Yesterday I had a trip to the RSPB Bempton Cliff for a bit of bird watching, I'm not really a birder but I do like to see them flying and I love hearing bird song in the mornings and evenings.
However there is one bird that I really do love to see and hope to get some shots of, and that's the Puffin.
Being a member of the Bempton Cliff photography page on facebook, it seemed like there was an abundance of Puffin's there so I headed up in the hopes of snagging some shots.
There were loads of Gannets there as well as Razorbills and Guillemots, but I couldn't see any puffins.
Bempton Cliff is a stunning place, over looking the North Sea with shear drops of around 330 feet at it's highest point and runs for around 6 miles, although I didn't walk the entire length of the cliffs.
As we were on our search for Puffins, we could hear this bird singing away, we looked around and could see this over in the distance, I'm glad I had my 150-600mm lens so I could get a good reach on the zoom, it turns out this lovely little bird was a Skylark.
(A Razorbill on the ledge).
(A Guillemot pearing into the warm sunlight).
(Camera Shy).
As we headed over towards where a bit of a crowd was, I said to my girlfriend that I bet that's where the Puffins are, we headed over and there was a volunteer there pointing one out, as we got on the viewing platform I saw two puffins fly off, way before I had the chance to get the camera ready, you could tell they were puffins by their orange legs.
Anyhow we kept looking, my girlfriend found one but they tend to hide in the cliffs and only poke foot out or something so you know they were there.
Overall I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get the epic puffin shot, but every cloud has a silver lining in which I am more than happy with the other shots I got.
It was a great day, although the wind was very cold so you needed a coat, even then I got a little bit of a red face with the sun.
After we finished at Bempton, we headed into Bridlington for some fish and chips, after all it is the law when you visit the seaside lol.
As we were eating our dinner a big herring gull swooped down and pinched some of my girlfreinds dinner, it basically sat on her shoulder, they never used to be as bad as this when I was a kid, but they have become more feral, a bit like some people lol.
After dinner, I bought a waffle with jam and cream and some raspberry sauce on top, lovely :-)
I really wanted to get the drone up for some photography around Bridlington but sadly it was way too windy, the sea was certainly choppy and as we were heading back to the car, the lifeboat crew had an emergency call so we had stood and watched the launch.
I really hope you have enjoyed this blog, hoping to head back to Bempton next month and hoping for a few more puffins so I can at least attempt to get a shot I want lol.
Anyhow thanks ever so much for reading.
All the best :-)
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Incredible shots! You captured those birds extremely well! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you ever so much, glad you enjoyed looking at them :-)
Gorgeous pics Darren! You were lucky with the weather... we went a couple of years ago and found the whole place covered in fog!
I think they start nesting in May, so if you go back in 3-4 weeks you may have better luck?
Thanks Dan, fingers crossed, I really want to get some decent puffin shots.
Hello @darrenflinders !
Very wonderful pictures you have shot. It is fun to look at them.
@missagora
Very nice and beautiful pictures. I saw the northern Gannets in Germany (Helgoland) some years ago.
Thank you ever so much, they are lovely birds and great to watch.
I need to come out on one of your trips bud. Some great shots here, could do with some pointers. What kit you using now?
Using a Sony a7iii mate, these shots were done using a Canon fit sigma 150-600 lens, I got an adaptor so I didn't have to replace all me lenses lol