View From The Shed by Shaun Finnie - AN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE

AN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE

George Bernard Shaw (not Winston Churchill, to whom the quote is often attributed) was fond of saying that “England and America are two countries separated by a common language”. This is true, and their peoples often have different views too. For example, Americans generally see 100 years as being a long time, while their English counterparts sometimes think that 100 miles is a long way. Being English, I do indeed class my recent 186-mile round trip to the East Coast a goodly distance, but it was worth every one of the several tenners that the journey cost me in petrol.

My home patch at RSPB Old Moor is about as far inland as you can get anywhere in the UK so at least once each year I try to make this trip to pay my respects at one of Britain's great birdwatching 'cathedrals'. It's a place that is so renowned that it's taken on an almost mythical aura. Everybody, whether they're a serious ornithologist or 'just' someone who likes a day out in the fresh air with their family, should visit this place at least once in their life. It's that special, and it's an RSPB reserve called Bempton Cliffs, just a couple of hours' drive from my home in the Dearne Valley.

As regular readers will know, I'm a lister. That doesn't mean that I lean over to one side as I walk (although, give me enough beer...). It means that I make lists of bird species that I see. I tell myself that my sightings are making a contribution to citizen scientific research when I add them to the British Trust for Ornithology's figures (which is true), but really it's just the collector in me, the hunter/gatherer trying to get a higher species count than I've reached in previous years. Each year I visit this reserve to make sure that I see 'The Bempton Six'. It can be decidedly fresh and bracing at the top of those cliffs, so much so that your forehead feels freshly Botoxed, but it's definitely worthwhile because, if you go at the right time of year, you're pretty much guaranteed to see (in no particular order):

GANNET – One of my favourite birds in the world. Huge cream and yellow darts that pierce the waves as they hunt. They head out to sea on solo missions but always return with lines of accomplices. There's safety in numbers and a full belly makes it difficult to manoeuvrer. They seem to hang in the wind at eye level when they come in to nest, giving us perfect views of their beaks, their eyes, their biscuit colouration. They truly are avian magnificence personified;

RAZORBILL – If you imagine that the razor in question has been coated in bright white paint, then this bird's beak describes its name wonderfully. That bill is razor-sharp too. It's face is jet black, highlighted by a couple of white slashes running along and across the beak. A white tummy makes it easier to spot when it's standing on its cliff ledge nest;

GUILLEMOT – From a distance this and the Razorbill can be easily confused, both being small to medium, mostly dark seabirds with teardrop-shaped bodies when they stand on the cliffs. With their thin dagger-like bills, these could be seen as the duller of the two species but they're anything but. Watch them duelling for a beak-length of space in their nesting ground for proof. If you're lucky you may see the two subspecies of Gillies – the Bridled Guillemot with white facial markings that make it look like it's wearing glasses, and the much rarer Black Guillemot which has blood red feet;

FULMAR – I love the idea of a bird that blows its nose more than the actual sight of these creatures. They're a bit too big, a bit too grey, a bit too chunky. But the tubes on the top of their beak that they use for removing salt from seawater make them worth a second look and usually raise a smile (for me anyhow);

KITTIWAKE – The gull that screams its name. A clean and delicate gull with stand-out black wing tips that glides ghost-like away from the cliff tops, but when they land on the small ledges they shriek like banshees. I promise, you'll hear them before you see them;

PUFFIN – I've left this one till last to keep you reading all the way to the end. This is Bempton's star attraction, the Clown of the Sea, the Clockwork Water Parrot. I could easily fill an entire blog about Puffins (and probably will one day) but suffice to say that this is the bird that most Bempton visitors want to see so if there's one around you won't need to hunt far to find it. Just look where the crowds are looking. Everyone is pleased to see a Puffin, and if you time your visit to coincide with their breeding season, you won't be disappointed.

I said earlier that you are pretty much guaranteed to spot those half-dozen birds if you visit Bempton at the right time of year. The good news is that 'the right time of year' is right now. They're just approaching peak Puffin season. If you've only ever visited an RSPB site like those in the Dearne Valley, with our woods and wetlands, then you're only seeing a small part of Britain's birdlife. You should make the effort to go to Bempton, Seabird City. It's a whole new experience.