Well here I am again back with my second post for the Bempton blog. I’ll fill you in on some recent sightings in just a minute but first I’ll give you an idea of some of the things I’ve been getting up to since starting as an intern here at Bempton. Membership recruitment is an incredibly important part of Bempton Cliffs, as it is for every RSPB reserve, so I’ve been trying my hand at this one day a week, with some success. Several new RSPB members have been recruited by my hand, that’s more voices for nature, result! I’ve done my share of work on the welcome desk too. It might not sound particularly exciting but it’s a crucial role. Visitors only get one first impression of the reserve and it’s down to the welcome host to create this impression via a big smile and a cheerful attitude.
One of the things that I have very much enjoyed recently has been leading ‘Planet Gannet’ walks. It is always an absolute pleasure to spend a couple of hours chatting about wildlife, in a beautiful location with friendly people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. When leading a guided walk I’m often genuinely surprised by how much knowledge I have absorbed about the reserve and it’s wildlife in the short time that I have been here. I’ve got the incredibly friendly and immensely knowledgeable staff and volunteers at Bempton to thank for that, they’re always more than happy for me to pick their brains. I learn something new every day here and that’s the reason why. Sadly, the ‘Planet Gannet’ walks have come to an end now until next year but that doesn’t mean we aren’t leading any guided walks over the winter. We’ve got a full series of walks planned covering everything from shipwrecks to RAF Bempton. Have a look at www.rspb.org.uk/bemptoncliffs for the full list.
There’s no doubt that Bempton Cliffs is the most accessible seabird colony in the UK, but we’re always looking for ways that we can become even more accessible so that everybody can enjoy the incredible spectacle on offer. To that end we’re in the process of acquiring a couple of mobility vehicles for the reserve. These will give people of limited mobility the opportunity to visit our viewpoints and enjoy everything Bempton Cliffs has to offer. I’ve been liaising with Eden Mobility, who will be providing one of the vehicles, and looking in to the practicalities of using these vehicles on the reserve. It’s keeping me busy for now.
Our Visitor Services Manager Scott Smith testing out the tramper – Ryan Chenery
Now that I’ve bored you all with that let’s move on and talk about some of the wildlife that we’ve seen recently.All of our seabirds have now left us for the year. It’s a sad time for everybody at Bempton but we know that it won’t be too long before the gannets are back to entertain us once more. There’s still plenty to see though so don’t think that a visit to Bempton is no longer worth it. A red-throated diver was spotted on the sea by our intrepid volunteer Linda down at Staple Newk viewpoint on the 18th September. A single wheatear was on grandstand viewpoint on the 25th September. One of my personal favourite birds is the yellow-browed warbler so I was very pleased when we had our first sighting of the year on 29th September in the overflow car park. The same bird was also present in much the same area the next day. There were no sightings for a few days after that until the 3rd and 4th October when another bird was present around the nature trail, followed by more sightings on the 8th and the 9th, 10th and 17th.
Redwings are starting to arrive, signalling that summer is well and truly over. We had sightings on the 29th and 30th September as well as numerous days in October, it’s now a rare day when somebody doesn’t spot at least one redwing. Staying with the thrush theme we have also started to see the first few ring ouzels of the season. Three were present around the nature trail on the 6th October, whilst there were seven on the 8th October. Sticking with the thrust theme, the final member of the winter thrush trio finally arrived here on the 15th October when several fieldfares were spotted on the lane leading to the reserve. It was a few days later on the 18th though that the fieldfares really started to arrive, with at least 150 seen in the area.
Ring Ouzel – RSPB Images
For those who are fans of owls now is a good time to visit us. As well as the barn owls we are starting to see short-eared owls, which spend the winter with us. The first sighting was on the 5th October close to Bartlett Nab viewpoint, followed up the next day by a sighting at Jubilee viewpoint. Look out for these graceful hunters quartering the rough grassland on the cliff tops, searching for their small mammal prey.
Short-eared owl – Steve Race
On both the 6th and 7th October we were lucky enough to have a very showy Lapland bunting present on the reserve spending it’s time on the paths close to Grandstand viewpoint.
The Lapland bunting on the reserve – Dave Aitken
Perhaps most excitingly of all, in my opinion at least, we were recently treated to a flyover by a great white egret. This is a truly spectacular bird. Pure white, with an elegant yellow dagger like bill and similar in size to a grey heron, it’s not a bird that you forget once you’ve seen it.
Great white egrets, these two are not at Bempton – Stuart Baines
It’s not all birds though, a group of visitors were lucky enough to spot a pair of stoats just beyond Staple Newk viewpoint. If you’re not sure about whether you’ve seen a stoat or a weasel look for the larger size of a stoat along with a black tip to the tail.