Welcome back! You have been missed!
What a fantastic day! Blue sky, sunshine, light north westerly blow - a perfect early spring day! The birds also did us proud with all of Bempton's famous eight breeding birds on the cliffs (Puffin, Fulmar, Gannet, Herring Gull, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake and Shag). In the morning, I led a "welcome tour" of the cliffs for 18 lovely people and in the afternoon had great fun with a large group of German school children, trying to get them on Puffins, with a language barrier! As always the outcome was successful!
So what was about today?
Although we have seen a small number of Puffins on the sea, today they chose to access the cliffs (in small numbers)
"I may be small, but I'm not scared of you"!
The Puffin is a red listed bird with a UK population of c580,000 pairs. The Bempton and Flamborough population numbers c 2879 individuals (2017). This small seabird measures only 20cm (8 inches) in height, yet spends all of the non breeding periods out on the North Sea and Atlantic. Puffins at Bempton and Flamborough do not nest in traditional cliff top burrows due to shallow soil, erosion and predation. Instead they seek out natural tunnels in the chalk rock to lay their one egg which weighs in at c51grams equating to 15% of the females body weight!
The Kittiwake numbers are continuing to increase
The Kittiwake is unfortunately a red listed bird due to its declining population and is a high conservation concern. It is thought that the Kittiwake is the most numerous gull in the world, but the British population has declined by 50% in the last 25years. The British population is c370,000 pairs with c 51,535 pairs ( c3% of the UK breeding population) (2017) at Bempton / Flamborough. These delicate birds will have returned from there wintering grounds around Newfoundland and south west Greenland. The state of the colony reflects the health of the North Sea - Kittiwakes are surface feeders, reliant on sand eels and other small fish which depend on a healthy ocean. Healthy oceans produce phytoplankton which is eaten by zooplankton which the small fish feed on.
The Razorbill is green listed, (least conservation concern), with a British population of c110,000 and a local population of c 30,218 (2017). Often confused with Guillemots, the plumage is jet black with a white underbelly and distinctive white stripes on the chunky bill and face. The chicks (as with Guillemots) are known as "jumplings", three weeks after hatching, they jump off the cliff (before they are even able to fly) and are joined by the male who swims with the youngster out to sea. The male bird teaches the necessary life skills before the jumpling fledges after another 4 - 6 weeks.
It should be remembered that there are no guarantees in nature and birds may leave the cliffs in favour of the sea.
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