Spring in Yorkshire - Seabirds

At the end of May, when we had that first bout of warm spring weather, I headed up to Yorkshire with Bob for a week's holiday. We stayed in lovely self-catering accommodation in Buckton where I'd stayed before on a previous visit to the area, but in a deluxe statis caravan instead of one of the cottages. The location was fabulous it gave us wonderful access to the RSPB nature reserve, Bempton Cliffs. It was only a 30 minute walk to the coast, to the northern end of the nature reserve, or we could drive to the various access points not only at the visitor centre nearby, but further eastwards towards Flamborough Headland.

Unfortunately, the good weather only lasted the first two days. Having said that, we were lucky the rest of the week because even though it was windy at times, cloudy mostly, and we had some wet spells, we managed to work around it. As always, we try not to let it affect us too much and we both had an excellent time away. Bob's back was still causing him some grief, having put it out a month prior, so we were careful not to spend too long out on walks, or avoid carrying too much equipment. It was actually lovely having a bit more chill time at the accommodation relaxing and reading.

The seabirds were the main draw to the area, and there's a good number of them at Bempton Cliffs. They host over 200,000 breeding seabirds during peak season (March to October). Despite the crash in numbers last year due to bird flu, overall the colony seems to be doing well and bouncing back. It's one of the best places in the country to see Northern Gannets, as it is the largest mainland colony, with an estimated 11,000 to 15,000 breeding pairs.

They're such a peculiar looking bird and yet somehow elegant too - I think - with their predominantly white plumage, long neck, and yellow-orange head. I particularly love watching them because of their pair bonding behaviour, which they are so well known for.

Sometimes the gannets can seem quite aggressive, as they occupy nesting sites close to each other. I daresay they could inflict a reasonable amount of pain if they bite another bird, with that long bill. They certainly make a lot of noise. But like dogs, their bark is probably worse than their bite. It's only a few times I've ever seen two gannets with their bills interlocked with each other, neither one seeming to want to relent.

Whilst some pairs were still courting, the early birds were already sitting on an egg, as can be seen below. Each female only lays one egg, so its very precious to them. They'll be very diligent incubating it until it hatches and then feeding it all the way through to fledging, hopefully. The main predators the adults have to be wary of are Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Skuas.

This next photo is taken in the southern end of the nature reserve, overlooking one of the main stacks and popular gannet breeding spots. This is one of the best observation decks on the nature reserve where you can observe the birds coming and going from the cliffs.

There were plenty of adult gannets flying around, but there were also juveniles, with darker wings. It takes five years for a juvenile to reach full maturity. In the first two years they're almost all black along the back and wings, but gradually the black is replaced with white feathers over the next two years, until they reach maturity. The juveniles were easy to spot amongst all the adults and other birds as they're so large and dark coloured.

Those birds that were still nest building would fly to the tops of the cliffs and pick off the grass with their beaks and fly back to their partner. There were a few popular spots where we were able to watch a large group of them gathering, which was fascinating to watch.

They were constantly flying in and out. It gave me some great opportunities to photograph the gannets flying.

One cheeky bird obviously didn't want to do the hard work of pulling out the grass. Instead, it harassed one of its neighbours and tried to pinch their nesting material.

I saw one gannet flying with seaweed rather than grass in its beak. Below you can see another has also used it for nesting material. I love how one adult is gently and carefully moving the existing seaweed around to enhance the nest, and the other has its offering in its beak, ready to add to the rest.

The Puffins were also fabulous to watch at Bempton Cliffs, but harder to see. I'm guessing we might have seen less than 50 during the whole week there. At all the main viewing platforms we were lucky if we saw the occasional one flying. I recalled there had been more at Flamborough Head on my previous visit, but we didn't see many there either, which was disappointing. Then, one of the RSPB wardens mentioned the puffins were in their burrows in the cliff walls at this time of year, early in the season, so that was why it was more of a challenge to photograph them other than when they were on the move.

Bempton Cliffs is not the biggest puffin colony, with only an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 individuals returning each year to this site. Skomer Island in West Wales, where I've been a few times in the past, plays host to over 53,000 individuals.

We spent quite a bit of time watching the puffins flying to and from the cliff walls, which was great fun. We found one spot south of the nature reserve where there seemed to be a dozen or so, as we had regular sightings there. Of course, it isn't wise to stand close to the edge of the cliff, especially on windy days, but we were able to photograph them flying, by standing further back from the edge.

The Atlantic Puffin is a member of the auk family of birds, alongside other seabirds such as Razorbills and Guillemots. The puffin is the smallest of these, with a wingspan of 47-63cm.

It was sometimes quite comical watching them adjust their flight path in the windy conditions.

They were generally easy to spot amidst the other flying seabirds as they approached the cliffs, because unlike the Razorbills and Guillemots their beak is so colourful and you'd occasionally have a flash of their red feet too.

They were certainly easier to photograph when coming in to land and slowing down.

Sometimes, we'd be treated to a bit of wing flapping or preening before they disappeared out of sight, into their burrow.

The Razorbills, another of the auks, are also a stunning seabird that look very elegant in their dark brown plumage and striking white lined bill. They're a bit bigger than the puffins, with a wingspan of 60-69cm.

I love how they spread their legs wide and splay their tail feathers when coming in to land, to really slow them down.

The Razorbills were often seen alongside the Guillemots on the cliff edges. I didn't find any places where they congregated in large numbers together. I was surprised to discover there were as many as 30,000 plus breeding pairs this year.

Whilst all the other seabirds were still in the early stages of either nest building and pair bonding, and some sitting on eggs, I saw a few Razorbill chicks when the adult lifted up and allowed us a sneak peak!

The Guillemots are the largest of the three auk species seen at Bempton, with a wingspan of 64-73cm. They're also an elegant looking bird, being predominantly dark brown except for their white chest. They look like they're dressed in a tuxedo.

Bempton Cliffs has a large number of guillemots nesting on the cliffs - an estimated 111,000 individuals, which far exceeds all of the other seabirds. It wasn't so surprising, as I saw large numbers of them tightly packed in lines along the cliff ledges. It's quite odd to see them mostly facing inwards towards the wall, but that's because they have to be especially careful looking after their solitary egg.

Living on the edge is a dangerous business. So, after hatching, the chick doesn't stay long living under the protection of its parents. After just 3 weeks of age, it must leave the cliff and make a death defying descent to the water. The father flies down to the sea first and calls to the chick. The mother guides it to the edge of the ledge from where it must take its maiden flight by essentially parachuting down to the sea below. It's wings are not developed enough to fly yet. Because of this, it is referred to as a jumpling rather than a fledgling. I've witnessed this remarkable event just once before, seen from quite a distance away, when I was in the Arctic in 2016. Once the chick hits the water, the father immediately escorts it away from dangerous predators. Over the following two months it will feed it, but also teach it how to dive and fish for itself.

I hardly saw any seabirds flying with fish in their mouths. This was one of the few, heading back to its partner, and quite possibly its chick, though I didn't see any Guillemot chicks on this occasion. But, you never know what they're hiding under their mass of feathers.

One of the bigger birds flying around the cliffs was the Northern Fulmar, which has a wingspan of about 102-112cm. It is only in quite a small number at Bempton with an estimated 1,200-1,300 breeding pairs. They were quite well spread out along the coast. Some of my best views of them were at the observation deck I mentioned before, but also around Flamborough Headland, where we walked one day.

It was also a good spot for photographing the Kittiwakes as they were flying close to the tops of the cliff that day. They were in very good number along the coast. Estimates vary, but apparently there are at least 45,000 breeding pairs. They're a bit smaller than the fulmars, with a wingspan of about 84-110cm.

Just like the gannets, they would often be seen on the tops of the cliffs gathering grass in their beak to take back to their nest.

It was hard to tell which birds were actually sitting on eggs. I was lucky to see this one stand up and reveal two eggs in the nest. It began to move the eggs delicately around with its beak, which was interesting to see.

It was an amazing week watching the various seabirds at Bempton Cliffs and around the headland, observing the different behaviour. I might have overdosed on watching seabirds all week if it hadn't been for some of the other interesting wildlife that we saw. I've saved that for the next blog post.

Next blog post coming soon...Spring in Yorkshire - Other Wildlife