RSPB Bempton Cliffs and RSPB Old Moor - 22nd April 2023

 Jayne and I had a trip over to RSPB Bempton Cliffs to catch up with a few "year ticks" today. First up was Tree Sparrow (133), with several birds around the main centre, busy setting up their territories.

Tree Sparrow

After a quick walk down to the cliffs we soon added the other new birds: Puffin (134) (thanks for the spot, Jayne!), Guillemot (135), Razorbill (136), Kittiwake (137) and Gannet (138).

Puffin and Guillemot

Razorbill

When we had finished at Bempton, we checked Bird Guides, and noticed that the male Ring-necked Duck (139) had been reported at RSPB Old Moor. We popped in on the way back, and got great, but distant, views from Wath Ings Hide. 

Ring-necked Duck

Other birds seen were: Shelduck (140), Gadwall, Mallard, Canada Goose, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling, Green Woodpecker and Cetti's Warbler.

BLACK_BROWED ALBATROSS!!!!!!!!!!!

 On Monday I drove up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs to see the long-staying Black-browed Albatross "Albert"!

I arrived on site at 5.50am, and saw the bird straight away, perched on the cliffs below Staple Newark, with the Gannets. It was well tucked in, but did keep stretching, and had a brief fly around, before disappearing into the heavy sea fret! A fantastic sighting, and a "lifer" to boot.

Afterwards, I drove further up the coast to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, a regular spot for Mediterranean Gulls. I saw a minimum of  9 on the beach, along with Black-headed Gulls, a fishing Shag and Arctic and Sandwich Terns.

Mediterranean Gull

My final stop of the day was St Mary's Island, where another 20+ Sandwich Terns were roosting. In amongst them were 3 darviced birds, UBB, UVN and KAL. UBB was originally ringed on Coquet Island, on 5th May 2015. It was seen here again in 2018. My sighting is the first since then, and the first away from the island. UVN was also ringed in 2015, on Inner Farne. It has nested on Coquet Island since, but has also been reported in Namibia, in October 2018. I haven't heard back from KAL yet. 

UBB

UVN

KAL

A ringed Black-headed Gull, T73, was also at St Mary's. No details of where and when it was ringed yet, but a local birder said it was a returning German bird.

T73

Year List update:

151 - Black-browed Albatross

152 - Mediterranean Gull

153 - Shag

154 - Sandwich Tern

155 - Arctic Tern 

Bempton and Scarborough - 13th April 2021

 With a relaxation of lockdown rules allowing travel further afield, Jayne and I decided to have a day trip to the coast, visiting RSPB Bempton Cliffs and Scarborough. The weather was great, with bright sunshine, no wind and 12 degrees.

First stop was Bempton Cliffs, where we spent a couple of hours walking along the cliffs, recording the following species: Gannet, Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Herring Gull, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Linnet, Pied Wagtail and Tree Sparrow.

Gannet

After Bempton, we drove up to Scarborough where we had a walk along the South Beach up to the harbour area. Herring Gulls were everywhere, and the first new species was an adult Great Black-backed Gull. Other species seen here were: Redshank, Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper (one on the breakwaters), Rock Pipit and, best of all, a Great Northern Diver. 

Great Northern Diver

Year List update:

93 - Tree Sparrow

94 - Gannet

95 - Kittiwake

96 - Fulmar

97 - Puffin

98 - Razorbill

99 - Guillemot

100 - Great Black-backed Gull

101 - Turnstone

102 - Great Northern Diver

103 - Rock Pipit

104 - Purple Sandpiper

105 - Red Kite (seen on the way home, near Leeds)

RSPB Bempton Cliffs - 4th July 2020

Most years, Jayne and I try to get up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington to see the seabird colony there. Normally, we go up around Easter time, but, for obvious reasons, we didn't get there this year, so instead, we went up yesterday.

One of the main reasons for this year's visit was the see a Black-browed Albatross that had been seen on Friday. Unfortunately, there was no sign, so instead, we enjoyed the fantastic Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Puffins, Herring Gulls, Tree Sparrows, and two new species for us at this reserve, Long-eared Owl  and  Great Skua.

Gannet (adult)

Gannet (Sub-adult, possibly born in 2019, or 2018)

We don't normally see many mammals here, so a couple of very active Weasels by the side of one of the viewpoints was a very nice sight.

Weasel

Year List Update

I haven't updated the "year list" for a few weeks, so, after visiting the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve yesterday I thought I'd do a quick post to bring it up to date.

The first 2 species (numbers 114 - 116) were seen last week at Linacre. The next 2 species, House Martin and Blackcap, were seen on Thursday, the former over school, and the latter at Linacre. The two grouse species were seen yesterday in Langdon Beck, County Durham, whilst the last 3 species were also seen yesterday, this time at RSPB Bempton Cliffs.

Gannets

Fulmar

Year List update:
114 – Common Sandpiper
115 – Swallow
116 – House Martin
117 – Blackcap
118 – Black Grouse
119 – Red Grouse
120 – Gannet
121 – Guillemot
122 – Razorbill

Birthday Lifer

It was my birthday this weekend, so I travelled up to Teesdale and RSPB Bempton Cliffs with my family for a couple of days. High on my wish list was a bird that I've looked for before - Black Grouse. This year luck, and a bit of research, paid dividends, and I got to watch an amazing 22 males and 19 females at a lek site in Upper Teesdale. The birds were seen (and heard) from the road, with the birds about 500m away. After the lekking was over, a female bird and 2 males flew closer to me, allowing a couple of reasonable shots from the car.

Black Grouse (female)

Black Grouse (male and a Curlew)

Driving back down to our hotel in Barnard Castle I managed a couple of lovely photos of 2 other moorland birds; Lapwing and Snipe.

Lapwing

Snipe

Other birds seen in Teesdale were: Red Grouse, Common Sandpiper (1 on the Tees in Barnard Castle), Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Curlew, Swallow (5) and Red-legged Partridge (year tick).

After Teesdale, we drove across to Bempton Cliffs in North Yorkshire, and added another 4 species (Razorbill, Puffin, Gannet and Kittiwake) to the "year list", taking me to 141. It was pretty windy when we got there, and the Gannets, in particular, were hovering just on the edge of the cliffs, and dropping down onto the grass to grab mouthfuls for  their nests, allowing some decent photo opportunities.

Gannet

Other species seen here were: Guillemot, Tree Sparrow, Skylark, Fulmar and Herring Gull.

Year List update:
136 – Black Grouse
137 – Red-legged Partridge
138 – Razorbill
139 – Puffin
140 – Gannet
141 – Kittiwake

Scarborough, Bempton and Bridlington

I spent yesterday out and about in Yorkshire with Luke. We started the day off in Scarborough, before driving down to the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve, and finishing off in Bridlington.

We started off in Scarborough so that Luke could see his first Black-necked Grebe. Luckily the bird was still present in the harbour, and we managed to see it straight away, swimming around the boats. The Turnstones were around (no colour rings today though), as were Herring Gulls, Kittiwakes, and, best of all, a single male Wheatear, hopping about on the sea defences, presumably having just arrived in the country. Luke managed to grab this distant record shot, before it continued on its journey to who knows where...

Wheatear

From Scarborough, we headed off down the coast to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. The weather turned when we arrived, and we ended up being blown about and rained on, as we stood looking over the famous cliffs. Luckily, we managed to spot all the key birds through the rain, with excellent views of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Guillemots, Razorbills and, best of all for Luke, Puffin ( a new species)! 

Puffin

After Bempton, we drove down to Bridlington so we could go for a boat trip out along the coast. We had an hour long ride up towards Flamborough Head. Unfortunately, the weather didn't improve and we only managed to see  a few birds, including Kittiwakes, a couple of Gannets, several Herring Gulls and a winter plumaged Guillemot. The only highlight, though, was a "year tick" for me and a new species for Luke; Common Scoter. We saw about 6 birds flying past in small groups.

After the boat trip we walked around the harbour where we spotted another dozen or so Turnstones, another Black-necked Grebe (!), Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and a Barnacle Goose.

Black-necked Grebe

Barnacle Goose

Further investigation via Twitter, lead me to find out that the Barnacle Goose is a feral bird that has been around the harbour for about 5 to 6 years. A very strange and unexpected addition to the day's birding.

Year List update:
131- Wheatear
132 - Gannet
133 - Razorbill
134 - Puffin
135 - Common Scoter

RSPB Bempton, Scarborough and Flamborough

I spent this weekend in Scarborough celebrating my up-coming birthday (thanks Jayne!!). We started off at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, then moved on to Scarborough, and then visited The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Flamborough Cliffs Reserve.  Over the 2 days we added 7 new species to the "year list", enjoyed some lovely weather, great food and company (thanks again Jayne) and stunning views of some of our amazing seabirds.

The weekend trip started at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, where the first birds we saw were the Gannets, followed closely by Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills and a couple of Puffins. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were singing everywhere, and Tree Sparrows were feeding around the centre.

Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and a Razorbill

Razorbill and Kittiwake

After Bempton, we drove down into Scarborough. We had a walk around the town, went on the beach, had a spot of lunch at the excellent  C.A.L.F. vegetarian café, and added a couple more birds to the list, namely Purple Sandpiper (30 roosting on the breakwaters in the harbour at high tide), and a male Scaup, that was present on the lake in Peasholme Park (no photo, it was just too far away).

Purple Sandpiper

Also present in the harbour were about 6 pairs of Kittiwake that were on nests, several Herring Gulls, a pair of Rock Pipits, two Turnstones and a stunning breeding plumaged Redshank.

Pair of Kittiwakes nesting in Scarborough harbour.

Turnstone

Redshank

This morning we left Scarborough and headed down to North Landing at Flamborough Cliffs. We didn't see anything new, but we did spot a pair of Puffins, and I managed to get a reasonable photo.

Puffins

Year List update:

105 – Gannet

106 – Kittiwake
107 – Guillemot
108 – Razorbill
109 – Puffin
110 – Purple Sandpiper
111 - Scaup

Brilliant Bempton

The RSPB reserve of Bempton Cliffs is a wonderful place to visit with some amazing birds and wonderful scenery. I visited today with Jayne, my brother, my nephew and my niece and managed to see 6 new "year ticks" as well as getting a few lovely photos with my brother's camera.

Bempton Cliffs

First bird of the day was Tree Sparrow with several pairs on the feeding station and nest building around the Visitors' Centre.

Tree Sparrow

Walking down from the centre we were surrounded by the sound of singing Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, while several Linnets were flitting about and landing on the gorse bushes. As we arrived at the cliffs we heard the distinctive call of the Kittiwakes and saw our first Gannets of the day floating past.

Kittiwake

Gannets on Staple Newk

These species were quickly followed by Fulmar, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, a pair of fly-by Cormorants, a couple of fishing Shags and a Peregrine Falcon, which spooked everything!

Fulmar

Out on the sea and clinging to the cliff faces were hundreds of Guillemots and Razorbills and just 1 Puffin, which I spotted in the 'scope, but couldn't find again for my nephew and niece!

Razorbill

Guillemot

After three hours at Bempton we drove down to Bridlington for a bag of chips, a spot of sunbathing and two more bird species: Turnstone and Purple Sandpiper- very nice!

The Year List has moved on by 6 more species:

109 – Gannet

110 – Kittiwake

111 – Fulmar

112 – Guillemot

113 – Razorbill

114 – Puffin