Juvenile Kittiwake (Tarrock)

My call to the cliffs today promised to be a fine morning but with rain, possibly heavy, during the afternoon. Luckily the rain failed to arrive, but mid afternoon, a sea fret rolled in from the sea, obliterating the views, a bit like the scenes from the horror movie "The Fog". Luckily, it did not contain any pirates with a desire to hack us all to death!

The sea fret arrives…

Gannets are Britain’s largest seabird and Bempton Cliffs is the only place in England where they breed. If there are any avid Bempton Cliffs followers, you will no doubt know about Gannet pair number 33; they are always among the first Gannet pair out of all the 13,400 Gannet pairs here to come back to the cliffs each summer. Gannets do not breed until they are at least 5 years old.

The famous pair arrived back…

My call to the cliffs this morning was quite a wake up with cool drizzle lasting about an hour, but then the sun came out, the temperatures rose and another brilliant summers day was enjoyed by all! It is noticeable that the Razorbill and Guillemot numbers are reducing as they return to the sea but some young birds (Jumplings) can still be seen (above). In the image above an egg can still be seen, most likely to be…

If you’ve never seen a baby tree sparrow’s leg, it’s little more than a pencil line.  If it wasn’t attached to a feathery ball with a big yellow mouth, you might not even notice it.

Despite their size, these tiny limbs are able to be ringed when the youngster is just 7-9 days old.  Which is what has been happening at Bempton Cliffs over the past couple of weeks.

Warden Dave Aitken explained…

Herring Gull with chicks

My call to the cliffs was short lived today as I could only stay until lunch time - boo! Sunshine, blue skies and light wind ensured warm temperatures but cloud was due to increase during the afternoon. The auk breeding season is drawing to a close, with many of the auks already heading out to sea. However, there are many visible young birds at close quarters still wowing visitors. New lives…

Linnet

My call to the cliffs this morning had the promise of another pleasant day with sunshine, blue skies, intermittent cloud but a challenging westerly blow, particularly on the viewpoints. I headed down to Grandstand to check on the Puffin nest and was horrified to see that the tunnel entrance had two Herring Gulls engaged in watchful waiting. One eventually flew off but the other remained. The Herring Gull was…

My call to the cliffs today was well supported again by good weather, blue skies, sunshine, occasional cloud cover but challenged by a strengthening blow that required some warm outer clothing! The breeding season is now in full swing with the young of most birds easily seen. With over 250,000 seabirds, now is the time to experience Bempton's three "S's" - Sight, sound and smell! For those with cameras, some excellent…

We’ve had firsts on the reserve before – most recently, an albatross skimming the sea.  This week’s first however, was slightly different.

When five elderly residents of Amelia House in York spent a sunny morning at Bempton Cliffs earlier in the week, the cliffs were alive with the sound of music as well as seabirds.  As we walked along a path  I found myself joining in a rendition of one of the residents…

Good Morning!

It was already very hot when I got my call to the cliffs this morning, wall to wall sunshine, blue skies, no clouds, no breeze and destined to get even hotter as the day progressed! Thickly pasted with factor 50 sun cream, I made my way to the viewpoints looking anaemically pale and confident that had this been an audition for a vampire movie, the part would be mine!

The RSPB are currently undertaking…

Add fem Red Backed Shrike 100mtrs west of Jubilee Corner!

"Good morning, welcome to my summer residence!"

My call to the cliffs was loud and clear on a pleasant morning with sunshine and warmth despite the efforts of a challenging blow! Regretfully, due to circumstances, I could only stay until 1200hrs so I made the most of my time with some fantastic birds, fantastic visitors and fantastic vistas! Today, Puffins showed really well, on the cliffs, in flight…

Puffin outside of its nest tunnel

When the cliffs called this morning, it was sunny, blue skies and fresh, but the weather forecast suggested showers throughout the afternoon. Thankfully, the showers did not materialise and a fantastic late spring day was enjoyed. Everyone's favourite, the Puffin, showed well off all of the viewpoints and it cannot be long before the "Pufflings" hatch after a c40 day incubation period…

Bridled Guillemot in golden light!

My intention was to be at RSPB Bempton Cliffs in order to capture a fantastic sunset! Well, I was on the cliffs............but the sunset failed to materialise, hidden by thick cloud over in the direction of Scarborough! However, all was not lost as I did manage to capture some scenes before the sun was lost:

The three Auk species at Bempton - Puffin, Guillemot and Razorbill…

‘My wife ran off with my neighbour last week – eeh, I do miss him’.   It’s funny what Jim Norton talks about when he’s painting.  From his favourite comedian, Les Dawson, to his favourite painter, Paul Cezanne.

Thousands of photographers visit the cliffs tops every year, but painters are few and far between.  So when Jim turned up, easel tucked under his arm, he naturally attracted a lot of attention…

12 year old Joe Fryer loves going birdwatching with his grandparents at the weekend.  But when they brought him to Bempton Cliffs, little did he expect to cause a stir right across the birdwatching world.

As Joe scanned the horizon from one of the cliff-top viewpoints with his binoculars he spotted something he hadn’t seen before – a bird he didn’t immediately recognise.   He snapped a photo of it and…

I guess birdwatchers haven't been know for their fashion sense.  But that was changed in an instant one day last month.

Standing out amongst the 18,000 people who came through the doors of the Seabird Centre in April was puffin super-fan, Anne-Marie Bedwell.  

Not for her the de rigueur denim and trainers of those exploring the cliff tops in search of puffins.   She was as distinctive as the puffins she loves in…