Previously “Diary of a Birding Medic”; “Rugby Birder”; "Bempton Birder”. All views expressed in this blog are my OWN and do not represent the opinions or policies of any organisations or entities whatsoever with whom I have been, am now or will be affiliated. Reference to Bempton Cliffs in NO way promotes the organisation known as RSPB Bempton Cliffs, but rather the FREEdom of the cliffs.

Friday, 24 April 2020

Lockdown Birding 23rd - 24th April 2020

Common Whitethroat

As I write this post, the glorious (if cold!) weather has turned and a sea fret has obliterated the sun, hopefully temporarily! My early morning walk with Symphony missed it but you could see it developing out over the sea. We could do with a bit of rain though, not just for the gardeners, but for the birds that rely on mud in their nests (Swallows, Kittiwakes, House Martins et al).

All is well on the wildlife front. You may remember the shock a few weeks ago when I mentioned that the rough land around Buckton Cliffs and Hoddy Cows Lane had been ploughed for agricultural crops. Well, the crop is coming through quickly and the ground nesting birds are still using the area!. Indeed, there are very good numbers of seed eaters! I suppose that they should not be disturbed now the crop is growing and therefore will breed and raise young, hopefully before spraying etc occurs.

You may be interested to know that I have spotted several Gannets with eggs


At the moment I am not posting images of seabirds on the cliffs in case it encourages people to travel to the Flamborough Headland and Bempton. This may change at some point!

Meadow Pipit




Wheatear





Reed Bunting


Robin


Snipe



Yellowhammer


Rabbit


Hare



Please stay safe and follow current government guidelines.

2 comments:

  1. Lovely to hear from you & great photos as always. Rural inland Yorkshire is also blessed with the breeding season now in full swing in YO8 & we have a nice crop of summer migrants newly arrived - House Martins; Swallows; Wheatear all locally in good numbers & (though work usually prevents me getting out half as much as at the moment) I’ve never seen so many Blackcap; Bullfinch; ChiffChaff; Whitethroat; or Yellowhammer as I’m seeing every morning. Here’s hoping the human lockdown facilitates a boom in the success of the birding & wildlife breeding rates. Take care, stay safe & healthy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for taking the time to post your comment, it is always nice to receive feedback. Indeed it is good to experience spring migration, more so in these challenging times! Without wildlife and the great outdoors, I think our health would suffer more and we must consider ourselves blessed and privileged to experience it on our health walks. Stay safe!

    ReplyDelete