Little gulls and shags of Bempton Cliffs

Here is a Bempton Cliffs bird video.

10 July.

Bridlington.

Swifts flying.

The RSPB chartered ship the Yorkshire Belle will depart from the harbour to Flamborough Head and the Bempton Cliffs.

As we wait at the landing, four oystercatchers fly past.

Scores of little gulls flying as we depart, which are rare this time of the year around Bridlington.

Also, much bigger, great black-backed gulls.

Shags flying close to the sea surface.

Many razorbills flying and swimming.

We pass North Landing, where now every year storm petrels are ringed. Until about 30 years ago, it was not known that those small seabirds, which come to the nests only at night, nested around the North Sea.

Many kittiwakes, guillemots and puffins. More and more gannets, the closer we get to their Bempton Cliffs nesting colonies.

When we return, it is high tide in Bridlington harbour, so no turnstones today. A lone barnacle goose among domestic ducks on the bank.

Despite the south west being globally-renowned for its immense populations of seabirds – including, shearwaters, petrels and gannets – laws to designate marine protected areas in the region are failing these iconic species because too few seabird sites are being protected, says the RSPB – Europe’s largest wildlife conservation charity: here.

National seabird research centre planned at Bempton: here.

Northern Gannets Morus bassanus “Billing” at Bempton Cliffs RSPB Reserve Yorkshire, UK: here.

Young puffins work out their own migration routes: here.

September 2011. According to the popular saying: “It’s grim up north!” However, an RSPB study looking at bird numbers across the regions of England reveal that birds at least disagree; since 1994 with bird populations in the south of England declining, with those in the north of England generally increasing or at least performing much better.

Storm Petrels are amazing little birds. Rarely seen on land during the day and spending the night in their burrows. For a bird which is similar in size to a Greenfinch this bird can make some impressive movements. One such Storm Petrel was ringed in Ona, Norway and controlled by another ringer three days later on the Isle of May (902km): here.

Twinkle, twinkle, lots of stars – stargazing at RSPB Bempton Cliffs: here.

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