Seabird Research Resi Vol over and out

This will be my last Blog post as I am in my final week of being a Residential Volunteer here at Bempton Cliffs. I have had a fantastic experience here. Bempton wildlife has put on a phenomenal show and the volunteers and staff here have been wonderful. Over the past few weeks I have had the privilege of witnessing some magical wildlife experiences, including;  watching 4+ Harbour Porpoises from Bartlett Viewpoint this morning and witnessing Gannet chicks fledge the nest to name a few.

Above: Harbour Porpoise. Photographer: Adrian Ewart

Plus a couple of experiences which involved a lot of excited shouting and pointing, even other volunteers from the visitor center running down to the viewpoints:

There was one particular (and rare) day where the fields near the reserve were being harvested which caused thousands of small flies to swarm the viewpoints just for one day. I was out being a Viewpoint Volunteer that particular day. So these flies were winding me up, landing on every inch of everyone and anyone they could find (even up my top!). So there I was debating whether or not to call it a day and get away from the flies. When suddenly I see a splash. I think its nothing until I see a lot more. Gannets are diving just off of Grandstand Viewpoint! Gannets usually feed 18-35 miles out to sea so this was a very very rare occasion. More and more Gannets start diving right in front of me. I radioed up to the Visitor Center where the staff were quite skeptical of my claim, until I see several people in rspb uniform running down towards the viewpoint to check it out. I'm pretty sure that when the staff were pointing and "oooing and aaaahhhhing", the surrounding visitors realized  how lucky they were to witness the diving Gannets. Everyone was thrilled to see this rare event. One man even said "My dream has been to see Gannets diving and now I have seen it". 

 Above: Gannets diving off of Grandstand Viewpoint. Photographer: Visitor

Another Viewpoint running moment I had was when the Minke Whale was spotted from the reserve. The Minke Whale was spotted for a few days in a row but I had been away. When I got back it seemed everyone had seen it but me. I was getting ready to head out for a day being a Viewpoint volunteer when someone mentioned there was a Minke Whale off of Bartlett Viewpoint...Well I had never been much of a runner until this moment! Sure enough there it was, the fin slowly rising out of the water close enough to not need Binoculars. This was absolutely fantastic. When I unexpectedly saw it later on in the day, I impulsively shouted "Minke Whale!", causing everyone around me to stop where they were and stare out to sea as I tried to describe where in the featureless huge expanse of ocean to look for the fin.

Minke Whale. Photographer: Steve Race

Being the Seabird Research Assistant Residential Volunteer, the Seabird monitoring front has dropped off a bit and the data analysis begins as various species have left. However I am still monitoring the productivity of a Gannet plot every week. There are still plenty of chicks of various sizes to come and see at Bempton. Including newly fledged Gannets on the water.

Above: One of the Gannets I am monitoring.

As the sun sets on my time at Bempton Cliffs, the actual sunsets continue to blow me away with their beauty:

Above: Taken on an IPhone (not edited) from the office in Bempton Village