping to beat the dog walkers. It was quiet to start with. Just two Greylags about, no Canada, which was a bit odd. Plenty of Coots about and two Tufted Ducks. Then I spotted a Common Sandpiper, which I have had before in migration at the park. It allowed quite close approximation.

Then, by the middle island, there was a mixed flock of tits with at least some leaf warblers flitting about. A Willow Warbler sung weakly, a Chiffchaff joined it. I saw a bird chasing a warbler that made me think of a Spotted Flycatcher, could it be? I was amazed to see that it was. The bird was very unsettled, as it was very aggressive to the warblers and chased any landing near it. It was very busy, I couldn't really count how many willow warblers and chiffchaffs there were on a group of birches, but probably about a dozen in total. After quite a long wait, I managed some shots (top shot). This was my first Spotted Flycatcher in Hull. This used to be a summer migrant breeding across the city in parks and large garderns, but not any more, so it was very nice to see it at the park.

Willow Warbler.

Spotted Flycatcher

Willow Warbler.

Green-veined White.

Nice to see the Mute Swan pair has managed to raise six cygnets, after they lost the whole brood last year because of bird flu.

Hayburn Wyke and Ravenscar

I was very keen to return to Hayburn Wyke after last years visit with Hull Nats, so I got a lift to join a trip by the Fern Group today. The weather forecast was changeable for the weekend, with rain and thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. We were lucky the weather held on and we enjoyed a pleasant temperature, barely any wind and plenty of sunshine. It was lucky, as my main aim for the day was to record Dark Bush crickets and I had taken the bat detector to check for calling males.

Kite-tailed Robber-fly on the car park.

First, we took the path down the ravine. The ferns look magnificent, much larger than the sizes we are used to. Soft Shield Ferns are plentiful, as are Hard Fern. We saw some Lady Ferns too. We didn't come all the way down to the beach, just to the view point near the wooden bridge at the end of the trail. We were supposed to be following a trail along the beck, but somehow we lost it and it was like being in a ferny and boggy jungle. Anyhow, it was a great adventure going 'off piste' within the wood. Hayburn Wyke wood feels like a temperate rainforest. 

Lady Fern.

Soft shield fern.

The path to the beach.

The first viewpoint to the little cove.

A racing pigeon had decided to spend the day at the beach, enjoying the sunshine.

Devil's-bit Scabious with Common Carder Bee.

Spot the Slow Worm.

View of the head.

Slow Worm.

Sericomya silentis, the Bog Hoverfly, a lovely, large hoverfly typical of moorland and woodland clearings.

Female Dark bush-cricket. Three were basking near each other at the base of a south-facing hedge, where males were also calling. On a different field after lunch, also from a hedge, I picked two male calling. It appears the Hayburn Wyke population is doing quite well.

The beck.

Our lunch spot.

Leopard slug.

Ferdinandea cuprea. An uncommon woodland hoverfly. 

After the adventure in the woods, we decided to pop to Ravenscar to enjoy the view and have an icecream. I switched on the bat detector, hoping for Dark bush crickets, but, surprisingly, I picked a Long-winged Conehead calling, which I couldn't locate, in the field just by the car park (below). After a walk to the fantastic viewpoint towards Robin-hood's Bay down the hill (top shot), we returned to the car, but Roland immediately spotted the calling conehead when I pointed the area where it was calling! I check at home and this is the second most northerly record of Long-winged Conehead, and only the second from VC-62.

Conehead field.

Long-winged Conehead.

Common Green Grasshopper.

Pocklington Canal and White Carr Meadow Pastures

A trip with the Hull Natural History society to a stretch of the Pocklington Canal between Coats Bridge and White Carr Meadow, a SSSI adjoining the canal. This was my first visit to Pocklington Canal. It's a warm and sunny afternoon, ideal for insects. After the group assembles, we move onto the canal towpath, where volunteers are working on the Coates lock. 

Coates Lock.

The canal opened in 1818, but it fell into disuse with the advent of road transport and locks became non functional. The section we walked along today is not navigable, although the Pocklington Canal Amenity society has worked to increase the length of navigable canal by dredging and lock restoration, currently between the river Derwent and Melbourne. 

At a ditch by the canal, we spot the first Banded Demoiselles, a Common Darter and Meadow Brown Butterflies. 

Banded demoiselle.

Common Darter.

Ovipositing Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting sing together near the meeting point, but I only manage to photograph the Yellowhammer.

We move onto the meadows. It is exhilarating how diverse in plants these wet meadows are. Many new species for me and an abundance of insects. The highlight is a few Marbled Whites. 

Walking along the meadow.

Pepper Saxifrage.

Gatekeeper

Common Blue damselfly.

Rutpela maculata, a longhorn beetle fond of Hogweed.

Marbled White.

Comma.

Mating Green-veined whites

Ringlet.

The area upstream of the lock has clear water with Yellow Water Lilies. Common Blue damselflies and Blue-tailed Damselflies are settled on the lily pads or ovipositing. A pike stood on the water, immobile like a log, while a Kingfisher darted downstream above the trees.

Pike.