APRIL 2009 - Bempton Cliffs visit.

Wednesday 29th, the day was sunny and very mild but on the cliff tops it was decidedly blustery that necessitated the wearing of a jacket in the afternoon. A rich diversity of bird life in one location; seabirds off the the cliffs and passerines around the farmland. As can be seen in the video below, Tree Sparrows are quite numerous. High up on the walls of the Field Centre are nest boxes that the Tree Sparrows use and I am told they have already laid eggs. Other Passerines that I saw were Meadow Pipits, (left) Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Skylarks and Wagtails. This was my first visit to Bempton Cliffs since May 2000 when I went there with a friend of mine, Neil. If you are reading this Neil, it hasn't changed at all. Everything is still very much the same! Arriving there at 11:30am, the car park was all ready full. I wasn't expecting that on a week-day. Anyway, loaded up with scope, tripod and rucksack which contained my digital and video cameras, I set off.

The views were just splendid! Clear blue sky reaching down to an off-blue sea. The cacophony of noise from the Gannets was the first thing that struck me. At certain places, when the breeze caught the odour of fish...that was quite strong, but that's all part of the great outdoors! The seabirds that were present in large numbers; Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes were mostly perched on the shear cliff faces in groups. Several groups of each particular bird were dotted along the cliffs in various locations.

By far the largest numbers of seabird present were the Gannets. A very tidy looking and large bird. Their groups/colonies were very active. Many birds had already paired-up but there were still others who appeared to be waiting for their mates to return and others just cruising around looking to form a partnership. The immature Gannets were easy to spot as they will still show streaks of black on the body and wings. After about 4/5 years the immatures will loose this pied appearance to a sleak all white except for the wing-tips that remain black and the distinctive yellow head.

But the seabird that I had come to see, the Puffins, hadn't returned from their winter feeding grounds yet. A warden advised me to visit again in mid-May. This I certainly will! On the farmland there are various passerines and the most numerous appear to be the Tree Sparrow, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Greenfinch and Goldfinch. All of which I got some good views!! Bempton Cliffs RSPB is a very rewarding location to observe birds of differing types!!