A bracing Bempton Cliffs with Hull Nats

 

Despite the challenging conditions, with a Yellow Wind alert for most of the day, we went ahead with the planned field trip. There were increasingly stronger winds and later drizzle that stung like hail. Overall, we had an excellent day. There were plenty of auks on the cliffs and on the sea, and Gannets and Fulmars were also assembled on their nest sites. The softer light than in the summer, aided with photography, and I was pretty pleased with some of my photos today, including the Guillemot above.

Razorbill pair.

Razorbill flap.

A bridled Guillemot by Bartlett Nab. We saw two. From this viewpoint we watched some porpoises too, but I was unable to take any photos as they were surfacing very briefly.

Herring Gull.

A fencing pair of Gannets.

Fulmar.

Fulmar pair.

Peregrine over Filey Bay.

We sheltered from the relentless wind on he lower stage of Jubilee Corner. The flock of feral pigeons were being regularly fushed and the reason soon became apparent with a Peregrine powering after them. We witnessed no catch but wathching a hunting peregrine is always exhilarating. At that stage, we were all hankering for lunch and a hot drink, so we headed for the visitor centre. While we had lunch, we met with the RSPB site manager Dave O’Hara and birder extraordinaire Will Scott, who were kind enough to show us a woodcock in The Dell. Will has a thermal monocular, which facilitated the task enormously. Even when we knew where the woodcock was sitting, its amazing camouflage made it so tricky to spot! 

I took a photo of the view with the thermal monocular, the hot spot of the Woodcock under the gorse is very obvious.

Can you see it?

I have centred the Woodcock's eye in this photo to make it easier to spot.

After the woodcock we watched the feeders for a while. The RSPB volunteers had gathered there, sheltered from the cold and wind. Some of our members wanted to try for Shag, so we headed towards Staple Newk. We watched Razorbills slow flapping and then whirring wings as they left their nests, which was something I have never witnessed before, maybe to do with the wind? Two members who persisted a bit longer managed to photograph some Shags at sea, so it was only Puffin and Kittiwake that we missed from the breeding sea birds at Bempton, not bad for a February visit, and also, a good excuse to visit Bempton later in the year!