An Outstanding Wildlife Day at Bempton and Hunmanby Gap

 A message from a friend of mine asking if I fancied going to Bempton the following day to see the Black-browed Albatross was a nice surprise. Of course I said yes and three of us met at Bempton quite early on Friday. My friends, Nick and Andy, are both excellent birders, nature lovers and very good company so I looked forward to a good day.

It started well with a decent walk to the north before I met them and we got onto the albatross almost straight away. It favoured an area at the base of Staple Newk and didn't wander very far from that while we watched. From our viewpoint we were about 500 yards away so photos are record shots only. This was a new species for Andy and myself, but Nick had been fortunate enough to see it a few days ago.

Black-browed Albatross

We watched for a couple of hours before deciding to go off for breakfast, so we headed north to Hunmanby Gap and the smashing cafe there. We met two more friends (Sandra and Keith) for a good chat and a lovely breakfast, with a bit of sea-watching thrown in. It was so good to be meeting friends and eating and talking as normal after all these miserable months, and the sun was shining too so it was set fair for an unbeatable al fresco breakfast.

We discussed where we should go next and Keith mentioned a pond he knew not far away where we could see something we'd never heard of - Semaphore Flies. Cue jokes of questionable taste 😂 In his inimitable style, Keith told us of the male Semaphore Fly's courtship dance around the female and that of course made us want to see one! This display includes wing waving with their white tipped wings and this waving is what gives them their name of "Semaphore".

At the new location we encountered two new species for us - Emerald Damselfly and the intriguing Semaphore Fly.

Semaphore Flies with white wing tips and bronze bodies

The Emerald Damselfly is a fantastic looking creature and we were lucky enough to see several, both male and female, around the pond.

Male and female Emerald Damselfly

Male Emerald Damselfly

The place was alive with insects - bees, flies, moths, butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies, as the surrounding slopes had been planted with wild flowers a few years ago. If only there were more places where this could be done we would have so many more insects.

I hadn't seen a Small or Large Skipper around Hornsea this year to date so I was more than happy to follow the random path of a Skipper for long periods of time, trying to id it. It turned out to be Small Skipper but it's quite hard to tell Small and Large apart in flight.

Small Skipper

We also watched Black-tailed Skimmers, Emporer dragonfly, Four Spotted Chaser and Ruddy Darters; Common Blue damselfly and Blue-tailed damselfly; Ringlet and  Meadow Brown. I was more than happy to stay there all day but time was getting on.

Male Black-tailed Skimmer

Female Black-tailed Skimmer

Female Black-tailed Skimmer

Male and female Black-tailed Skimmers

Female Emporer dragonfly ovipositing

Male Ruddy Darter

I had to leave my two good friends after we'd finished at the pond so I missed out on a trip to Filey Dams, but more importantly I missed out on their company for a few more hours. It was a brilliant day and an all-too-brief glimpse of what life can be like when we get back to normal. Thanks everyone 👍