Visit to Bempton Cliffs : 4th August 2012

Visit to Bempton Cliffs : 5th August 2012

Anne and I decided to go away for our 6th anniversary and since it was on our minds to try to get over to RSPB Bempton Cliffs one of these days we decided that this would be a good opportunity. We drove over eastwards and as we drove the weather picked up quite a bit and by the time we reached Bempton Cliffs it was a really nice afternoon. It was going to be our first sight of a mainland Gannetry and I was particularly interested to see the Gannets from above rather than below as has been our previous experience.

We started out from the visitor centre and took the south-easterly path along the cliffs. As soon as we reached the cliffs we could see Gannets flying past really quite close to the cliffs. It was also interesting to see so many Feral Rock Doves which rather surprised me as they were everywhere reminding us of the rocky origins of these birds.
As we walked further along the cliffs we started to hear more and more Kittiwakes and Gannets. Just before we reached the “Staple Newk” we saw a Kestrel hovering on the wind at the edge of the cliff and as we walked along further we could suddenly see the sea stack arch with Gannets flying all around it in a white mist of birds. At the end of the reserve area was the viewpoint just above the main rock on which the Gannets nest and it seemed like every nest had a chick on it in various stages of growth. However, every available niche was taken up by a Gannet or a Kittiwake.

We had left it too late in the year to see the Puffins who had already left the cliffs with their young, perhaps to feed at Dogger Bank which is only 25 miles to the east. We didn’t feel too bad about this however since we had already had many encounters with Puffins this year particularly at the isle of Lunga and to a lesser degree at the Isle of May. The big attraction was just watching the Gannets from above; lots of them and in a multitude of different plumages, often returning in small skeins from the open sea back to the cliffs. As they landed there was much clattering of bills and fantastically agile landings on the narrowest of cliff edges for those that did not have a nest on the main rock.

We walked back along the cliff edge and towards the north-westerly side of the cliffs and again it was more dramatic scenery and lots of Kittiwakes perched on the most unlikely of narrow niches in the rocks. As we reached the far end of the sight, from the viewing platform we could see even more Gannets and Kittiwakes but on a small ledge just below the viewing platform we saw a single Fulmar with a chick nesting on a small ledge that whilst small was clearly more space than most other birds could defend.

The afternoon was getting on and we still had not checked into our hotel so we headed back to the visitor centre but just before we left we dropped in at their bird feeding observation area where there were very many Tree Sparrows and not a lot else apart from a couple of Robins and a Blackbird. Still it was nice to see the Tree Sparrows doing so well. Apart from these birds we had also seen the obligatory Pied Wagtail.

We returned to the car and headed off for the hotel. We stayed the night at the North Star Hotel at Flamborough which turned out to be a good hotel for our purposes if not the cheapest in the world. In truth there isn’t much choice around there and the rooms were clean and not too poky and the bar and restaurant were good and the staff very pleasant. After we got our luggage sorted and had a quick – free ! – drink in the bar we booked a table for dinner and decided to take the short – if steep – walk down to “North Landing” one of the small harbours that were used in the fishing trade in days gone by and following the famous 10th February gales in 1871 was also the home of one of the two lifeboat stations at Flamborough, one at “North Landing” and the other at “South Landing”

We climbed up from there and walked along the coast a bit where there were also plenty of Kittiwakes and Gannets to be seen. We could have walked all the way round to the Flamborough Head lighthouse on this path but it was getting late and we were getting hungry so we returned to the hotel for dinner.

Bird Sightings : Bempton Cliffs RSPB