My Diary
A weekend in Bempton. Day 3.
30/06/10
Kittiwake, a breeding bird at Bempton.
Our last day, well morning really, as I stupidly decided that it would be a good idea to get home for 3.00 pm, in time to watch our great National football team line up against the old enemy, Germany. That is all I will say about the game, except that I really wish I had never of bothered, and spent the day on the cliff tops, back in East Yorkshire. The biggest surprise of the day was looking up at Mike’s window, as I stood in the hotel car park at 05.30 am, only to see him peering back at me. I did not know Mike knew there were two 5 o clocks in one day, but he was soon down in the car park, along with Allan, Steve and I. After a quick discussion, we decided that the Peregrine on the cliffs at Bempton was a better bet than the Barn Owl seen by Steve and Allan yesterday, so we drove the 3 miles to the RSPB reserve again, parked the car, and spent a few minutes watching the Tree Sparrows making their way to the feeders to the side of the visitors centre, before walking down to the Southernmost viewing point along the cliff face, to wait and see if the Peregrine would perform as well as yesterday morning. Alas, no photo opportunity arose with the bird this morning, but it did fly out from its hidden perch low down on the cliff face below us, glided around the bay before returning to where it had alighted. At least the others got a view of it, and given that there was an early morning mist, I am not sure that any photos would have been any good even if the bird had of come close enough for a photo. The Southern part of the reserve seems to be the best place to photograph the Gannets as they glide along the cliff top, sometimes at eye level, and when they get to the point, they seem to hang in the wind, giving marvellous photo opportunities. I took over 1500 photos, but I did muck a fair few up, having a few exposure problems, but there are a lot to sift through, and a few pleasing images are in there waiting to be sorted. With breakfast at 08.30, we decided to take a walk right up to the Northern viewing point, only about ¾ of a mile, and there are four or five viewing points dotted along the cliff top, where the nesting birds can be viewed. We stopped off at each viewing area, taking photos of the nesting birds on the cliff face as we went. It is the closest I have seen Guillemots, Razorbills and Gannets, all in various stages of their breeding programme. We saw a Guillemot on an egg, Kittiwakes with young chicks, and Gannets with young offspring from very small chicks to birds that had just began to fly. It is only the second visit to this site, and if you have never visited a sea bird colony, then it’s a must. Especially if like us, you lug a camera around with you. We took a few photos during the early morning, and as we were leaving, Steve looked over one of the viewing ledges, and called us over, to see a Puffin standing on a ledge just 10 foot below us. We all took some photos, and being so close, it made up for the mist that was coming in off the sea, allowing our best Puffin shots of the trip. Well done Steve for that one last look. I have since been told that Allan cocked the Puffin shots up, which is on a par with the England team performance. We then returned to our hotel, had a good breakfast, said our farewells and set off for home. Once again, if you need a place to stay in the area, The Flamberg Hotel in Flamborough comes highly recommended. As is always with our jollies away, the homeward bound trip is a very quiet affair, after 20 or 30 minutes of being on the road, the car was quiet, no sound coming from the now sleeping threesome. Many thanks to Steve, Allan and Mike for making it an enjoyable weekend. I still cannot get that bloody fiddle tune out of my head.