Short break in Yorkshire !

The 'Buyagift' short break, that our daughter and son in law had gifted us with, was finally put to good use with a trip to the East Riding of Yorkshire and a stay in the lovely market town of Beverley.
 We made our way up the A1 towards the North,  a mobile phone call from our Yorkshire daughter en-route, informed us that it was  raining hard up there, I glanced out the car window to look at the brilliant blue sky and sunshine we were leaving behind.
But we needn't have worried, as we arrived in Beverley the sun was shining, we were ready for a nice evening walk. I tentatively suggested a walk along Bempton cliffs, which was only a short drive away to which my wife agreed.

Fortunately for me, this is also one of England's top seabird sites, there was some fantastic views of seabirds all along the  clifftop, together with some stunning views along the coast line towards Flamborough Head.

Gannet 

Gannets

Possibly not the best of neighbours, but we all need our space.

Gannet and Guillemots 

One of the birds everyone wants to see is the Puffin, to be honest these were in short supply we only saw one Puffin before it left the cliffs  for the sea.

Puffin & Razorbill

Razorbills and guillemots were very abundant occupying  every suitable ledge on the cliff face.

Guillemots

Razorbill

Kittiwakes seemed to be the other common seabird here, a few Fulmars and a few large gulls patrolling the cliff edges.

Kittiwakes

Fulmar

As we walked along the cliff tops enjoying the views and the air, we were pleasantly surprised to see not one, but two Barn Owls, one even joining the seabirds on the cliff top, very surreal.

Barn Owl on Bempton Cliffs

The Tree Sparrow colony at Bempton cliff RSPB visitor centre is still thriving, I do not get to see many of these apart from a colony at Dungeness RSPB.

Tree Sparrow

 We planned to visit Whitby today with a short diversion to Blacktoft RSPB near the town of Goole, there had been reports of  a pair of Montagu's Harrier breeding there, which would have been nice to see, no such luck, plenty of Marsh Harriers on view, the RSPB voluntary wardens suggested at least a three hour wait to see them, I could not inflict that on my very patient wife.

Marsh Harrier at Blacktoft Sands RSPB.

On to Whitby near the Yorkshire Moors for some sight seeing, a very nice old fashioned seaside resort, with a 'Dracula' fixation.

Whitby

Abbey ruins on east cliff of Whitby

This old tourist tour bus caught my eye, you'll notice on the front radiator the company name of 'Dennis', this was also the make of the first Fire engine I rode in when I joined the Fire Brigade back in the 1980s, complete with wheeled escape ladder on the back. 'good old days'

No trip to Yorkshire is complete without a walk on the Yorkshire Moors, we plumped for a walk across the moors via Horcum Hole, very nice walk, Meadow Pipits, skylarks very common, Common Redstart seen as we came back through Horcum Hole.

Very nice county to visit, beautiful scenery, lovely towns and resorts.