Hi, It's Helen here!
It’s been a busy few weeks at Bempton Cliffs, so I just wanted to let you know what has been happening here among other things.
We were involved with the National Whale and Dolphin Watch week at the end of July where we had volunteers and visitors help us to spot cetaceans from our clifftop viewpoints. We were lucky enough to have sightings of Harbour Porpoise, grey seals and a common seal. These sightings have now been sent to Seawatch Foundation who will add them to their database, so a big thank you to everyone who took part!
I have also been setting the moth trap to see what species we have here at the reserve. I am totally new to identifying moths, so have had help from my colleagues not only to help set the trap, but also to help identify them! I am really surprised about how colourful some of the moths are and it is really interesting to see what we have and to add them to our records.
Here are some pictures of the moths I have taken:Poplar HawkmothSpectacle – so called because it looks like it is wearing a pair of glasses!
I will leave you with the recent sightings from the last few days... Turnstone, marsh harrier, corn bunting, whinchat, ruff (flying south), duff (flying south), yellow wagtail (flying south), juvenile cuckoo, reed bunting, meadow pipit, red admiral, whitethroat, blackcap, house martin x12, redstart, oystercatcher x18, wheatear, willow warbler, pied flycatcher, grey heron x2 flew south, osprey, golden plover, porpose and minke whales x3!
Till next time,Helen