"What do you mean I'm not a Tree Sparrow?"
Another great walk with Symphony around the Bempton circular walk! Hoddy Cows Lane is still very quiet but at least a few more birds presented themselves to the camera, albeit common and expected species!
Chaffinch
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
Common Whitethroat
It was a lot busier arriving on Buckton Cliffs, courtesy of the sea birds, with the Bempton three S's - sight, sound and smell! There are many Gannet clubs along the length of Buckton and Bempton Cliffs, where immature / non-breeding gather. Here, they socialise and learn from the mature Gannets, a bit like teenagers but minus the appendages of electronic gadgets!
New lives are appearing on the cliffs with Razorbills, Guillemots, Herring Gulls and Gannets nurturing their newly hatched chicks. Many more are still on egg, but others have neither. Razorbill and Guillemot chicks are known as "Jumplings"; Puffin chicks are "Pufflings"; Gannet chicks are "Gugas" and Kittiwake chicks are "Tarrocks".
Razorbill with Jumpling
Guillemot with Jumpling
Herring Gull with three chicks
Gannet with very small Guga
It is said that 2% of the Guillemot population at Bempton is "Bridled". Not a separate species but with a pigment variation making it look as if they are wearing spectacles! The number of "Bridled" Guillemots increases further north.
It was interesting to see a year 1 Gannet around Staple Newk rock. Normally these birds spend their first two years around the west coast of Africa and Bay of Biscay. This bird may have been a late fledging bird that didn't make the journey.
Puffin, this is one of a pair nesting below Grandstand viewpoint.
Gannets
Fulmar
Tree Sparrow
Visitors arriving and departing the visitor centre will no doubt have observed the family of Swallows, nesting under the welcome canopy. These birds are totally un-phased by the daily activities below them or the constant stream of visitors. At the moment the parents are feeding the first brood.
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