Waxwings were seen on the reserve yesterday. They were perched on the sea buckthorn bush (the one with the orange berries) in the car park. We'd love a picture of a waxwing on our reserve so if anyone has a bit of spare time on their hands in the next week or so, we would appreciate a photo. As a reward we would put the best picture up on our facebook page as the profile picture. Any takers? Email any pictures (in…

Today is a beautiful day up at Bempton. Unfortunately, the visitor centre is closed, as we have decided that the road is a little too dangerous to drive (or skid) down. You can still reach the reserve by foot however, and if you do, you won't be disappointed. The crisp, fresh, sparkling snow and ice looks stunning under the pale sunshine and the birds and animals are much easier to spot against the brilliant white. …

The temperature is rising at last! It has been up to 4 degrees C at Bempton today and sunny (even got to put my cool shades on). Most of the guillemots that had come back to the reserve in the past few days - to drop off their christmas cards - have now left the cliffs and headed back out to sea. There must of been over 5,000 birds, an incredible sight and sound for this time of the year. The fulmars however are back, with…

I'm sure that you'll all be glad to hear that the Bempton Cliffs visitor centre has now re-opened. It's been an exciting day too, as guillemots in their hundreds have decended on the cliff side for the second time (out of season) this year. Whilst we're not sure of the reason for this, we're still glad that they appear to be in good numbers despite the freezing weather. A few gannets have been spotted…

This photo was taken yesterday from the back door of the visitor centre. I've looked at it several times now and every time i've noticed a different number of birds! How many can you see?

(Photo taken by Nick Turver 26th Nov 2010)

If you're planning to come out of your lovely warm homes this weekend and visit RSPB Bempton Cliffs then please do, we will welcome you with open arms and a cup of tea! Please keep an eye on the weather though, as our cliffs can be a wild and unforgiving  landscape in wintry weather.

The visitor centre opening times are 10am-4pm from November to February but if conditions are particularly bad then we may close…

A short while ago an injured hedgehog was found on our reserve. Our site maintenance volunteer team noticed the little creature whilst they were working on some fencing and decided that her injury was severe enough to warrant an emergency trip to the vets. On close inspection it was noticed that a fishing hook was stuck in her side and that it would need to be carefully removed.

The team left her with the vets to be treated…

For the past few days Bempton Cliffs has had a bit of an unexpected visit from large numbers of guillemots. The birds, who normally call the cliffs home between late March and July, have been perching on the cliff side, swooping over the crashing surf and bobbing about on the sea. The only reasons we can think of for the guillemots' impromptu arrival are bad weather out at sea or poor food supply. We're hoping it's the…

... so i just thought you might like a little bit more information about what's going on at the reserve on Saturday the 30th of October.

At 11am and 2pm Steve Race, our Community and Education Officer,  will lead a guided walk on the reserve. This walk will be centred on 'wild bird food' and Steve will be taking you on a route that shows off the best bushes, flowers and plants for our native birds and winter migrants…

The Dell area on our reserve has been an excellent place to birdwatch over the last week or so. It has been relatively easy to spot species such as brambling, blackcap, goldcrest, siskin, redwing and wren, as well as the slightly more evasive bullfinch. The birds love the cover, protection from the elements and safety that the Dell provides them and they probably also like to stay just next door to the feeding station so…

One of the loveliest sights you can see here at Bempton at the moment is that of large groups or 'charms' of goldfinch congregating on plant seed heads. On the reserve itself we have swathes of thistle heads that these colourful little birds seem to love. Neighbouring the reserve (and bordered by a public footpath) there is also a large field full of a bird seed crop, which includes sunflowers and kale. If you…

Just a quick update for you today (we're doing a stock take in the visitor centre and it's an all day job). A couple of our keen volunteers, Angela and Pat, have been scouring the reserve this morning for little birds and they've come back with a long list for our sightings board. The first report was that the Dell area and Pallas's Patch (behind the visitor centre) are goldmines for small birds at the moment. …

I just thought that you might be interested to know that the RSPB's Letter to the Future, which calls for better investment in nature, has now been signed over 300, 000 times. This is brilliant news and shows the coalition Government just how much nature means to us all. We initially hoped that we would have this many signatures by Spring 2011, but this target has been smashed ahead of time thanks to all you nature…

With few confirmed reports of the brown flycatcher in the past couple of hours we were starting to calm down a bit. Then came the news that a red-breasted flycatcher had been sighted in one of the fields near the visitor centre. Bempton Cliffs always seems to have something interesting up it's sleeve, whether it be puffins in summer or pink footed geese flocks in autumn. As a coastal reserve we sometimes find that…

Good morning birders, just thought you might like to know that a rare bird, the brown flycatcher, has been spotted on the reserve several times since yesterday evening and is still on the reserve now... If you're in the area or passing through then drop by Bempton Cliffs and walk through the centre towards Jubilee, the northern most viewpoint. When you reach this, keep walking a little further and then turn left down…

It's been another interesting weekend here at Bempton Cliffs.  As I was driving off the reserve on Friday evening I spotted a small group of 3 curlews flying inland over the field on my right. A little closer to home I saw a buzzard circling, and then making it’s way south, and this morning when I arrived at work I was bombarded with lots of stories and sightings.

I think I’ll start with one from Michael Wilson…

Today, a colleague and I were walking down the cliff top path to New Roll Up, one of our reserves' five viewpoints, when I spotted a 'funny shaped bird' flitting by us on the seaward side. Quick as a flash Steve (my colleague) whipped up his binoculars and identified the bird as a female cuckoo. This surprised me as I always imagined cuckoos to look more like pigeons than this sleek, almost hawk-like creature…

A while ago, I mentioned that we had received the results of this years ‘Birds of Conservation Concern’ monitoring. I can now confirm that we have several species of birds on both the red and amber lists nesting on our reserve. Ken Proud, the volunteer that carried out the research, mapped the sightings of each species whilst on weekly data collection visits and compiled the information into a short report…

This week has been glorious at Bempton Cliffs, despite the weather forecast telling us otherwise. On Thursday the gannets, fulmars and kittiwakes were showing off their aerial acrobatics in the blustery, yet sunny, cliffside conditions and a very obliging linnet sat at one of the viewpoints to have his photo taken. Several sandwich terns were also having a paddle in the shallow water at the base of the cliffs and all…

We've just received news that ECO Catering, Bempton Cliffs' very own purveyors of local and vegan food, has been placed second in the Guardians list of the Yorkshire Coasts 'best budget eats'. This is excellent news and we are very proud to be associated with the family run business headed by Katy Wheelwright. Not only is all the food carefully and ethically made, it's also innovative and delicious. The…