A Yorkshire Break - Day 2 - 11th May 2024

A www.blueeyedbirder.com adventure:

Up at Filey it had been gloriously sunny and calm but as we approached Buckton I could see the band of sea fog rolling in from the south across the headland and by the time we assembled at Bempton at 9am it was thick and cold and breezy.  Thankfully it shifted enough that we ended up having an excellent walk along the cliff tops.  Four of the crew had never been before or even seen a full sea bird cliff in action.  As expected it was a special experience for all of them as well us those of us who have visited before.   I was reminiscing that my first visit was 38 years ago with the Redbridge YOC group when the Gannets numbered just 200 pairs – there are over 3000 this year.

Puffins are never too easy to see here but I managed to find a couple of perched birds along with the expected Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets and Kittiwakes.

Puffin with greens

Puffin - Alan Bishop

A bird flu survivor with now black eyes

The one sky pointing is orange Darvic T7 - will report back

Gannets

Gannet & Kittiwake - Alan Bishop

Gannet - another bird flu survivor - Alan Bishop

Razorbills

bridled Guillemot

Guillemot

Rock Dove

Corn Buntings, Reed Buntings, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were around the old MoD structures but it was too cool for there to be any insects other than countless St Mark’s Flies around the swathes of Red Campion.

Corn Bunting

Back at the centre the Tree Sparrows were chatty and Lesser and Common Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers were singing from the bushes. 

Tree Sparrow

The view south towards  Flamborough kept disappearing

Time for lunch and then a little south to Thornwick Bay which was even foggier but worth the walk down to the beach where a Puffin and Razorbills could be see without staring down (Pat was grateful!) and House Martins, Starlings and Rock-ish Doves were in and out of the cliff face.

Thornwick Bay - not as warm as it looks

Three Cornered Leek and almost limey Primroses dotted the gassy slopes

It was surprisingly chilly down there so we climbed back up with me dreaming of rare warblers and chats in the gully but only seeing a couple of Linnets and Wood Pigeon.  A subsequent walk around the adjacent Thornwick Pools added quite a few species with seven species of Warbler, Bull and Greenfinches and a few zipping Sand Martins over the lake where a brood of Mallard paddled.  I had foolishly stuck with shorts and sandals all day and was frozen but we still went to South Landing for a look around the ravine.

Ragged Robin

The breeze was sharp on this side of the headland and the woodland was very quiet with just breeding local Warblers and Bullfinch once again.  A large section of the path had collapsed into the bottom and more looks sure to follow.

We popped out on the bottom of the slipway where the Lifeboat had just gone out and we wondered if it was for the couple of youngsters we had seen in an inflatable paddling off Thornwick.  The actual Lifeboat Station had an open day with hots drinks and a huge array of cakes on offer for a donation and we all descended like frozen, starving locusts.  With the sea fret descending once again we decided to call it a day and retreat to the warmth of our respective accommodations.