The brains of Bempton were out in force last night for a fund-raising quiz at the Funny Onion pub in Bridlington.  And they proved that the BBC's top quizzers, Eggheads, have nothing to worry about.

With questions ranging from a bizarre picture round on ‘Famous people’s hairstyles’ to more straightforward ‘What’s the capital of Panama’ type questions,  there was much pencil chewing…

What would you do to save a puffin?   How about getting up at 3am to give it food?  Or taking it home to nurse?

These are the kind of lengths Linda Walker and Paul King of the Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary and Wildlife Centre have gone to in order to get one puffin, literally, back on its feet.

They discovered a living puffin amongst dozens of dead birds washed up on the stretch of coast between Donna Nook and Anderby Creek at…

M & S staff are taking a break from the High Street this week and encouraging folk around the country to get involved in cleaning up their local beach.

Naturally, as huge M&S fans (we wouldn't buy our underwear anywhere else) we felt we should lend a hand...or even, six.

Our local Big Beach Clean-Up started at 10am on a stretch of the coast between Bridlington and Flambrough with around 30 people volunteering…

The lovely ladies of St Michael's Church in Bempton organise a regular afternoon get-together of tea, cakes and a talk.

Elaine and Joan decided it was a great way to get people out and about  as well as helping raise funds to go towards the church's running costs (especially the heating bill!)

This month, Education Officer Steve Race gave a presentation introducing all eight species of seabirds that nest on the cliffs…

A pack of press men turned up on the reserve today.  (No, Justin Bieber wasn't spotted on a viewing platform.) 

The big attraction were seven seabirds that had been nursed back to health after taking a battering in the recent bad weather that had claimed the lives of so many of their kind. 

The five guillemots, a razorbill and a young puffin had been cared for by the team at Scarborough Sealife Centre and were being…

 Flamborough headland was all a-flutter yesterday when an extremely rare bird was sighted over the headland.

A baikal teal, initially spotted by Brett Richards,  flew in from the sea in the company of two common teal.

Not quite believing his luck, Brett followed it to North Marsh to try to confirm his first impression.  Sure enough, there was the bird sitting, larger than life, on the water.

Then the alert went out to other…

You don't need us to quote government statistics to remind you that kids just don't get out as much as they used to.  Or that they simply don't get involved with nature in the way those of us that ran, jumped and played in fields or woods did.

Which is why RSPB  Wild  Explorers groups play such an important role in what we do.   They actively encourage kids to get out of the house and experience all that is wonderful…

Our wonderful volunteers gave up even more of their time yesterday spending the evening  in the local village hall,  finding out how the RSPB plans to move forward in the next few years.

Over a cuppa, Reserve manager, Keith Clarkson and Visitor Services Manager, Scott Smith led the presentation with the most anticipated slide being the unveiling of the ‘new brand’.

Now there’s been lots of talk recently about…

The big skies above Bempton Cliffs are full of the cries of kittewakes, gannets and gulls right now.

But there was a time they were buzzing with the sound of aircraft.      

RAF Bempton was a key location for spotting enemy planes during the war years.  It first saw action in 1939 and functioned as a radar station until 1945.  In the 50s, it became home to 146 Signals Unit under the auspices of Fighter Command and remained operational…

Well we have had some fantastic weather over the past week, which has brought out the signs of spring at Bempton Cliffs. The Gannets and Kittiwakes have been seen bringing back nesting material to make improvement to their nest, a bit like re-decorating in some ways. The air is full of song as you walk down to the cliffs. There I was looking up in the sky for it, but low and behold there it was on a post singing away…

Over the last ten days we have experienced the worst Puffin 'wreck' since the dreadful storms of 1947.

Members of the public and local bird groups have reported over 200 Puffins found dead or dying along the Yorkshire coast from Scarborough south to Withernsea with smaller numbers of Razorbill and Guillemot  also found amongst a wide variety of washed up seabirds.   

It is estimated that around 10% of the Puffin population…

The Short-eared Owl’s are still sticking around, with some good sightings over the past few days. One usually hunt’s over the field leading to the cliff paths, making it easily visible from the visitor centre. A Barn Owl also often makes an appearance, looking for a tasty morsel.

(Image: Steve Race)

So part from the odd owl what else been happening? Well we have seven of our eight seabirds returned to…

It’s not only Spring that’s in the air, so is Spring fashion.  And the High Street is awash with fabulous fabrics featuring playful bird and butterfly prints.

From bluebirds to owls to swifts, designers have taken bird outlines and silhouettes, repeated them and put them on the backs of the nation.

From the cheep (sorry) and cheerful to high-end chic, these cute little prints are just about everywhere - sheer…

Bempton Cliffs and the surrounding area of Flameborough Head are home to Britain’s largest seabird breeding colonies and they need your help.Thursday night saw the last in the present series of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s FishFight ‘Save our Seas’ campaign. This programme highlighted a number of important marine conservation and sustainability issues. Yet the one which concerns us is the urgent need to designate…

Any excuse to take a walk in the woods – and spotting the bird boxes we put up last year in the woodland on the Sewerby Estate was a the perfect reason to grab a coat and head out in the gentle spring sunshine.

At either side of the track winding through the still bare trees, a flood of yellow aconites poured over a small incline.    Someone told me that aconites don’t actually open their flowers until the temperature…

If June busts out all over as they claim in the song, March might be said to spring to life. 

After a couple of gorgeous days, nature is busy working its wonders on and around the reserve - the grass looks a tad greener, tiny buds have appeared on the shrubs, and, of course, the birds around the visitor centre are singing at the top of their voices.   

The first warm days of the year also bring out the walkers who've been cooped…

So what are we doing with all these sunflower studded apples that we’ve been busy making in the visitor centre?

Well, we’ve been spreading them around Bridlington and the surrounding areas to remind everyone that the birds still need feeding even tho’ spring is on its way and that we’re supporting the Priory’s 900^th
birthday celebrations.  

Here are a few of the apple feeders you might spot…

I am sorry to say that our usual recent sightings blogger, Mr Ian Kendall has now left the RSPB and has moved on to pastures new. So now it is up to me to keep you all informed on what’s been seen or happening at Bempton Cliff’s nature reserve. So what has happened since the last update?

Well the short-eared owl has been making some superb appearances, hunting over the field behind the visitor centre. One…

There was a great turn out for our mid-week Nature on the Coast Walk.  13 hardy souls braved temperatures that felt positively arctic in a biting wind.   

Most had visited the cliffs before but some were first timers.  Either way, everyone was excited by the prospect of a ‘safari’ around three of the region’s top wildlife spots – Bempton Cliffs, Sewerby Hall’s woodland and Flamborough’s rock pools.…

Fancy helping us hit our target of making 900 apple bird feeders to mark Bridlington Priory's 900th anniversary?

We could certainly do with a helping hand...or two . 

If you'd like to add to the total, why not make one at home then let us know you've done your bit on our Facebook page.

Instructions are available on the internet but here's how we made ours.

You will need:

An apple, an apple corer, a twig…

Forget five-a-day, the team at RSPB Bempton Cliffs is aiming to get through over 100 apples a day during half-term week. 

Fortunately we're not munching and crunching our way through barrels of Cox's and Golden Delicious, we're hoping to create 900 apple bird feeders to commemorate the 900^th anniversary of Bridlington Priory.

There’s an important connection between Bridlington Priory and the reserve through…

With around 65,000 visitors a year tramping along our footpaths, it's important that we keep them in tip-top condition.  

So when a team of volunteers, part of Yorkshire Water's community programme, 'Hands Up', offered to help out on the reserve, we knew exactly how to their put them to good use.  

Clearing an overgrown cliff top footpath is hard graft - even harder when there's a wind strong enough to knock…

Graham Taylor of Bridlington enjoyed many happy hours with his wife, Joyce, at Bempton Cliffs.

Sadly, Graham passed away last year leaving Joyce with 36 years of wonderful memories – and a considerable collection of wildlife books.

So Joyce thought the reserve might be able to make use of them.  And she was right.  Graham’s ‘library’ includes guides to mammals, insects, tree and flowers as well as birds and they…

The amazing Jim Ward from Wildlife Rescue in Scarborough brought in some interesting birding booklets the other day.

He handed us a number of Hutchinson 'Pockets' guides to birds from (we think) the 1950s.

They're edited by David Seth-Smith who, so the publications informs us, was also known as 'The Zoo Man'.

DSS was apparently the David Attenborough of his day and hosted programmes on BBC radio's Children…

After our first attempt to build a snow gannet failed thanks to the wrong kind of snow arriving, we watched and waited for the next snow fall.

Sure enough, it arrived on cue, keeping the visitor centre closed but giving us time to create our work of art.

And with the help of a bale of straw, we managed to make something we think the Tate Modern would be proud to display.

If the snow stays, we'll aim for a snow kittiwake…