I'm Thinking Of Heading To Bempton Cliffs ....

Hey Everyone :)

I am planning a trip to Bempton Cliffs next week and just had a few queries - I wonder if somebody could help :)

1) How many Puffins are at Bempton & how close can you get? (I went to Skomer Island last month & walked amongst the Puffins but I'm assuming you can't do that here) - I mean can I see them with the naked eye / binoculars or am I going to need a scope?

2) Other than Bempton what other places are worth visiting in the area - somebody told me about Flamborough Head?

3) I am an RSPB member & I have a complimentary reserve pass for a friend so does that mean it won't cost us admission?

Many Thanks for your help :)

Cheers, Rob

Here you go Rob. www.rspb.org.uk/.../83062.aspx

A scope is useful but not essential. There are usually RSPB volunteers at the best spots who will let you look through their scope.

No charges at all for RSPB members , not even parking. Read the notice on the parking machine , I didn't but the staff kindly refunded my money :- )

Hi Rob,

I work for the RSPB and visited Bempton on Sunday. The Puffins will be hard to spot at Bempton now, we only saw a few flying around and at sea on Sunday, these will all be from the cliff top so binocular/scope views only. It will not be the same experience as Skomer.

However, if you like Gannets then this is the reserve for you, they were flying around in large numbers at eye level and there is even a small group of birds hanging around on the cliff top extremely close to the footpath, check out my images from the day here - www.flickr.com/.../52702463@N05

We travelled through the Yorks Moors in the area, saw lots of Grouse, and upland waders.

The Tree Sparrows at Bempton are fun too!

Enjoy!

An account of my visit in May www.rspb.org.uk/.../514711.aspx

And my second visit in June  www.rspb.org.uk/.../80745.aspx

Thanks for the feedback everyone - I'm heading up next weekend .... weather permitting!

Just to add somebody told me there are a few Puffins hanging around at Flamborough Head near the North Landing (?) - can anybody confirm this & how would I go about reaching this area?

Many Thanks, Rob :)

It's been a while since I was up there but I have seen puffins at Flamborough Head, slightly earlier in the year but you may get lucky. I parked by the lighthouse last time I visited and walked along the coast from there although the coast path stretches all the way up to Bempton if I remember correctly, a good few hours yomping to be had if that's your thing! Link here has some info that might be of interest.

I was up at Bempton on the 11th July 2011 and there were a few Puffins still about so you may get lucky.

Have a good trip

Andrew

The puffins at the Flamborough lighthouse are about 150 yards to the right of the foghorn, and they are very near to the cliff top, it was about 5 days ago when I was last there and they were there then. I was up at Bempton RSPB yesterday 24th July 12 and one of the volunteers said there were a few puffins about, but I did not see any.

I finally got to Bempton and had the most lovely day out yesterday - spent five hours wandering along the cliff tops looking at the birds.  I've got 300+ photos to sift through now (mostly gannets!) but will do a bit of a report when I get a bit more time.

In the meantime we did see quite a few puffins flying into the crevices at Jubilee Corner and also quite a few bobbing on the water at Staple Newk.

Here are a couple of photos although to be honest they were really too far away for the zoom on my camera, but proof that they were there!

Lovely photos Christine, looking forward to seeing more, good to hear you enjoyed your day out.

All the birds at Bempton are superb but Puffins must be at the top of everyone's "must see" list. Glad you saw a few and got some photos too. Well done.

Like the photos Christine, also I`m pleased you managed to see the puffins before they left  us. They are truly remarkable critters, I can spend hours looking at them, but I have yet to get a photo of one with sand eels in its beak, maybe one day.

Dave, go to the Farne Islands!

I keep promising myself that I will make the trip to the Farne Islands one day, maybe next year!