It had been six years since I had last visited RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the East Coast of Yorkshire. I therefore decided a visit was long overdue. Mike and I arrived around midday after a three hour drive from Preston. It was to be a fine sunny day ideal for photographing the thousands of seabirds that make these chalk cliffs home during the breeding season. We spent around five hours visiting the various viewing points and experiencing the sights sounds and smells of this wonderful seabird city four hundred feet above the North Sea.
I was trying out a new Nikon D500 body coupled with my Nikon 200-500 telephoto lens and was confident of capturing as much of the action as I could. The gannets were the main quarry as they patrolled the cliffs on their way back to their nest sites on the ledges and I was reasonably pleased with the flight shots the best of which can be seen below. Puffins were showing extremely well as they enjoyed the warm sunshine posing on the rock ledges close to their nests which were out of sight concealed in holes in the cliff face.
Kittiwakes could be seen everywhere sitting on their nests and protecting their young from any marauding herring gulls. Razorbills and guillemots were also to be seen everywhere and provided some nice images. Fulmars were also in evidence as they glided by in their distinctive stiff winged manner and were not easy to capture in flight.
I visited Bempton again this week and had another super day out with excellent weather and many more images to go through. I will post more from Bempton soon. In the meantime hope you enjoy my selection from my first visit to this wonderful “Seabird City” that is Bempton Cliffs. Thanks for looking in and enjoy the current warm and sunny weather.
Brian Rafferty
I am based in Preston. Lancashire. This central location enables me to travel easily to a wide variety of habitats in the North of England. I tend these days not to travel very far as I find that there is plenty to see not very far from home. On my own doorstep are a wonderful variety of habitats - natural woodlands, open fells and hill country, unspoilt river valleys and I have easy access to the delights of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. As you will see from my bird images much time is spent at the wonderful coastal sites forming part of Morecambe Bay and the Ribble Estuary e.g. Marshside and Leighton Moss. In recent years Digital Photography has taken over from Video and as time has moved on I have acquired more and more equipment - as you do!!
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