One for the Birds

Bempton Cliffs, late evening, birds flying in and out

The early morning black clouds have rolled away leaving a lovely warm Saturday morning here in sunny East Riding of Yorkshire.

This is a big sporting day for us here as the local Championship football side Hull City are needing to win today's game to get promotion to the Premier League. I only take a passing interest in them, but if they make it then it's good news for the city of Hull. Good Luck.

I try to let you have a look at what I do in the vicinity when I visit places and I went to Bempton on the coast of East Yorkshire one evening earlier in the week. This is a fairly wild and rugged place, chalk cliffs facing the ire of the North Sea, but home to many many thousands of sea birds. I didn't know this, but according to some basic research, up to 200,000 birds are there during the summer.
 

The evening was lovely and not a cloud in the sky to talk of and very unusually, there was no wind either which one local bird watcher told me was very unusual; Mother Nature must have known I was coming!  Seeing the sun does help. There are lots of facilities for the visitor and clear marked cliff top paths which are fenced off for safety but which do not spoil the vista at all. This is a 'get wrapped up' sort of walk which needs good shoes although the paths are fine and the inclines gentle.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have a nature reserve there and although it does cost to park there, during an evening we parked for free as the visitors centre was closed. You can park anywhere on this part of the coast and walk, that's the beauty of it, you don't have to use the RSPB facilities. There are also disabled visitors facilities too.

My friend Linda and I didn't walk far, probably several hundred yards that's all, but the walking was easy and there are seats and observation points. Much time is spent just standing, looking and enjoying the scenery and taking in the atmosphere. A very helpful friendly man answered our questions about the various birds and told us that the long winter had taken its toll on the bird population. There were no puffins there yet but a whole variety of birds were coming in to roost as we watched and the noise was phenomenal. There were gannets, gulls of various kinds, razor bills, kittiwakes, a few chattering sparrows in the gorse and we think we spotted an owl swoop low by late in the evening. We might even have seen a linnet.

I'm not sure how the birds cope. Perching precariously on the cliffs on ledges just a couple of inches wide, birds wheel away in the sea breeze. Many were on the surface of the sea in flocks bobbing up and down on the surf. The whole sight of the ancient landscape and seascape was something quite emotional and special. We did take several minutes to sit and meditate which was wonderful.

How does this survive on the cliff top?

I haven't been there since I was a child and a young child at that, and oh I wish I had gone more often. I've taken a few pics which don't really do it justice but I hope you enjoy!

Chat soon

Ta-ra

500 Not Out (Despite the Weather)

Unexpectedly, because it's crept up on me, this is my 500th blog. 500 bits of nonsense that suffering readers have endured - congratulations if you are reading this - YOU deserve the prize!

The weather remains bitterly cold here in the north of the UK with the easterly wind continuing to drawn down cold breezes from the north of Europe and temperatures remain much below average for the time of the year.  Having said that, in relative terms it has been dry and these last few days have seen a fair amount of sun. Behind a window or in the car, it's lovely and warm and the early morning sun defrosts the car for me before I have to go to work. The lakes of water on the land have more or less disappeared around here now although reading a blog by Weaver in North Yorkshire, there is still a lot of standing water around and in some parts, snow still causes problems.

I don't like the cold much although I love the seasons still.

I have taken a few days off like many others and tagged it onto the Easter Bank Holiday weekend thereby saving a day of holiday entitlement. I've cut the hedge which was admittedly a bit hairy and wild and the grass got its first cut for this year on Tuesday. The fish ponds have had a crude quick makeover without disturbing the fish too much and the protective nets are off. You shouldn't really feed them until the temperature is around 5 degrees and we have just about got to that but the night time frosts are keeping the water temperature down. I've tempted them with a little wheatgerm, but so far, they haven't touched it. 

I apologise for the picture quality - taken on my mobile phone.

Before

After

My lad saw a squirrel the other day actually find a peanut that it had previously buried in my grass. They are a pain sometimes but they are nature's creatures. There were holes all over the grass I discovered created by the furry monsters when I cut it, but you can tell unless you are standing over it so I guess I can put up with it.

The birds are very active right now and there have been some subtle changes around here in respect of them. Firstly we have regular daily visits from long tailed tits, a very active funny little bird which hitherto we only got in sporadic visits, I hope they are nesting nearby, they are such fun to watch as they hyperactively and acrobatically flit from branch to branch. Wrens are supposed to be the most popular bird in the UK in so far as numbers are concerned, although we only see one now and then. There are now daily appearances of this delightful if somewhat shy little brown thing. 

A bird I haven't seen for donkeys years appeared the other day - a pair of redwings. It looks like a light coloured blackbird but has a russet red patch just on the side of it under its wing. It doesn't nest here, but I'm not sure where they migrate to in the UK summer.  A fieldfare, a kind of thrush has also been hopping about, another winter visitor, soon to depart these shores. It's been a delight to see these birds.

I watched the news this morning, something I'm trying to do less of and noted the tension in the Korean peninsular is increasing with this incredibly odd regime in North Korea now making serious public threats of attack on the United States of America. I am not debating the issues here which are complex, historic and cultural, but I am concerned for world peace once more. I ask everyone who reads this blog, whether spiritual or not, whether religious or not to spend a few minutes sending positive thoughts out for a peaceful resolution.

None of us need or want war, whether its on our doorstep or not.

Chat soon

ta-ra