Cayton Bay, Sea Birds and Bats

Today, I enjoyed my first trip to the coast in nearly two years! 

Driving over, I passed a field full of linseed which was a pleasant sight, and I noticed some Dryad's saddle fungus too.

I had chosen Cayton Bay to see the sea, hoping it would be a pleasant beach and it was. The sun broke through the last of the cloud soon after I arrived too! I didn't do a lot there; a look in the rock pools, dipping my feet in the sea and then just sitting and enjoying the sound of the sea and reading a little.

The largest pool was full of these, which I think are young sand eels.

crane fly

As it wasn't far away, I decided to make a brief visit to Bempton Cliffs on the way home. There, I saw the usual birds - gannets, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins, plus tree sparrows.

There were also a few bugs, of course, including the red and black froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata) and a pill bug.

My time outdoors didn't end there though! Home for a few days this week is a former chapel and so this evening, around 10pm, I took the bat detector out for a walk in the neighbouring cemetery. I saw two species of bat - common pipistrelle and another one that I'm not sure about off the top of my head but was much larger than a pipistrelle and I'd hazard a guess at Brown Long Eared. There were also a few cockchafers around. I could hear them buzzing in the air and also walking around in grass and on the shrubs as well as see them flying by.

Home for a few days

30 Days Wild begins properly tomorrow... I don't have a single thing planned for it yet, I'll just take it a day at a time and see where it takes me :)

A few days in North Yorkshire

On Thursday night, I travelled north to spend an evening on a nightjar safari in the North York Moors, with Yorkshire Coast Nature. It was very good - lots of nightjars churring and 4 or 5 flew past really close!  (As it was dark, I don't have any photos of them).

Then I drove up to a little cottage in Guisborough for a few days, travelling via Whitby to see if the abbey was lit up at night.

Guisborough Priory

On Friday I visited Saltburn by the Sea as it wasn't far away. I didn't rate it at all so didn't stay for long, but it was good to see the sea!

I spent the rest of Friday exploring the North York Moors a little and also visited the Moors National Park Centre, near Danby, which was a lovely place. Crow Wood is right by the car park so I had a walk through the trees before heading back to Guisborough too.

On Saturday I headed out to sea from Whitby on a four hour whale watching trip - we saw lots of seals, quite a few harbour porpoise and several minke whales. I didn't take many photos as it was so windy again so photography wasn't easy - on a boat, on a choppy sea, with moving subjects!

Leaving the harbour in Whitby

minke whale fin

minke whale fin

Approaching Whitby again after the trip

I travelled home on Sunday, calling in at RSPB Fairburn Ings which I didn't enjoy at all. I walked the paths but found they're all quite far from the lakes with little to see bird wise, a lot of Himalayan Balsam which smells vile (the scent makes me feel queasy!) and seemingly no attempts whatsoever to control it (so it's just spreading all along the riverbanks as well as the reserve) and the scenery wasn't very pleasant either.

After a disappointing visit to Fairburn Ings, I spent Sunday afternoon at RSPB Old Moor near Barnsley before going home. That was a much better place and deserves a post of it's own which I will write soon!