I last visited RSPB Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire on 22nd June 2020 (see here) following the easing of lockdown and travel restrictions and I decided that I needed another “seabird fix” this year.
After picking up a rental car on the morning of 3rd July 2021, I drove to Yorkshire for my 2 night stay at Premier Inn Barnsley (Dearne Valley).
I selected this location and hotel as it was within a few minutes drive of RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor (a reserve that I had not visited before but seen featured on BBC Springwatch) but also about 2 hours drive from RSPB Bempton Cliffs.
En-route to Yorkshire, I had stops at Essex Wildlife Trust - Abberton Reservoir in the hope of seeing a regularly reported Red-necked Grebe and at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust - Besthorpe Nature Reserve for a relatively long-staying Great Reed Warbler.
I had also planned to visit Icklingham in Suffolk to see a Roller that was first reported on 23rd June 2021 but last reported on 1st July 2021, just 2 days before my trip. This was very disappointing since, despite seeing many of these beautiful birds in southern and eastern Europe, it would have been an addition to my UK life list. Here are 2 of my photos of a Roller ....
I was much more successful with the Red-necked Grebe at Essex Wildlife Trust - Abberton Reservoir although it took several scans with my telescope to finally pick it out. This is a non-breeding species in the UK that I record in most years but, to date, always during the winter months when it is in its much drabber plumage. This bird was in its superb summer plumage as I have seen it in Finland and Estonia on several occasions. Unfortunately, it was far too distant and in bright sunshine to even attempt a photo but here is a photo from Kit Day showing this beautiful species in summer plumage ....
Photo: Red-necked Grebe (Kit Day)
This was
my first visit to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust - Besthorpe Nature Reserve, a former gravel extraction
site which now comprises 3 distinct habitat types: open water with islands, reedbeds and
shingle banks. Although my visit did not produce as many birds as it would have
done during the peak month of activity and song in May, I was able to record
Reed Warbler (at least 10 but very few singing), Reed Bunting (2 males plus a
further 2 singing males heard), Yellowhammer (1 singing male heard), Common
Whitethroat (1 singing male heard), Chiffchaff (1 singing male heard), Blackcap
(1 singing male heard), Common Buzzard (1), Common Tern (4), Grey Heron (2),
Little Egret (2), Lapwing (3) and Oystercatcher (1).
Unfortunately, although the Great Reed Warbler was still being reported on the days immediately prior to my visit, it had become much more elusive and it had also largely stopped singing. Despite much scanning of the reedbed, I failed to conclusively identify it although I did briefly see a "large reed warbler”. Like the Roller, this was disappointing since it would have been an addition to my UK life list although I have seen large numbers of this species in southern and eastern Europe. Here is my one and only photo of a Great Reed Warbler ....
Photo: Great Reed Warbler south of Hortobágy towards Szásztelek, Hortobágy National Park, Hajdú-Bihar county, Hungary
Also
en-route to Yorkshire, I saw 3 individual Red Kites from the car between
Stansted airport and Duxford, between Cambridge and Peterborough and between
Peterborough and Stamford.
On 4th July 2021, I left Premier Inn Barnsley (Dearne Valley) very early since I
wanted to do some seawatching from Flamborough Head before moving on to nearby RSPB Bempton Cliffs. However, when I
arrived at 7:30 a.m. there was thick fog and I would have struggled to see a
Robin perched on the door mirror of my car, let alone any seabirds through my
telescope!
I therefore drove the short distance to RSPB Bempton Cliffs and by the time I arrived in the car park the fog was rapidly lifting in the warming sunshine.
The towering 400 foot high white chalk cliffs here, which stretch for over 3 miles, are an ideal habitat for breeding seabirds. It is the largest seabird colony in England, the most accessible in Europe (park the car .... short walk .... watch) and it is a site of international importance.
From April to August, RSPB Bempton Cliffs supports England's largest population of seabirds (around half a million), including the following key species: Gannet, Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Herring Gull and Shag. Grassland and scrub along the cliff tops are also home to breeding and wintering farmland birds.
My best ever experience of breeding seabirds has been on the island of Hornøya in the very far north east of Arctic Norway, almost 2300 miles from my home! Slightly closer to home are the seabird colonies on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, Skomer in west Wales and Handa in north west Scotland, all of which I have visited several times, plus other locations in Shetland and Orkney.
However,
for sheer accessibility at a mainland location in the UK, RSPB Bempton Cliffs can not be beaten.
No-one can fail to be amazed by the awesome scenery and the abundance of birds,
many of which can be watched closely without optics and photographed with ease.
There was simply one incredible highlight during this
visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs: a Black-browed
Albatross …. see here for the full story.
Apart from the Black-browed Albatross, RSPB Bempton Cliffs fully lived up to the usual expectations with huge numbers of other breeding seabirds.
Please follow these links to more on these birds and some of my photos ….
Auks (Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots)
In addition to the obvious attraction of the huge number of seabirds, I was also able to add 2 further species to my UK year list (in addition to Gannet and Puffin): Tree Sparrow (a thriving colony with at least 100 birds seen around the visitor centre or in the clifftop grassland) and Corn Bunting (1 male singing distantly from a fence post on the clifftop grassland).
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: Tree Sparrow
Photo: heavily cropped record shot of singing male Corn Bunting
I also had extended views of a day-flying and hunting Barn Owl (according to one of the RSPB volunteers, a pair were nesting in a nestbox in the clifftop grassland), a female Kestrel hovering at eye-level over the cliff edge), Linnet (c.10), Reed Bunting (1 singing male), Sedge Warbler (1 singing male heard), Skylark (several singing males heard), Swallow (at least 5), Rock Pipit (at least 5) and Jackdaw (at least 2 pairs).
I had planned to spend around 4 hours at RSPB Bempton Cliffs before moving on to Wykeham Forest in the hope of seeing 2 of the UK’s rarest breeding birds of prey, namely Goshawk and Honey Buzzard, soaring in the midday or early afternoon sun.
However, some bird up from the South Atlantic on its “Yorkshire 2021 tour” got in the way of that plan so, after finally leaving RSPB Bempton Cliffs at 4:30 p.m., I decided to drive the 2 hours back to Premier Inn Barnsley (Dearne Valley). Part of this journey proved to be particularly eventful since the early morning fog and a scorching hot sunny day was followed by absolutely torrential rain and flash flooding!
On 5th July 2021, I first visited 2 other sites in the Dearne Valley prior to RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor which did not open until 9:30 a.m.
In 1995 the Dearne Valley became an area of regeneration and nature recovery following the sudden decline of the deep coal mining industry in the 1980s and the eventual closure of the mines. It is one of a number of examples in the UK where former industrial or agricultural land has been successfully returned to nature for the benefit of wildlife.
At RSPB Dearne Valley Wombwell Ings , I unfortunately failed to see the Wood Sandpiper which had been reported for several days although, in addition to commoner birds, I was able to record Willow Warbler (1), Sedge Warbler (3), Common Whitethroat (2), Swallow (4), Swift (5), House Martin (c.10), Sand Martin (1), Reed Bunting (1), Skylark (1), Kestrel (1), Stock Dove (5), Little Ringed Plover (7), Lapwing (c.30), Avocet (3), Little Grebe (2) plus Mallard, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan and both Coot and Moorhen with juveniles.
At Garganey Trust Broomhill Flash, the most significant sight was the large number of very noisy Black-headed Gulls with juveniles. In addition, I recorded Swift (c.20), House Martin (c.10), Swallow (1), Little Egret (3), Lapwing (c.10), Little Grebe (6), Great Crested Grebe (1), Tufted Duck (c.10), Mallard (c.15), Mute Swan (pair with 6 juveniles), Canada Goose (c.100), Coot (c.100) and Moorhen (4).
RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor was created on former coal mining land and now provides a range of habitats including reedbeds, lakes and ponds, fens, wader scrapes, hedgerows, meadows and wet grassland. It is an important site for wintering wildfowl, passage and breeding wading birds and rare breeding reedbed species like Bitterns and Bearded Tits.
The main highlight of my visit was a female Garganey although it was extremely hard to find amongst a large group of moulting Mallards and a few Teal. However, it was eventually spotted and became an addition to my UK year list.
I also had a very brief flight view of a Bittern plus I additionally recorded, amongst the huge number of Black-headed Gulls with juveniles, Little Egret (3), Black-tailed Godwit (15), Avocet (2 and 2 juveniles), Common Redshank (3), Oystercatcher (2), Little Grebe (5 plus 1 juvenile), Cormorant (10), Wigeon (1 male although it was unclear if this was an over-summering bird or an early bird returning for the winter), Gadwall (c.100), Mallard (c.100), Tufted Duck (c.50), Common Pochard (c.20), Teal (c.20), Shelduck (7), Coot (100+), Moorhen (3), Canada Goose (c.100), Mute Swan (10), Common Tern (2 plus 2 juveniles), Lesser Black-backed Gull (c.10), Herring Gull (2), Common Buzzard (2), Swift (2) plus several singing but unseen Reed Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.
Although this was a reasonable diversity of species, I have no doubt at all that a visit in May during peak bird activity and bird song would be much more productive.
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