Hello everyone! My name is Jaime and I’m a new residential volunteer at Bempton Cliffs. I've recently completed a degree in ecology here in England, but was originally born and raised in Canada! Over the next several weeks, I’ll be helping to keep you all up-to-date on what our amazing Bempton flora and fauna are up to, and for those of you who are new to Bempton like me, sharing a bit about what amazing things I’ve learned and seen! Look for a bit more of that in forthcoming updates.
But first, there’s a lot of “eggsiting” news to share! All of our popular seabirds are nesting, and if you’re very lucky, you might see... chicks! Many of our birds, such as gannet, fulmar, and razorbill, were first sighted with eggs all the way back in March and April. Hatching is ongoing. We have a number of gannet chicks of varying ages, as well as newly-hatched herring gulls, and fluffy kittiwake chicks.
Proud kittiwake parent and two chicks seen off Bartlett Nab. Photo by Jaime.
Guillemot and razorbill chicks have regularly been spotted on the cliffs since late May. These chicks look remarkably like small fluffy penguins, and quickly become “jumplings”, making a gliding night-time dive off the cliffs and rapidly heading out to the relative safety of deeper water with one or both parents after only 2-3 weeks. While more are hatching regularly, each individual chick is therefore only around for a short time! Feel free to ask any of our guides and volunteers for your best viewing bets of any of our juveniles when you visit.
Guillemot group with chicks. Photo courtesy of Mike Babcock.
Of course the stars of the show at Bempton, for many people, are our puffins. Puffin activity is gradually picking up around the cliffs. Just a few short weeks ago most were spending the bulk of their time in their underground nests incubating, and sightings were particularly challenging to come by. This past week, however, the first few sightings of puffins with their beaks laden with sand-eels were made at various viewpoints around the reserve: a sure sign that their eggs must be hatching! Sightings of puffin chicks are not possible due to their underground nesting habits, but do be sure to watch out for the adults basking, stretching, and returning with food for their young in this and coming weeks.
Puffin returning with food for its underground chick. Photo courtesy of Mike Babcock.
A number of rarer visitors have happened by the reserve in the past week as well. A grey partridge accidentally flushed from the brush along the nature trail by one of our volunteers on 10 June was a pleasant surprise. On the warbler front, a marsh warbler was seen in the car park the same day, and a reed warbler heard singing in the car park on 11 June was followed later that day by a blackcap seen at the feeding station to round our warbler encounters for the week. A spotted flycatcher was seen around a large tree on Cliff Lane by several visitors and volunteers on 14 June, and a lesser black-backed gull put in an appearance on 15 June.
A personal thrill for me was pointed out by a group of visiting schoolchildren!
Mystery bird off New Roll-up...? Photo by Jaime.
What’s that big dark bird, on the cliff...?
Our mystery bird zoomed-in... a falcon! Photo by Jaime.
It’s... a peregrine falcon! A young male, to be specific. I didn't have a proper lens along at the time, but even with the limitations of my small lens, you can just make out the black "moustache" or “executioner’s hood” covering the top of his head and pulled down past his eyes with a flash of white cheek showing. This fellow has been spotted hunting around the south end of the reserve fairly regularly this season, and may have found himself a nice lady falcon to settle down with on the cliffs where we can’t normally see them. If you are lucky enough to catch him hunting, be advised it’s not a sight for the faint of heart! Peregrines are the fastest birds we know, climbing to great heights and attacking from above in great dives at over 200mph! Any bird unlucky enough to be hit by a peregrine is likely to die instantly of a broken neck. Until fairly recently, peregrines were greatly endangered in many countries due to hunting, trapping, and poisoning of their food web by the pesticide DDT, but their numbers are recovering and thankfully now we can see them at Bempton (and even back in my home of Canada!).
Birds aren't the only things at Bempton, as the RSPB works to truly “give nature a home”. A number of butterflies including red admiral, painted lady, small tortoiseshell, and speckled wood are now commonly seen on the reserve, and a chimney sweeper moth seen near the center on 14 June joined our two sightings of hummingbird hawk-moths on 13 and 14 June as our invertebrate stars of the week.
Speckled wood butterfly seen on the south end of the reserve. Photo by Jaime.
Small tortoiseshell butterfly on the reserve. Photo by Jaime.
For those who enjoy plants, there’s plenty to see as our northern marsh and common spotted orchids are both in full flower, and with great excitement on Saturday (14 June), a sweep of the areas around the car park turned up two bee orchids in flower! These are marked off with caution tape so as to prevent them being trimmed or trod upon, and we ask that any visitors wishing to view or photograph them please not displace the barriers, as a blooming bee orchid is quite a rarity in the area!
Bee orchid blooming by the car park on a cloudy day. Photo by Jaime.
A number of our residents are about, including tree sparrows and swallows nesting on and around the centre, corn buntings which you may hear in the fields or, if you’re lucky, spot perched along the wire fencing towards the north of the reserve, weasels, stoats, and shrews.
All in all, it’s been a very active week at Bempton Cliffs! I’ll be back later in the week with another update!