#Bempton

[wildpix]

A close-up of the very appropriately named Razorbill, one of the estimated 20,000 pairs that nest annually on the Bempton Cliffs, in the North York Moors, on the shores of the North Sea.

A member of the Auk family, it appears as a dumpy or dull bird from a distance, but getting close and capturing its beautiful detail, really makes it shine.

It spends its entire life adrift on the sub-Antarctic oceans, only coming ashore for 60 days a year to breed on cliff-top nesting sites, monogamous, laying only a single egg and raising only a single chick each year.

Razorbills are capable of both diving and of flight, diving to depths of 400 feet to feed on schooling fish, and remarkably, a bird ringed in the UK in 1967, survived for at least 41 years!

Photo by @reandutoit

[kaihphotographs]

Herring Gull! #herringgull #gull #coast #cliff #bird #birds #birdwatching #birdphotography #twitcher #cliffs #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wild #wildlifephotography #photography #animals #animal #yorkshire #bempton #bemptoncliffs #bemptoncliffsrspb #rspb #bbcwildlifemagazine #uk #unitedkingdom #nikon (at Yorkshire) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoH5sxYIdT_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[richs-pics]

Kittiwakes with chicks

[dansnaturepictures]

Our wild adventure in Yorkshire 1st-8th June 2024 

Over the past week we have had another fantastic, packed, relaxing and breathtaking wild holiday this year, this time returning to the Yorkshire coast for a trip based around visiting the incredible RSPB Bempton Cliffs. It was an amazing week. 

The main highlights came on the visits to Bempton on Monday and Friday, going on a boat trip underneath there and Flamborough Head on Wednesday and visits to Flamborough Head and North Landing and Thornwick Bay where we were mesmerised to be immersed in bustling seabird colonies. It was magical especially to be ensconced in the elegant world of Gannets, seeing these remarkable and bold sea kings and queens in huge numbers was an honour getting views of ones with vegetation in their bills, scuffles and many flying and still views. The enchanting Puffins with their parrot beaks were also stars of the trip, I can never tire of these birds which awaken by heart. As do Guillemots and Razorbills, more awesome auks treasured at close quarters this week. Another of my favourites the Fulmars meandered in the wind and brought me much joy. Also making Bempton and Flamborough stand out are true seagulls, the angelic Kittiwakes whose onomatopoeic calls provide the colonies’ main soundtrack, precious to witness seeing the quirky sight of the ones nesting on buildings in urban Bridlington too. The sight, sound and smell of seabird colonies enriched my soul. Also seen this week were Herring Gulls well including young, Shag, Sandwich Tern and loads of Little Terns on a first visit to places I had always wanted to go the peculiar and almost otherworldly Spurn and Kilnsea Wetlands.  

At Kilnsea Wetlands we saw a surprise bird of the trip with exhilarating views of our first Yellow Wagtails of the year, part of a rich farmland double of bird year ticks for me this trip alongside thrilling views of a grand pair of Grey Partridges on a walk from Bempton. We were spellbound to watch two owls, brilliant Barn Owl views at Bempton and epic views of stunning Short-eared Owl at Flamborough North Landing just before setting off for home today. Also standing out throughout the week were a scattering of other pretty passerines; luxurious views of Bempton’s gorgeous Tree Sparrows birds I love seeing, strong Sedge Warbler views, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Stonechat including young, Reed Buntings, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Starling, Goldfinch, Song Thrush, lots of views of hirundines Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin including on nests and Swifts. It was good to see Pheasants and Stock Dove too. Beautiful Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Avocet, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Grey Heron, Teal and Wigeon mostly at Kilnsea Wetlands and Spurn were nice wader and waterfowl sightings with a Cuckoo’s call heard in a third area of the country for us this year alongside Hampshire and Scotland reverberating over the North York Moors landscape at Fen Bog Nature Reserve. 

Lepidoptera played a big part in the week with my treasured first sighting of a Small Copper this year a butterfly I needed to see at Fen Bog Nature Reserve and it was also good to see some of my last Orange Tips of the year I shall imagine with them coming to their end especially at home with lovely Painted Lady at Bempton Cliffs, Red Admiral, Dingy Skipper, Speckled Wood and Green-veined White other butterflies enjoyed. Silver Y and Mother Shipton were good to see too as was Brown House moth where we stayed. We also saw some nice caterpillars, burnet moth, Garden Tiger moth and Brown-tail moth. 

Onto other wildlife and mammals starred in the week with astonishing sightings of Weasel and Field Voles at Bempton Cliffs providing me some of my moments of the year, making my mammal year list my joint highest ever alongside last year’s total. It was breathtaking to watch iconic Grey Seals from land and from the boat at Flamborough Head with some powerful intimate experiences. Brown Hare on another holiday this year, Rabbit and Grey Squirrel were nice to see too. Fen Bog brought more marvellous moments with my first giant Golden-ringed Dragonfly and thrilling Common Lizard of the year, with bees, lots of snails and slugs including Black Slugs, flies, a Green Tiger beetle at Fen Bog also seen in Scotland, at home and Yorkshire for me this year and Long-bodied Cellar Spider at where we stayed other highlights. 

There were some fabulous flowers seen with hogweed and red campion painting swathes of colour on Bempton’s seaside meadows. Common butterwort and heath bedstraw at Fen Bog Nature Reserve and many marsh orchids adorning the coast were other key species seen. Other key flowers enjoyed across the week were meadow crane’s-bill, herb-Robert, yellow rattle, plantain, white and red clover, groundsel, oxeye daisy, daisy, chamomile, hawksbeard, sow thistle, milkwort, comfrey, poppies, mouse-ear chickweed, green alkanet, roses, buttercups, cuckooflower, vetch and seas of kidney vetch painting cliffs.

Thursday brought something slightly different for us with a look at nearby to where we stayed Sewerby Hall and Gardens; feeling inspired to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition and enjoying gladiolus, roses and forget-me-not in the gardens and Humboldt Penguins, Racoon Dogs and Rheas in the Zoo among others. Quite something to see Penguins which I love then see the auks Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffin on a look at Thornwick Bay later in the day; my early childhood obsession with Penguins meaning I was drawn to these northern hemisphere counterparts when I first got into birdwatching in my mid-late childhood sowing the seeds for my hobby and passion something I reflected on a lot this week in this big seabird experiences. Finally particularly centring on rugged and stunning coast but also including meadows, moor and marsh and hints of woodland with picture postcard seaside at Bridlington too I have taken in some breathtaking views this week and nice sky scenes too. An unforgettable and extraordinary week. 

The photos I took in this photoset from the week are of; Tree Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, carrot type flowers at Flamborough North Landing, hawksbit type flowers with a fly and beetle on at Fen Bog Nature Reserve, view at Spurn and snail at Flamborough Head, view at Thornwick Bay, Kittiwake at Flamborough Head and views at Flamborough North Landing and Sewerby Gardens.

[whimsicalphotographer]

Guillemot :)

[thiswillnotdo]

2023_05_10

[dknuth]

The Moors

I didn't have a good idea what the moors are like. All I knew was from old Sherlock Holmes stories and films, and the scenes on the moors were always at night. So we stayed three nights in Pickering on the south side of the moors. I noticed there were few towns in the central portion.

We took it easy here. After this, we will join a Hadrian's Wall tour, and I expect we will be out fairly early in the mornings, so this was Cathie's last chance to sleep in on the trip.

We drove to Goathland for lunch at the Homestead, a small restaurant focused on local produce. As we approached the tops of the moors, we could see why they were so empty.

All of the dark areas are thick heather and other shrubs. They would be tough to walk through and of little use for grazing. Apparently, the soil is acidic and poor, so little else grows there.

As we approached Goathland we spotted a steam train. It was a Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend and the local railroad was running special tourist steam trains.

The local station in Goathland is perfect for a steam train stop. In fact it was used in the Harry Potter movies.

On Monday we drove to Bridlington on the east coast. Along the way, we tried to visit the ruins of a medieval village, but the road that Google Maps sent us down was closed to traffic, and it was raining, so we skipped it.

No sooner than we decided to skip it than the clouds broke.

It is really amazing how quickly the weather changes here. From raining from just cloudy to partially cloudy to pretty sunny. But never totally clear skies.

Our other stop was in the village of Rudston which has the largest standing stone in Great Britain.

It's believed to date from about 2,000 BCE, the late Neolithic.

Bridlington was busy! It was a holiday Monday, and the town center parking lot was full! We found a spot near the harbor and a seafood restaurant. We had some tremendous curried shrimp that was reasonably spicy, much more than we get in Capitol Lakes. I also had a big bowl of mussels that were good.

It was right a low tide and the harbor was dry.

Brits seem to be big on dogs. Most people have dogs everywhere we've been. Hotels, casual restaurants, and pubs all advertise that they are dog-friendly and often have water bowls on the floor for them. This is so different than at home. At Cap Lakes, we even have people who are very anti-dog and complain about them being on the property.

The seafood restaurant even had a dog menu and special dog foods.

After lunch, we went to the RSPB reserve at Bempton Cliffs. (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, I had to look it up.) It's a great spot for seabirds as the cliffs have lots of ledges, nooks, and crannies in which to nest. Unfortunately, I didn't have binoculars or my camera with the zoom lens. My vision is poor for seeing small things at a distance, so I really couldn't see them very well. Nor could my iPhone take quality photos. So I enjoyed the overall views.

While the gannets are pretty clear in that photo, the guillemots on the rock face are hard to see, as they were for me.

One gannet sat on the clifftop near the walkway and conveniently posed for me. A very thoughtful bird.

They keep the meadows wild for all the birds that nest in them. That also provides a carpet of wildflowers.

Then, it was back to Pickering and The White Swan to pack up for the drive back to York and the train to Newcastle to begin our Hadrian's Wall tour. (That's officially Newcastle upon Tyne.)

[bwthornton]

Moorcroft Pottery 80/6 The Bempton Catch Emma Bossons #puffins #puffin #Moorcroft #Pottery #TheBemptonCatch #EmmaBossons

https://www.bwthornton.co.uk/Moorcroft-Latest.php

Moorcroft Pottery 80/6 The Bempton Catch Emma Bossons #puffins #puffin #Moorcroft #Pottery #TheBemptonCatch #EmmaBossons

[griffmeistergeneral]

[verityontheothersites]

in my mind i'm still here

[rcannon992]

Auks in the harbour

[supposedlysecretlysapphic]

I went to Bempton Cliffs to see puffins, and was not disappointed!

[richs-pics]

A beautiful northern gannet catching the afternoon sun

[dansnaturepictures]

Gannet and Guillemots at RSPB Bempton Cliffs 07/06/2024

[whimsicalphotographer]

Gannets are my favourite. Woke up at 2am and nearly backed out and went back to sleep. But I didn't, so I got to Bempton Cliffs at 5:10am and I'm in love with the gannets. So glad I went

[thiswillnotdo]

2023_05_10