Filey Dams and Bempton Cliffs

 RSPB York Local Group outing by car to Bempton Cliffs. The weather forecast was not brilliant and by the time that we arrived at 9am it was raining at Bempton. We went into the café and had a hot drink while we waited until 10am, the agreed meeting time. Rory and Anttoni, 2 new members of the group, were able to meet the other members. It was good to see Lynn and Eric, who had travelled up from Lowestoft to join us for the day. During the day we had a chance to talk about the group trip to Suffolk next May, which Lynn and Eric will help us organise and join us.

We decided that rather than get soaking wet by walking down to the cliff tops we would visit Filey Dams, where there are 3 hides to shelter in.

At the dames one of our first sightings was these young kestrels on one of the owl boxes.

We did eventually see all 4 young birds on the ledge. A little grebe was feeding in front of the hide

 

From the central hide we saw several young shelducks

After visiting the third hide, we decided that the weather was improving and we returned to Bempton Cliffs,

We walked along the path to the cliff top and turned left, as we felt that the path to the right could be very muddy.

Lots of visitors at the viewing points looking for puffins

Kittiwakes were nesting on the smallest ledges

I think that razorbills always look smart

The gannets are nesting all the way along the cliff tops.

Tree sparrows were collecting insects from the vegetation.

Swallows have been nesting on the visitor centre and there are several young birds waiting to be fed.

A pleasant day with excellent company.