The white(ish) cliffs…
Who needs Dover...
Bempton Cliffs.
The very edge of Yorkshire. A rough, imposing place. But, what a place.
It takes your breath. Over 330 feet high, with sheer drops, the area is a haven
for some spectacular bird life. With thousands of gannets, puffins, guillemots,
razorbills, fulmars, as well as the usual terns and gulls.
A day out with a difference.
This was my first visit to the RSPB reserve, but after today, most
definitely won’t be my last. Once through the visitor centre, the path leads
towards the cliff edge and splits into two directions. We turn left and follow
the track to the first viewing point. Gulls, terns and a few gannets are
circling in front of us. I didn’t really know what to expect with the gannets,
as I had not seen them previous to today. But believe me when I say, I wasn’t
disappointed. What a beautiful creature. Pure white body, white wings with
black tips, and a creamy yellow neck and head, with a long powerful beak, and
enormous webbed feet. Prominent black lines round the face and eyes look as
though they have been drawn on with a strong black felt tip pen. With a
wingspan of around 6 feet, makes it quite impressive when seen alongside common
gulls and terns. No plans had been made about what I was going to photograph,
but obviously these birds were going to be very high on the list. The large
heavy duty stuff would be the order of the day, so out comes the machine with the
50-200 and the 2x attached.
We moved on, probably about 600 yards, to the next viewing area. What
we saw there was mesmerising. No matter where you looked, gannets, circling and
swooping. Literally thousands of them. One of the rangers mentioned they had
recently done a count, and the figure they arrived at was 11,000 mating pairs
of gannets. There were also, various aged birds, which don’t get to breeding
age until they are about 5, as well as the youngsters, just learning to use
their wings, so probably, altogether, somewhere in the region of 30,000
gannets. I could have spent all day, just stood watching them wheeling and
diving, then rising again on the air currents with very little effort. The
machine was put to quite a lot of use as I attempted to pan with them as they
glided past, sometimes as close as 10 feet away. Tell you what, from just 10 or
12 feet away, seeing a big bird like a gannet with a 6 or 7 foot wingspan zip
past is an awesome sight.
Moving on, and the gannets were everywhere. But
now, a new task. We were searching the cliff faces for razorbills and puffins. These
birds both nest in small hollows, so spotting them wasn’t quite as simple as
spotting the gannets. But, perseverance brought results and the puffins and
razorbills were spotted and duly photographed. They will probably have gone by
now, as they usually leave around mid July.
After hundreds of photographs and 3 or 4 miles
walked along cliff paths, and managing not to fall off, it was time to call it
a day. I had thoroughly enjoyed this first outing to Bempton Cliffs, especially
as I had already promised myself, it would not be my last. I will most
definitely be returning, probably, before the end of the year, and think it
could be a place I will be visiting at least a couple of times every year.
An awe inspiring day. One to remember.
Back soon.
Mart.
