Bempton - It Begins

Our first visit of the year to Bempton.

As it was Easter Sunday there were quite a few people already there when we arrived. There is however plenty of space with five viewing points.

Few of the birds were flying above cliff top height but a look from the viewing areas revealed lots of activity down below. 

Plenty of birds have now arrived for the breeding season with Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Herring gulls and Puffins to be seen.

Puffins attract much attention and there were quite a few of them.

We walked along the cliff path away from the viewing points listening to the Skylarks singing and saw a group of Gannets collecting nesting material. They seemed to favour one particular spot.

The weather did not follow the forecast I had seen and a grey cloud meant bumping up the ISO on the camera. There were some brief sunny spells and looking up and down the coast towards Scarborough and Flamborough Head and  we could see that the day was better in other places. A chilly breeze at one viewing point  left my fingers quiet cold at one stage and after walking up to get a good view of Filey Bay we turned back and headed to the mobile ECO Cafe that was parked next to the RSPB visitor centre for a warming drink ( they do a very nice Cappuccino ). This coincided with a light shower but we could see much heavier rain up the coast. Following the shower a brief sunny spell made us risk a walk down towards Flamborough as there is a good view of the Gannet nesting sites from this part. As we reached the viewing point at Staple Newk heavy rain arrived and we decided to call it a day. 

 

The breeding season has begun at Bempton and over the next few months there will be plenty of activity. Hopefully we will manage a return visit when there is better light for photography.