Albie is back!!!!!!!
Hurrah!
So said the Birdguides and several of my Facebook friends news feeds!! Or more formally the Black-browed Albatross that appeared sporadically from time to time on Bempton Cliffs last summer had returned!
Both my regular readers will remember last years attempt to see it, where Margie and I spent a lovely but Albatross free weekend in Yorkshire see the link below for a reminder.😢
Albatross Fail
The news broke early in the week and with no chance of time off work I would have to wait until the weekend.
To go or not to go, that is the question, whether tis... hold it, sounding a bit too Shakespearean there😂
But the dilemma is real, a bird I would love to see but five and a half hours away, so eleven hours driving for a bird that disappears and reappears at will, I vowed that if it was reported as being present on the cliffs last knockings on Friday I would go!
I also realise that driving for eleven hours, over 600 miles all in, puts a large hole in my green credentials, although in my defence this will be the first time I've left Sussex to go birding this year and overall I have halved my yearly mileage in the last couple of years, I know excuses, excuses 😢But it's an Albatross!!!
The working week ground on, I suffered an Industrial injury (dropped a large metal cylinder on me foot😱) fortunately was wearing the correct footwear from a health &safety point of view, though working on through the pain (so brave) I was limping like a good un and the bruise was a lovely violent purple colour!!! All seemed against me! However Friday eventually dawned and the news at 6pm was good (Bird present on the cliffs). My foot was ok, the trip was on!
I decided to give myself the best chance I would need to leave at 1.15am to arrive around sunrise, as I'd been working all day an early night was in order and I was in bed by 8.30, managed a few hours sleep and was on the road by 1.15!!
Margie decided not to come, a combination of the early start and the idea of standing on a cliff in the predicted freezing temperatures for potentially 12 hours for some reason put her off, my answer to her, "how long will we be there?" question "til I see it or it gets dark" may have put her off😁
The journey itself was largely uneventful, though Highways England pulled their usual trick of deciding to dig up a section of the M25 and 2 sections of the M1 when I'm trying to get some where😡, traffic was quiet, although loads of lorries on the M1 and suicidal Leporidae in the form of 2 Rabbits and a Hare trying to throw themselves under my wheels in the final 2 miles didn't help matters, all survived due to my awesome reactions and the "Rios" new brake pads 😓so I arrived at 6.20am in good spirits, got talking to a photographer in the car park who hadn't been before and knew nothing about birds so we set off together while I told him where to go and what to look for and he returned the favour by pointing out a distant Barn Owl, we then bumped into a local birder who gave us the gen about where we should be looking which is always handy, as we walked along the cliff, the sun was starting to rise and the anticipation started to grow!
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| Barn Owl (told you it was distant) |
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| Sunrise, fortunately the shower stayed out to sea! |
We arrived at the Staple Newk viewpoint, there were four birders present, anxiously we asked "is it here?" "Yes" they replied, hurrah!!! "but you can't see it" they continued, denied😢!!! Turned out the bird was on the stack, but on a ledge the other side, however, we were assured that it had walked out into view a couple of times and was still present!! Phew!!! Just a bit of patience required. So we waited, the sun came up proper.
There were Puffins to keep us amused
and we waited, there were Gannets being lovey dovey!
And we waited, Fulmars flew around!
And we waited, was freezing cold, though I was fully thermalled up with Balaclava and melt me head woolly hat, I was starting to get frostbite in my finger, was I destined to be the guy who drove 11 hours to stand 30 yards from an Albatross and never see it😱?
Then at 7.31 or thereabouts a shout went out, "there it is" and the Black-browed Albatross launched itself from where it was hidden behind the rock face and headed straight out to Sea, oh no!! Was I to be the guy who drove 11 hours to get 1 blurred pic of an Albatross's arse!! No fortunately the bird swung around, came back and proceeded to put on a display that in our wildest drams, I don't think any of us dared hope for, flying back and forth along the cliff in a kind of figure of eight and making frequent, failed attempts to land back where it came from ,giving quite frankly gobsmacking views of this awesome bird, numbers of birders had built up to about 30 and without meaning offence they looked like a typical bunch of grizzled old birders, who've seen it all before, much like myself and yet there was a fair view gasps of amazement as we watched the stunning performance, which lasted a good 20 minutes, absolutely fantastic and one of the best wildlife watching experiences I've ever had!
A few pics below😂
What a bird, what a display!!!
After 20 minutes the bird flew out to sea, landing a few hundred yards out, perhaps a bit embarrassed, it's mastery of the air not in doubt, landing on a cliff face not so great!!
I considered waiting a bit to see if it came back, but decided I couldn't have better views even if it did so decided to walk the rest of the reserve to see what I could find.
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| Gannet, fabulous views of these all along the cliff edge |
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| The view North possibly getting a snow shower |
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| Feral pigeons or if I don't tick em in Shetland, Rock Doves 😂 |
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| Meadow Pipit, loads displaying and Skylarks singing |
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| The view South |
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| Kittiwake on the nest |
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| Nice bright Pied Wagtail, plenty of these about |
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| Fulmar |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Feral Pigeony/Rock Dovey kind of thing at least they are living the Rock Dove lifestyle😂 |
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| Gannet at rest |
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| Herring Gull Loads of Gulls about, largely ignored by me, but this brute looked good, |
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| Sunshine and Showers |
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| Think you must agree I got pretty much every angle of Gannet covered😂 |
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| Razorbill giving a couple of Puffins the cold shoulder |
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| Nice to get a Shag in Yorkshire |
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| Razorbill |
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| Razorbills and Guillemots, very few on the cliffs as yet but plenty on the sea |
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| Puffins perhaps realising how high up they are!! |
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| Kittiwake |
What a fabulous place RSPB Bempton is, full credit to the RSPB for the set up the wooden viewpoints are great, placed well for great views of the birds, whilst feeling safe at the same time, brilliant!!
By now needing a call of nature, there are few bushes and too many scopes on the cliff face😂, I headed back to the visitor centre, good views of the resident Tree Sparrows were had, as were a BLT, a bit of Flapjack and a nice cup of filter coffee. By now it was 10.30 and I considered my next move, go round again or head off to RSPB Frampton Marsh where another lifer was waiting, reluctantly I decided to go, partly to attempt the White-tailed Lapwing and partly because I knew how many pics I had already taken and the thought of sorting double that filled me with fear😁
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| Tree Sparrow |
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| Chaffinch |
What a place, though I think it will be another couple of weeks before it reaches peak numbers, definitely more Gannets to come and as said above Guillemots and Razorbills don't seem to be on the cliffs yet though plenty around.
What a bird the Albatross is, makes me wish I was in a position to hit the southern oceans and see more, where's that lottery ticket?
A great visit well worth the drive!!!
Part 2 the trip to Frampton will follow shortly!
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