It's officially a month since I started my new role at Bempton Cliffs and I am enjoying every minute of it! My last blog noted that the Auks had all disappeared, but fear not, they have returned! Over the last week here at Bempton we’ve been lucky enough to see all of the ‘Big 8’ sea birds from the cliffs. Our live cameras have been a big hit too, capturing live footage from the cliffs and streaming it straight into our visitor centre where we’ve spent quite a few days over the Easter Period hiding from the wind and rain. We’ve seen the first Gannet egg of the season, puffins disappearing into the cliff crevices and we’ve even been able to take this footage and post it on our social media pages which is SO EXCITING because it means we can share these amazing sights with the world with just one simple click (well not quite one click, but almost.) If you don’t already follow us on Facebook then make sure you do, we don’t want you to miss out: https://www.facebook.com/RSPBnorthyorksandeastriding/
So, more about the gannet egg. For those of you that have been visiting Bempton Cliffs for many years you will know that ‘Pair 33’ also known as ‘Peckster and Flip’ have been laying their eggs on the cliffs here for at least 7 years. As soon as we heard they had laid the first egg of the season, we trained our live camera on their nest and waited very patiently all day for Mum to get up and stretch so we could catch a glimpse of the egg. Finally, after nearly a full day of us staring at the screen (whilst working of course) she got up, shuffled about and we all jumped up and down with EGG-citement because the egg was clear as day on the big screen! I’m sure you can just imagine us all jumping up and down in the visitor centre looking a little crazy. We will keep you updated on it’s progress! Here's a video we captured of the moment we had all been waiting for...
Next up are the Puffins! I must confess that until I started here at Bempton Cliffs, I had never seen a real life puffin. I've been waiting along with all the eager visitors for them to finally make their return to the cliffs and now that they have, I couldn't wait to get out on Puffin Patrol today with Angela to finally see one with my own eyes! It's a gorgeous day today, bright sunshine and barely any wind, the perfect day to be out on the cliffs. We were unlucky for the first part of the walk, the view point volunteers told us the puffins were there but they were hiding inside their burrows, so we marched onto Bartlett and that's when we got lucky! There were two gorgeous little puffins perched on a ledge, and I squealed like a child with excitement when I finally got my eyes on them. I managed to snap a photo of one of them through the telescope with my iPhone. I know, so unprofessional, but my first ever sighting of a puffin had to be documented. Puffin Patrols take place every morning at 11am if you are interested in joining us to learn a bit more about Bempton's most popular sea bird and see them with your own eyes! You don’t need to book, just turn up, it’s first come first serve. It's worth it, Angela was fantastic. To make up for my bad quality photo here's a gorgeous picture taken by Keith and Abigail Hunter on our Jubilee Corner view point during their visit on Wednesday this week. Abigail is 12 years old and while Dad was setting up the camera, Abigail was first of the family to spot one! Photo credit to Keith and Abigail Hunter
RECENT SIGHTINGSThere's been lots of sightings since my last post. We've had swallows passing Bartlett, a Stoat and Corn bunting at The Dell, Reed bunting, Chiff Chaff, Common Buzzard, Cormorant, Yellow Hammer, Short Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Peregrine falcon, Skylark, Meadow pipit and a Fire Crest in the top cark park. We have a new whiteboard on the wall in our welcome area for recent sightings, so please let us know what you've spotted and we can update our list for everyone to see. Hope you all have an fantastic weekend :)