Gannets at Bempton Cliffs 11th June 2025

Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire is the site of the only mainland Gannet colony in England and is rightly renowned as one of the RSPB's premier reserves, being immensely popular with birders, photographers and the general public alike as it offers, from March to September, the spectacle of a wealth of breeding seabirds in a beautiful, one could say awesome setting of huge cliffs which reach 330 feet above the North Sea at their highest and stretch for six miles although the reserve itself is much smaller in extent.

Approximately half a million seabirds come to the cliffs to breed, the largest in size being the Northern Gannets of which there were almost 12,500 pairs in 2015 but maybe less now due to the avian flu epidemic of two years ago. Given the right conditions with onshore winds the Gannets can come very close to the RSPB's specially constructed clifftop viewpoints which allow unforgettable views. One can stand for hours just watching the continuous activity of the Gannets circling around and coming close in to inspect the cliffs and it can seem that they are also inspecting the many human visitors standing on the viewpoints gawping at their majestic presence just metres away.

Gannets are impressive birds, bulky with an almost six foot wing span and infinitely graceful as they fly with supreme mastery on the wind. although they struggle to retain that quality when on land. Today many were coming to the cliff to tear at the thick clifftop  grass which they carry away to construct their nests on ledges on the cliff face.

The physical activity is not the only thing that is constant as the birds keep up a continuous pulsing growling sound that is almost soothing and which probably relates to its rhythmic quality.

The always popular viewpoints can get very crowded even in mid week and at times it is impossible to get a position in which to be able to photo the seabirds especially the Gannets but with patience a space will eventually become available on the railing and you dive in to secure it.

Staple Newk Viewpoint probably the best of the several viewpoints from which to observe the Gannets

Below are some images of the Gannets that I managed to take from Staple Newk Viewpoint last Wednesday.

Some of the Gannets checking out the clifftop and their fellow Gannets stood
in the grass below and maybe also checking out us, stood on the viewpoint
watching and admiring them

An unusual pairing of what appeared to be an adult male bird (right) with an immature female. I kept an eye on them for the hour I spent on the viewpoint and they never separated and looked to have formed a pair bond although they would not breed for at least another three years.Perhaps they were just rehearsing for the real thing in the years to come?

Two Gannets demonstrating their innate flying skills in the wind

This was the sight that greeted you when you stood on the viewpoint. Gannets were coming to collect nest material from the clifftop almost next to us.Many other Gannets flew past inspecting the birds settled in the  grass some of which, although appearing to be adults were only four years old or less
and unlikely to breed this year

It is unusual for Gannets to return to their colony until they are at least four years old but every year there are exceptions and a very small proportion of young birds will appear.This bird is in its second calendar year and less than a year old, moulting from its brown juvenile plumage into the all white plumage of an adult which takes five years to achieve

An adult Gannet collecting nest material from the cliff just left of the viewpoint.They
forcefully tear at the vegetation with their formidable bills until they feel they have
enough material and then launch themselves from the cliff and fly off to their nest site

Lizard Orchids in Oxfordshire 6th June 2025

One of the most impressive and largest of our native orchids is the Lizard Orchid which can grow up to a metre in height.They are only found in southeast England and in my home county of Oxfordshire, which must be approaching its northerly limit, I know of only two locations where it grows, one of which I visited today.

It is for me an annual and much anticipated  pilgrimage to a scruffy and unremarkable verge, literally feet from a well used road, where two plants have faithfully appeared each year to the delight of us orchidophiles. They are now protected by two stout wooden posts, one either side of them to prevent any inadvertant mowing by the council. Their chosen location is typical of this sun loving orchid which grows widely on roadsides in Europe as well as on chalk grassland, sand dunes, old quarries and in England seems also to have a predilection for golf courses

There are two plants growing close together and on my visit today they were leaning in the  stiff breeze and almost in full flower. I always worry about their apparent vulnerability but hiding in plain sight seems to be their salvation and they go un-noticed, the road having virtually no foot traffic apart from visits from orchid enthusiasts..

The name comes from the fact the individual flowers, of which there can be up to eighty in each untidy looking spike, can with a bit of imagination resemble a lizard. As the flower bud opens, the lip uncurls like a watch spring and twists as it does so.

The petals and upper sepals form a grey green hood, the supposed head of the lizard, while the two outer lobes of the purplish brown lip look like hind legs and the much longer central lobe a twisted tail.

An individual flower showing the head, legs and  twisted
central lobe resembling the tail of a lizard

The flower itself is pale and greenish with pink spots and stripes, the obvious long, ribbon like tail tinged green and purple.The flowers smell strongly of goats and the foul scent attracts many insects but due to the structure of the flower only bees of a moderate size can act as pollinators. 

Always rare and scarce in Britain, they were considered extinct in 1900 but were rediscovered in 1920 in Kent, subsequently expanding their range as far north as Yorkshire but retreating again after 1930. Another range expansion commenced in 1990, reaching west to Somerset and Gloucestershire, east to Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and north to Linconshire. Now the main populations of this orchid in Britain are found on golf courses and amongst sand dunes at Sandwich Bay, both in Kent and where they can be found in their hundreds if not thousands.There is also another large colony on Newmarket Racecourse in Cambridgeshire.

I duly took my photos and enjoyed some time with these spectacular orchids, crouching beside them, entirely alone apart from fast moving cars which due to the close proximity of the orchids to the roadside had to be carefully watched for. 

Despite their height they can be surprisingly
inconspicuous amongst tall grasses and other
vegetation

Standing up I looked across the road and to my immense pleasure there was another Lizard Orchid, almost overwhelmed amongst the thankfully unmown vergeside flora, and again growing right at the edge of the road.This specimen  was less advanced and not as tall as the two on the opposite side of the road and its flowers were only now beginning to open from the base upwards.

It is always a thrill to make such an unexpected and welcome discovery and much enthused I walked quite a distance along both sides of the road looking to see if I could find any more orchids.

I didn't, so the orchid's reputation for being rare and scarce remained intact, especially here in Oxfordshire

Sanderlings in Spring at Farmoor

Sanderlings are my favourite wader species especially when they appear in their full summer plumage of spangled black and chestnut upperparts and orange faces. They are also often very confiding, running on black twinkling legs along the water's edge of the reservoir or stopping to look at you quizzically and dare I say it can only be described as endearing.

The opportunity to see them in breeding plumage at my local Farmoor Reservoir is limited to just a few weeks at the end of May and beginning of June .This year has been a good one for Sanderling passage with a steady stream of birds passing through and spending a day by  the causeway before heading north.

Here below are some images of Sanderlings, all taken at Farmoor Reservoir. Note the variety of plumage with some heavily coloured and strongly marked whilst others are at the other extreme, more white and grey than chestnut with minimal strong markings. Others come in all colour grades between and not one bird is the same as another.

A pale Sanderling with little chestnut colouring or strong patterning and possibly less than a year old

An exceptionally strongly coloured and patterned Sanderling that is probably at least two years old

A group of Sanderlings and one Dunlin showing the variations in the Sanderlings plumage 

By photographing birds on an almost daily basis and comparing the plumage of each individual it is apparent that birds are passing through daily and rarely remain for longer than a day.

Sanderlings breed right across the Arctic from Canada to Siberia but European birds mainly breed in Greenland and Siberia and winter on the coasts of southern Europe and Africa, sometimes as far as South Africa.

Confirmation of Greenland being the ultimate destination for some came a few years ago in May 2021 when a Sanderling with coloured rings on its legs spent a day beside the causeway.

The colours and combination of the rings enabled it to be identified as having been ringed as a chick in Greenland in July 2020. The fact it arrived at Farmoor would make sense as it would be crossing middle England and heading northwest perhaps towards Iceland where it might stop before flying to northeast Greenland, its place of birth. It would be equally fascinating to know where it had come from - the southern or eastern coast of England or maybe much further south?

Sanderlings live on average for seven years although there is a record of one almost eighteen years old. For a bird that undertakes a round trip migration of from 6000- 20,000 miles annually this is remarkable considering all the dangers and hazards it faces.

I  have always wondered why there is such individual variation in the plumage of the Sanderlings that stop off at the reservoir on their northward migration. One suggestion is that birds commencing their moult to summer plumage as they leave their winter homes arrest that moult while they migrate before completing the transition to full breeding plumage.on their breeding areas

Another theory is that as they do not breed until two years old, the paler birds that arrive at the reservoir each Spring are only in their second calendar year i.e. less than a year old and therefore unlikely to breed and consequently less likely to adopt full breeding colours until the year after. This would agree with my suspicion that the more colourful the plumage is, the older the individual. .

I should say I am happy to be corrected on the above if anyone has an alternative suggestion.

Another Hour with the Peregrines 29th May 2025

Fairly near to where I live in northwest Oxfordshire a pair of Peregrines choose to nest on a medieaval church in the heart of a rural village. I went to see them a month ago see here  and at the time the female was sitting on eggs or at least I assumed so, presuming she was invisible on her rudimentary nest at the top of the church. The male however sat on guard lower down on the church and was very obvious

Today. one of not dissimilar sultry heat to my last visit I returned to see how they were getting on. Standing at the edge of the churchyard, with the pepper spice scent of a nearby stand of purple lupins in the air I soon saw the female perched on a buttress, high up on the church tower.

Of the male there was no sign but after fifteen mimutes he flew in calling and carrying an unidentified prey which presumably meant they now had young to feed.

The female, larger than the male continued on her perch while he flew around calling.There was a builder working on a lower part of the church roof but this did not appear to disturb the female who remained contentedly on her perch although taking a keen interest on all that went on about her.. 

Occasional bouts of calling between the two would emanate from on high as the male returned to the church on several occasions but would only circle, then depart calling loudly and still carrying its prey and I grew concerned that the builder was causing him to stop landing to feed the young. 

Peregrines are classed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act and it is an offence to disturb them when they are nesting but thankfully any quandary about saying anything to the builder was resolved when he finished whatever he was doing and departed.

It is not often one can have the privilege of getting so close to these charismatic birds and as I.walked around the church, at the base of the walls were many pigeon feathers which suggested that the falcons have a ready supply of food to feed their young. Woodpigeons and their feral cousins being their favourite prey.

Peregrines pair for life and can commence breeding once they are two years old.They do not make a nest as such but the female lays from two to four eggs in a rudimentary bowl scraped in shingle and debris on the flat surface of a church tower or ledge.

I have no idea how many young they have this year for, as I previously mentioned it is illegal to disturb the nest even if it were possible to get access to it but I plan to return in a couple of weeks to see if the young have fledged and hopefully I will be able to see how many young this pair have produced.

The young fledge between 38-44 days after hatching and their first flight is critical. Peregrines fledging on a church such as here are at risk of falling to the ground and if they do there are no perches on the church walls to aid them regaining the nest site. Their maiden flight usually extends about 70 metres from the nest site before they circle to return but inexperience means they can lose height and end up on the ground or in this case at the base of the church walls making them vulnerable to predators such as foxes and cats

It will be two to three months before the young become independent of their parents but even if they reach this stage between 70-80% of all young Peregrines are known to die in their first year of life while the fortunate minority that do survive their first year can live for up to fifteen years.

I will finish with an excerpt from J A Baker's The Peregrine, an absolute classic of nature writing and sadly long out of print. Baker was a retired librarian and for ten years obsessively studied wintering peregrines in the Essex estuaries near his home.An environment and existence about as far removed as possible from the cosy church and village environment where 'my' pair of peregrines have made their home. But nevertheless they are one and the same.

'Rain began, and the peregrine returned to the brook.He flew from an elm near the bridge, and I lost him at once in the hiss and shine of rain and the wet shuddering of the wind He looked thin and keen and very wild.When the rain stopped the wind roared into frenzy.It was hard to stand still in the open and I kept in the lee of the trees. At half past two the peregrine swung up into the eastern sky.He climbed vertically upward, like a salmon leaping into the great waves of air that broke against the cliff of South Wood. He dived to the trough of a wave, then rose steeply within it, flinging himself high in the air, on outstreched wings exultant.At five hundred feet he hung still, tail closed, wings curving far back with their tips almost touching the tip of his tail. He was stooping horizontally forward at the speed of the oncoming wind.He rocked and swayed and shuddered, close hauled in a roaring sea of air, his furled wings whipping and plying like wet canvas'