May - Yorkshire Coast (East Riding) — Wild Image Photography

Some people like to go on holiday for the Sun and the Sea, some for the food and drink and some need to just “get away”. Some people go hiking and take rucksacks and camping gear. We take Cameras and Binoculars and all of the above as well, minus the camping gear (although himself is still trying to get herself to stay overnight under canvas . . . No chance). Herself likes a bit more comfort these days. We took a wildlife photographic Holiday to the Yorkshire Coast, staying in a brilliant holiday cottage in Bucton, just a 5 min car journey or an easy ramble to Bempton Cliffs RSPB. We loved it so much we have booked again for June next year.

We sampled good old Yorkshire Hospitality, Fish and Chips, substantial Ploughmans lunches, a huge Sunday roast dinner at the local pub, Theakstons Beer, Yorkshire Tea, and other refreshments. Its a good thing we also did a lot of walking.

On the Saturday we took a two and half hour sea cruise on the Yorkshire Belle out of Bridlington along the coast to the very base of the chalk cliffs at Bempton. The skipper of the Belle steered the boat right up to the cliffs under the sea birds and paused for a while, just awesome. It was absolutely breathtaking. We were so in awe of the sight and sounds we both put our cameras down and just tried to take it all in. An experience we will never forget. If you are ever up near Bridlington, please take this trip you will not be disappointed.

We saw Puffins, Razorbills, Guillimots and Gannets on the water, and even a Great Skua, or Bonxi, hustling the Guillimots, and Albert Ross the Black Browed Albatross back for another summer, resting up on the cliff. The only sight that did not show was a pod of Dolphins that regularly swim along side the boat. They must have had other things to do that day.

Bempton Cliffs is home to one of the UK's top wildlife spectacles. Around half a million seabirds gather here between March and October to raise a family on towering chalk cliffs which overlook the North Sea.

The unique rock formation which can only be seen from the sea.

Little Eva, being her usual inquisitive self and loving every minute of the holiday, except the bit when she had to get back into the car. We are sure she walked twice as far as us as she was always exploring.

A beautiful walk at Danes Dyke down to the little bay. The Wild Garlic gave the impression of a sprinkling of snow. Danes Dyke is a 148 acre nature reserve on Flamborough headland. The dyke is prehistoric in origin and was constructed as a defensive feature protecting five square miles of land lying to the east. Bronze Age arrowheads have been found during excavations, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument of national importance. The reserve contains the most extensive area of woodland on the Headland and is also part of the Flamborough Headland Heritage Coast.
Wouldn’t like to think how long that took to dig out by hand.

We took the very steep steps up from the beach to the cliff top, (we were warned they were a bit steep). Someone thoughtfully put a seat at the top with magnificent views towards Bridlington and beyond. The top path back to the car park lead through green woodland and we glimpsed Roe Deer out on the farmland. Next year we may walk a bit further along the cliff path. We just ran out of time.

Flamborough Head has been designated a Special area of Conservation, and is home to sea birds, flowers and insects. Mammals such as Whales and Dolphins can be seen regularly from the cliffs. We had a great breakfast at the Cafe near the lighthouse, a bacon sarnie for herself and a fry up for himself and of course a large pot of Yorkshire Tea.

A small pod of Grey Seals have recently made their home on this beach at Flamborough Head.

A bit of a steep path down to Thornwick Bay so a slow descent with walking poles was in order, good for the knees though. We were a bit slow for Little Eva who made it down to the bay long before us and stood waiting at the bottom with the look of “What took you so long”.

There are lots of rocks to sit on and admire the bay. This is where we had our best views of puffins so far. We watched House Martins collecting mud from one side of the bay and flying across to build nests on the cliff face on the other side. If you think about it, this is where they would have originally built nests before humans built houses for them to use.

We kept putting off the return walk, but the walk back up from Thornwick bay was surprisingly easier than the walk down.

Filey Bay. A visit here always feels a bit like coming home. Generations of Dobson family holidays and distant relatives still living here makes this a special place for us. This is where we watched the Sand Martins swooping over the cliffs and ponds at the top of the country park, and Meadow Pipits displaying.

We couldn’t leave without a visit down to Cobble Landing and the beach and of course a “99” Ice Cream. Time to head back to the car as a storm was heading in.

We walked many miles this week, cliff tops, footpaths, down to rocky bays and back up. Our poor old knees did a bit of complaining but we kept them going. Not sure how. These corn cockles were in flower everywhere along the cliff tops.

A beautiful evening at Bempton Cliffs. We saw so much wildlife this week, we will be thinking about this for many weeks to come. Seabirds, including the Black Browed Albatross, Owls, Warblers, aerial feeders such as the Martins and Swallows, rare Tree Sparrows, and Roe Deer and Hares. But so much more and the scenery never failed to disappoint.

We decided to drive home via Spurn Point. The weather was dull and drizzly but we grabbed an all day breakfast at the visitor centre. We had a quick look in a nearby hide and were surprised to find a pair of Swallows flying in and out nest building, quite oblivious to us being there. We had a short walk with the dog before our final trip home. Spurn is a National Nature Reserve and part of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust which means the wildlife and habitats there are highly protected so we were unable to walk the dog on the main reserve.

Spurn Point lighthouses
When we visited Spurn many,many,many, years ago we were able to drive to the point, but Spurn is an ever-changing landscape affected by storms, high tides and a changing climate. In 2013 a tidal surge destroyed parts of the road and changed the shape of the point. Access now is walking only or by a 3 hour guided Spurn safari tour in a specially converted ex-military vehicle.

So a great holiday but now for the drive home, with a few swaps of driver to relieve aching legs and knees. Who would have thought driving would be so painful on the knees. Thank goodness for an automatic car.

We have far too many pictures to be able share in this blog, so for a selection of our pictures taken this week please follow this link: Yorkshire (East Riding) May 2022 Gallery

We hope you have as much enjoyment looking at the images of the wildlife as we did seeing and taking the them, you will see from our pictures that many of the birds were busy collecting nesting material.

A special Thank You goes to Richard and Claire at Rockville Farm Cottages, Bucton, for providing such a comfortable and welcoming dog friendly cottage.

The grounds of the former farm are well kept and are for the use of people staying in the cottages with a secure field for dog walking. This enabled little Eva to roam about to her hearts content while we watched a Barn Owl quartering the fields in the early morning and evening.

Richard is a very good artist and his paintings and prints are on the walls in the cottages and in a small gallery on-site. As part of the gallery there is a brilliant cafe with excellent service, food and drinks.

We are looking forward to visiting again in June next year when the birds on the cliffs at Bempton should have young to feed.