Our new seabird monitoring volunteers, Mike and Tom, are settling in nicely both on Cliff Lane and on the cliff tops.
Throughout their time with us, they've promised to keep us regularly posted about which seabirds are doing what where.
So here's the first of their updates from Mike:
'It’s been a funny spring on the East Coast. Poor weather at the end of March/early April led to a much talked about seabird wreck. Bad weather also meant that seabirds have been slow to return to their colonies. Monitoring the effects of these conditions on our breeding seabirds is a key part of our work and we can’t wait to get stuck into it proper.
As a result of the unseasonal cold temperatures and strong winds, breeding seems to have been delayed. One colony has reported having no Shag eggs on the date that they had their first chicks last year.
Here at Bempton Cliffs there are plenty of birds about, with lots of Gannets, auks – including the popular Puffins and Kittiwakes - on the cliffs. But so far a few Gannet eggs are the only ones we havespotted.
The team live in hope though – a cliff observation session on Friday noted plenty of ‘action’ from our breeding seabirds and hopefully that will lead to the patter of webbed feet. We'll let you know'.
More from the lads on the edge soon.
Assistant Warden Dave Aitken with Mike and Tom, on one of the rare occasions they've been warm and dry.