Tag: Bird

Bempton Blast

It was two thirty am this particular Monday morning and I thought to myself “ah just another thirty minutes and I’ll get up“. Unfortunately it was five thirty am I actually got up and I hate being late as I knew I had a good three hour journey ahead of me.

The thing is I prefer to get to where I’m going early like six am. Still getting on site at nine thirty ain’t all that bad, and I knew that Bempton Cliffs is not the biggest RSPB Reserve but it’s by far the most spectacular.

I got myself a coffee from the shop on site and joined a fellow Birder outside who I found out is one of the regulars there, within five mins a flock of six whimbrel was making its way over us all thanks to the volunteer sat next to me.

Within a few minutes of arriving I had my first of many lifers in the form of a tree sparrow. Here in the Midlands they are pretty scarce but here they are everywhere .

Not the best capture of a tree sparrow @ Bempton Cliffs

Onwards towards the Cliffs is the sound of many thousands of seabirds ringing in my ears. What a cacophony and that smell. Some people would say it’s an assault on the senses but I just think there are philistines.

I’m greeted with more new lifers (as a side note I’ve been a birder for some thirty seven years since the age of eleven but unfortunately I no longer have my lists back then so have started my new life list beginning of Jam 23) like Gannet, Guillimot, Fulmar, Razorbill and of course Puffin.

My first view of the Cliffs @ Bempton
Not the best image but this was my first view of a Puffin @ Bempton

The first of the lifers was this Puffin. It’s not the best shot I know but I’m still finding my feet camera wise. I’m sure I could have done better.

My first ever Gannets @ Bempton

Some many thousands of Gannets frequent Bempton Cliffs and if you view closely enough there are some with Blue spray paint patches on the back of heads. These are reseach birds.

Not a lifer this time but some lovely views of Kittiwake @ Bempton
By far my Favourite Lifer of the day was this very smart Razorbill.

By far my Favourite bird (Lifer) had to be this very smart looking Razorbill which also had a young bird with it. I had a total of 45 species for the day and you can view my complete #BirdTrack list HERE.

All in all a good morning / afternoon blast to Bempton Cliffs which was thoroughly enjoyable. I will be back.

Getting Serious

5.45am @ Belvide Reserve the start of a 14+ Hour birding session. Not my WMBC hoodie.

I must admit that I have seriously neglected this blog of mine for some time now and now that I have installed the jetpack app on my phone I now have no excuse to post regular on here.

I’ve come to realise that most people consume content and blog posts on mobile now so writing these posts on an app makes sense to me.

I cannot remember when exactly but I think I first started Birding aged 11 onwards way back in the 1980s and back then my local patch was Plants Brook Nature Reserve. Weirdly I now live less than a mile away from that place. For Christmas my parents got me this book…

As well as a pair of Bins to gain skills as a Birder.

Fast forward some thirty six years later to January 2023 and I pass my driving test. Yes it took me thirty years to pass but it had to be done as I’m also a full-time carer for my beautiful wife Louise.

One of the first things I did after passing was to join the West Midlands Bird Club. I then went to Amazon and spent less than a hundred quid on some bins, a cheap scope and a tripod.

As 2023 progressed I noticed that I was getting more and more obsessed with my new found hobby, any spare time I’d jump in the car and goto my local patch of Ladywalk NR. I also started using the BirdTrack app but not very seriously as shown in the below screenshot…

As the year progressed I became a regular at Ladywalk, Belvide and RSPBMiddleton Lakes. Things are getting serious for me now and I start using the BirdTrack app properly with complete lists.

A third of the way into 2024 and I consider myself a more than proficient and regular Birder. As you can see from  this screenshot I have already surpassed my 2023 figures…

My only real regret apart from not passing my driving test thirty years ago is that I no longer have my notebooks from when I was a young whippersnapper of a Birder in the 1980s as I could have added those historical lists, dates, places, times and of course species into BirdTrack.

Incidentally I remember the first time I ever went to Ladywalk on my BMX mountain bike aged 13 back in 1989 and seeing the huge hams hall power station. My overwhelming memory of that day was seeing all of the huge quantities of wading birds and my first ever Ruddy Duck. How times have changed.

Ladywalk back in the 1980s

Still at least I now have some time to continue my Birding passion when time dictates as my first priority is obviously my gorgeous wife Louise.

You can see from these screenshots below the difference between my Birding years of 2023 and this year…

2023 in blue, you will notice the small bars till July of that year and my current records so far this year in Orange.

I have a goal to hit 200 species this year and I think I’m well on my way. If this does not happen then so be it.

My life list so far.

Well that’s it people for now. What can you expect from my blog over time is hopefully some decent images and musings of my Birding adventures over the coming months and years.

Thank you for indulging me friends and feel free to share this across your social media channels. You can also find my on these channels by searching @BrummyBirder

Cheerio for now.

Phillip