The UK's largest mainland seabird colony. Nearly half a million seabirds, including puffins, on 400 feet high chalk cliffs on the stunning Yorks coast.
Did you know Gannets have been known to give one another gifts of flowers or grass stems to reinforce their bond? 😍🌾🌼
📷 1,2 - Isaac Jones
📷 3 - Alison Hill
Mary is 96, and this is the moment she saw her first
#Puffin
!
This is a simple but genius bit of engineering from one of our volunteers to ensure all visitors are able to see through our scopes. 🔭
📸Ian Crossley
@RSPBEngland
@Natures_Voice
Amazing news! The black-browed albatross that graced our reserve and cliffs this Summer has been voted Rarity of the Year Britain & Ireland by the public and
@BirdGuides
. Did you see it? A truly spectacular bird 🥇🎉
@RSPBEngland
@Natures_Voice
@RSPBbirders
📸Roger Darvell
Land ho! The first puffin on the cliffs has been spotted 🥳🥳
Two were seen from Mosey Downgate this morning. It won't be much longer until these beauties are back on the cliffs in force!
📸Rich Berry
A brilliant start to the day
@Bempton_Cliffs
, with great views of barn owl and dolphins to round off our first Breakfast Birdwatch event 😍🐬🦉
📸Dolphins, David Bromley (archive)
📸Barn owl, Trevor Charlton (archive)
Well... what can we say except WOW! The other night we were treated to the Perseid meteor shower shooting across a sky lit up with the Northern Lights. Did you manage to get a glimpse? 💫🌌✨
📷 Ellen Leach
We're having quite the hoot
@Bempton_Cliffs
! The weather is looking better and we now have not 1, but 3 short-eared owls putting on a show for us🤩🦉
📸 Dan Howe
❗️BREAKING NEWS❗️ We have our first gannet chick here on the cliffs!! Our Seabird Research Assistant, Richard, snapped this fab photo yesterday morning, not long after it hatched! Can you spot it?! ✨🎉
📸 Richard Cope
Have you got a shot of the black-browed albatross? We've seen some cracking photos so far and we'd love to see more😍 Feel free to share! 🐦
#Photography
#WildlifePhotography
📸Rachel Bigsby,
We certainly weren't looking for nesting Tree Sparrows in this place! These two have picked our bike shelter as their home for this year... 🐦🐣
📸 James Davies
Off Bempton at 14.55 an Orca (Killer Whale) headed south. 2-3 miles off Grandstand. Huge tall vertical dorsal. Seen 5 times by numerous visitors, no sightings reported since.
We've had some early visitors on the cliffs over the last few days! 😍 Although it's super exciting, they won't be back on land properly until the end of the month, so there's no guarantee they'll stick around.
Keep your eyes peeled for more updates though... 👀
Did you know Puffins shed their colourful beak in the winter? 🌊❄️
Beneath the colourful beak plate there is a plain black beak. The colourful beak is purely for the breeding season and to enable the Puffin to carry more fish! 🐟
📷 Puffin - Michelle Coyle
We had to share this beautiful photograph of a pair of Gannets engaged in 'fencing' with their bills as part of their bonding behaviour! 🥰
Have you been lucky enough to spot this wonderful sight on the cliffs?
📷 Nick Proctor - Nick Proctor Photography
We've been enjoying the sunny weather here at Bempton and it seems the Puffins have too! 🌞 A visitor captured these wonderful in flight action shots! 😍
📷 Puffin - Stephen Beaver
Short eared owl seen 3.30pm over the field near the car park and to the back of the visitor centre! Second day in a row and at about the same time too... 😊🦉
📸Dan Howe (Archive)
⚠PLEASE NOTE: ⚠
We have had a number of bird deaths, specifically Kittiwakes, on the cliffs and sea at Bempton reserve, that are being investigated as Avian Influenza or ‘Bird ‘flu’. DEFRA has been informed. 1/4
It this time of year when we have to say goodbye to our puffins, guillemots and razorbills. These fantastic birds spend the rest of the year out at sea, in groups or rafts. 👋 😢
📸 Ali Barrett
Wow! 15+ bottle-nosed dolphins slowly heading North past
@Bempton_Cliffs
now, currently viewable off New Roll Up viewpoint
📸 Trevor Charlton (Historic)
An early morning treat for us
@Bempton_Cliffs
! A short-eared owl has been spotted, porpoise have cruised past our viewpoints and we've watched a sparrowhawk grab a spot of breakfast🦉🐬🌟
📸Steve Race (archive)
As we are asking all visitors to wear a mask when entering our visitor centre, we are on the lookout for some of the best wildlife masks. We are yet to spot a puffin mask, or a gannet mask?! 😷 Anyone have any particular good wildlife masks, we would love to see them.
Exciting news from Bempton Cliffs 🥳One of our volunteers spotted a magical moment earlier this week, our first gannet chick fledging! We're super excited🐣
📷 Jo Symon
The first gannet was spotted back on the cliffs this morning along with 100s of wintering guillemots. A very
@Bempton_Cliffs
sign of Spring soon to be coming!
📸 David Wright
Puffins are brilliant swimmers! Using their webbed feet as a rudder, puffins can dive down 60m under water in search of their favourite fish. 🐟
📷 Tracy Robinson
A cracking day for cetaceans
@Bempton_Cliffs
! We've had not one, not two... but three pods of dolphins cruise past us 😍🐬 The third group is heading past Bartlett viewpoint now!
📸 James Davies
A lot of our Gannet chicks are getting pretty big! We couldn't resist sharing this beautiful family portrait with a surprise guest! 🦋
📷 Gannets & Chick - Carla Stark
We couldn't resist sharing these fantastic acrobatic photos of two Short-eared Owls taken by a visitor last week! 🦉
📸 Joe Winter - Instagram - @ jw1102
What a fantastic set of images that beautifully capture one of our resident Barn Owls hunting! 🦉 Have you spotted them recently?
📷 Barn Owl - Sukhdev Singh
We've had a special visitor hanging around the Dell, carpark and bird feeders. A reserve first for Bempton, the Red-eyed Vireo has been showing well today meaning we've got some cracking shots to share with you! 🤩
📸 - Will Scott
📸 - James Davis
We've had some glorious weather recently, just look at the view from one of our recent
#seabird
cruises! 🐦🌊😍⛴️
If you fancy joining us you can book here
👉
Fantastic views of the Pallas’s Warbler
@Bempton_Cliffs
this afternoon in Pallas’s Patch. Still present this evening but relocated in the Dell.
📸 Jo Symon