Yorkshire Coast Nature Steve Race and Richard Baines Directors
Our company… Yorkshire Coast Nature (YCN) is a small independent nature tourism company dedicated to
creating unique wildlife and photography encounters for tourists visiting East and North Yorkshire. Every member of our team lives locally and is passionate about wildlife. We believe strongly in delivering eco-tourism with a direct benefit for wildlife and provide annual grants to nature conservation organisations.
The North York Moors National Park is one of our regular destinations in which we deliver
workshops and tours throughout the year.
Meet the team…
Steve Race – Director Steve’s passion for the natural world shines through
on his workshops and tours with YCN. In 2013 Steve was one of the "commended" winners in the prestigious international ”Wildlife Photographer of the Year" competition and also had images "commended" in the "British Wildlife Photography Awards” 2013 and “highly commended” in 2015. His images have been used by the RSPB, Natural History Museum, National Trust and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and his work has appeared in numerous magazines and publications. He has also worked on projects with the national media and appeared on BBC Countryfile, BBC Newsround, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and regional television programmes.
Meet the team…
Richard Baines - Director Richard started birding as a child and is our lead tour
guide at Yorkshire Coast Nature. At the age of 24 he joined the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s team of walk leaders, organising countryside events, tours and lectures and taking great personal pleasure in showing thousands of people the wonders of the natural world. With a specialist interest in birds and macro-moths, Richard’s numerous walks and events for adults and children also look at mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, trees and flowers. Richard's extensive travels have taken him from surveys of rare breeding birds in northern Scotland and the boreal forests of Russia to far-flung birding hot spots in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Yorkshire Coast
© George Stoyle
The Yorkshire Coast is an incredible habitat with rocky shores, white chalk cliffs and tidal estuaries. Starting in the North at Saltburn-by-the-Sea and finishing in the South on the Humber estuary this coastline offers a wide variety of wildlife species. Through Autumn and Winter along the coast you will find wading birds such as Purple Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Ringed Plover and Turnstone. On the Humber estuary you can find huge flocks of wading birds of Knot, Dunlin and Golden Plover. The internationally important seabird colony at Bempton Cliffs is a true wildlife spectacle with 250,000 birds present from March to September. Here you can get up close and personal with Gannets, Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Fulmars. Where the National Park extends to the coast, here you can find Peregrine Falcons patrolling the cliffs. Grey and Common Seals, Harbour Porpoises and pods of Bottle-nosed and White-beaked Dolphins are regularly sighted, especially in summer, along with Minke Whales. Early autumn brings the chance of spotting a larger whale such as Humpback, Sei or Fin.
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Bar-tailed Godwit Dunlin
Purple Sandpiper Oystercatcher
Flock of Knot
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Peregrine Falcon
Little Auk Red-throated Diver
Minkie Whale Grey Seal
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Bempton Cliffs Gannets
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Kittiwake
Fulmar
Guillemots Razorbill
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Puffin Flamborough Headland
Guillemots
© Steve Race
Above and Below YCN Above and Below Package Puffin and Gannet Cruise on Yorkshire Lass II Lunch @ RSPB Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve
Wildlife Walk @ Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve
© Steve
© Steve
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Puffin
Bempton Cliffs
Bempton Cliffs Guillemots and Razorbill
Diving Gannet Photography Trips Gannet
Gannet © Steve Race
© Steve Race
North York Moors National Park
The heather moorland of this wonderful National Park is an exhilarating place in springtime. Red Grouse make their choking calls, Golden Plover calls mix with the bubbling songs of Curlews and the ‘drumming’ of Snipe, while Lapwings twist and dive in their display flights. Adders and Common Lizards can be seen throughout spring and summer. Emperor and Wood Tiger moths fly by day and stunning Dotterel can occasionally be seen on migration. In July and August the different species of heather such as Bell Heather, Cross-leaved Heath and Ling come into flower, turning the moorland into an expanse of breathtaking purple. The fens and bogs boast unusual plants such as Butterwort, Round-leaved Sundew, Bog Myrtle, Chickweed Wintergreen and Fairy Flax.
© George Stoyle
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Dotterel Golden Plover
Curlew Lapwing Chick
Adders
© Steve Race
© Steve R
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve R
Wheatear
Stonechat
Whinchat
Ring Ouzel
Red Grouse
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
North Yorkshire Forests
A delightful area to visit, the forests of North Yorkshire are arguably the best place in the country to see the rare and awe-inspiring Honey Buzzard, which can give stunning views as it wings over the trees. Goshawks are another specialty raptor of the area and Long-eared Owls also breed in the forest. The purring song of the increasingly-scarce Turtle Dove can be heard on summer days, while the onset of dusk in clear-fell areas brings the weird churring of the Nightjar, heralding a fly-past and sharp wing-clap by this mysterious bird in its display flight. Pied Flycatcher, Redstart and Tree Pipit breed, and exotically-coloured Crossbills come down to drink at puddles on the forest tracks Otters swim the rivers and streams in the early mornings and evenings in which Kingfisher, Dipper and Grey Wagtails can be found. Both Red and Roe Deer can be seen in the forests and Adders, Slow Worms and Common Lizards in the more open areas. Two iconic butterfly species of the area are Pearl-Bordered Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy Fritillary and there are many interesting flowering plants, including rarities such as Pugsley’s Marsh Orchid, Bird’s-nest Orchid and Toothwort.
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Turtle Dove Roe Deer
Badger Crossbill
Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are rich with wildlife. Red Kites drift majestically over the villages of Warter and Nunburnholme, while Wansford is the haunt of Otters and Water Voles. Another area to encounter the charismatic Water Vole is on the banks of the River Hull at Kings Mill near Driffield, while Top Hill Low and Leven Canal is one of the best places in East Yorkshire to see dragonflies and damselflies. Stunning Redstarts and secretive Tree Pipits breed at Millington Pastures, while Millington Wood hosts Spotted Flycatchers in the summer and Marsh Tits year-round. Tophill Low Nature Reserve’s breeding birds can include Cetti’s Warbler, Barn and Tawny Owls, both Marsh and Willow Tits, Water Rail, Common Tern, ducks and waders including Little Ringed Plover. It also has a wealth of flora, from Nettle-leaved Bellflower to Marsh Valerian, Sneezewort to Oxlip, as well as several species of orchid, and trees such as Spindle and Hornbeam which are not common in this part of the country.
© George Stoyle
Brown Hare Water Vole
Fox Roe Deer
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
© Steve Race
Kestrel
Little Owl
Barn Owl
Rough Legged Buzzard
Take a look at our website – www.yorkshirecoastnature.co.uk
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