Watch the birdies

Foot and mouth in the heart of the North York Moors has put the kibosh on my walking plans. Luckily I had a ticket for a boating trip, so here was my day, intense with birds.

One cannot walk on water. At Flamborough Head there is a short length of the cliff tops that we have not done before. My 'chauffeur' dropped me off at one end, at North Landing, (where there is a large car park, caf/bar, and access to the beach) and drove off to Selwicks Bay where there is the same and a lighthouse. I ambled, stop-start, my one and a half miles of the Headland Way, to the lighthouse.

Huge numbers of kittiwakes, like delicate gulls, wheeled in the huge ribbon-curve amphitheatres of vertical white chalk cliffs, cliffs striated with pale lines of gulls and contrasting lines of auks, like supermarket bar codes (auk eggs used to be the favourite).

About a quarter of a mile out, floated raft after raft of birds. Drifts of sea pinks coloured the soft grass of the cliff tops and house martins zipped by flashing their pure white rumps.

This was a tasty sea bird starter with most of the species, and a lovely little leg stretcher.

Now for sea legs. From the lighthouse, my chauffeur, who had been on the beach, whisked me the five miles to Bridlington Harbour and we boarded The Yorkshire Belle. She was built in 1947 as a pleasure boat and looked very shipshape. RSPB assistants mingled with the full complement of 150 birdwatchers, and Richard Bishop of the RSPB was to provide an interesting and entertaining commentary throughout the three-hour sailing.

We slipped out of harbour; a fulmar checked us out for the scent of tuna sandwiches, a shag passed.

As the cliffs get higher the boat closes in, to an air traffic turmoil - the blizzards of kittiwakes, the bullet flight paths of the auks and the cool cruise of fulmars.

Sometimes the captain cuts the engines and we drift in very close, yards from guillemots doing penguin imitations, face-to-face with the tall dark disdainful shags in their gothic caves and arches. Some giant gannets arced over their patch on six-foot wings; others on long-haul fishing trips glinted far out at sea.

A self-styled 'Captain Ruddwash' had assumed the figurehead, like a bearded Boadicea. Flanking him, a face-painted girl on RSPB puffin watch piped "Puffin - puffin - puffin". We saw hundreds, down to the detail of their banded beaks, as we coursed through the rafts of birds floating, I assume for comfort, till they comically bodysurfed and dived out of our way. The rapt and well wrapped-up birdwatchers seemed comfortable, though only those with cast-iron stomachs braved the bar in the bowels of the boat.

Take this ride someday and meet the half million citizens of Sea Bird City.

Directions

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1. From car park at North Landing, cliff-edge path south, signed "To the Lighthouse 11/2, Headland Way".

2. Selwicks Bay at Flamborough Head, steps down to beach. From Lighthouse retrace steps.

Fact file

Distance: One and a half miles.

Time: An hour plus.

General location: Coast near Bridlington.

Start: North Landing End: Flamborough Head.

Right of way: Public rights of way.

Date walked: June 9, 2001.

Road route: A166 from York.

Car parking: £1.20 all day at North Landing.

Lavatories: Car parks.

Refreshments: North Landing and Flamborough Head.

Tourist and public transport information (check if footpath open): Bridlington TIC, tel: 01262 673474

Map: Based on OS Explorer 301 Scarborough, Bridlington and Flamborough Head.

Terrain: Cliff top.

Points of interest: Puffin and Shearwater Boat Trips from Bridlington, tel: 07751 654984. Lighthouse Tours, tel: 01262 850345 (Closed at weekends, also closed Fridays in term time)

Difficulty: Easy.

Dogs: Suitable.

Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418

Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.