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Bempton Cliffs bird photography

I’ve been wanting to visit Bempton Cliffs for some time, the main draw being that it’s a mainland seabird breeding colony and therefore offers great opportunities from dawn to dusk without having to organise boat trips. This year my wife and I spent a week in East Yorkshire just down the road from Bempton, followed by a week at Minsmere (blogs to follow).

So what’s it like? Immediate impressions as you drive into the well organised parking areas are good and a new visitor centre adds to the facilites available. I’m not one for crowds though and one thing I will say is that bempton is VERY popular during “normal” hours. It’s great to see school parties learning about the birds too. The RSPB are doing a great job here and the staff were very welcoming and happy to help. For those who keep hours similar to me fear not – although the visitor centre is open during standard hours, gates at the sides are open when it’s not so that you may come and go as you wish and for me this means lots of (very) early starts at this time of the year.

The first thing that greets you once you pass through the centre to continue to the cliffs is a small area with feeders that was alive with Tree Sparrows. Down here in Sussex (as I understand is the case across the country), these birds are in serious decline and are rarely seen. We do see them at Dungeness but not in the way they are here. They are totally at ease with people as there is a constant stream passing them and are really photogenic. I got some strange looks ( I assume by non birders who don’t realise what they were) sat during the quieter times just snapping these lovely little birds. There were lots of young around and plenty to point a camera at….

Tree Sparrow portrait

Tree Sparrow portrait

Tree Sparrow with beak full of food

Tree Sparrow with beak full of food

The Sparrows were to be a constant feature of the week as they zipped about all over the site, hunting for insects and moths amongst the lovely swathes of Red Campion.

Tree Sparrow in Red Campion

Tree Sparrow in Red Campion

It was quite easy to just get hung up taking images of these but, I had all week so would come back to these virtually every trip.

A short walk down easyily accessible paths through wildflower meadows leads you to the cliffs themselves. You can choose to go either north or south (but it’s easy to cover the entire site in a couple of hours) and there are excellent viewing platforms that give great views along the cliffs. The majority of the gannets were to the south and the Staple Newk platform affords great views down onto the nesting birds. All along the top of the cliff you will get close sightings and there are quite a few spots that the birds gather nesting material and rest too. Other birds of course are Guillemots, Razorbill, Fulmar, Kittiwake and Puffins, although the latter are harder to see  – you will get views of them flying and sometimes close on the cliffs but it’s not like sitting on Skomer or the Farnes. The Gannets are the stars here in my opinion.

Bempton Cliffs seabird colony

Bempton Cliffs seabird colony

The cliffs are quite a sight. 400ft in places and smothered in seabirds. The sights and sounds hit you, followed by the smell! You soon get used to it though and it’s well worth it. It’s hard to put into words just what’s it’s like and even a photograph doesn’t do them justice. All along, every nook and cranny is in use.

Gannets at Staple Newk platform, Bempton

Gannets at Staple Newk platform, Bempton

Any photographers are going to be in their element, there is so much going on it’s almost confusing what to point the lens at. As is always the case with white or black and white birds, it can be difficult to get the exposure right so have a practice, check the histogram and make sure you are set to make the most of the opportunities. Personally I shoot everything on manual to keep control of this. I must have taken somewhere near 2000 images for the week. Sounds ridiculous but that’s what so good about the digital age – you can shoot away to your heart’s content to ensure you get the best possible shot. I have so many shots of gannets in fly-past mode but i’ll whittle them down and only keep the best. For example, birds flying past with weed for nesting I couldn’t help shooting at every time as often small details like the eye would be missing as it was hidden behind the weed. I wanted to make sure I caught it just right so took as many as I could. This might go against the “watch watch watch and only take shots of the best opportunities” but I didn’t want to get home to find I’d not get the shots I wanted. Also the weather wasn’t kind to us (You’d expect sun in June right??) for most of the time so I re-shot similar images in lower ISO when I could to get the best possible detail.

Gannet with seaweed for nesting

Gannet with seaweed for nesting

Gannet flypast

Gannet flypast – a very common view at bempton

I also wanted to try for interesting behaviourial shots (don’t we all!?). As I mentioned earlier, there are spots where the birds will gather nesting material that are within reach of a lens. I’m sure it’s just my imagination but the birds look so proud when they have something in their beaks. Perhaps it’s the body language but it just makes me smile!

Gannet collecting nesting material at Bempton Cliffs

Gannet collecting nesting material at Bempton Cliffs

It’s clear that nesting material is at a premium so any feathers that are lost or shed (or plucked by peregrines!) is treated like treasure and is quickly grabbed. All the birds were doing this and it adds a lovely touch to a photo. I am still a fan of a well taken, sharp and properly exposed image that shows off the detail of the bird but if you can get just that little something extra the image transforms and tells a much bigger story.

Kittiwake with feather for nesting at Bempton Cliffs

Kittiwake with feather for nesting at Bempton Cliffs

Finally for this blog entry I’ll leave you with a close up of a gannet. Some beautiful colours for a “big white seabird” (as I heard them called!)

Gannet portrait - Bempton Cliffs

Gannet portrait – Bempton Cliffs

Posted in Bempton Cliffs, Birds, Nikon D7200, Photography, Wildlife Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , |

A Tale of two Foxes

Regular readers of my blog will know that my suburban garden is as much a wildlife refuge as I can make it. Deep hedges, areas of long grass and weeds for cover and insects (well that’s what I tell the wife anyway), 2 ponds and birdfeeds spread around. I also put out food for my crepuscular and noctural visitors in the form of peanuts and odd scraps. I make no apology for this, it gives the animals a small boost to start the night and allows me to watch and share in their adventures and, if lucky, a few photographs to remember those moments.

Despite the ridiculous press that urban / suburban foxes sometimes receive (I’m not saying incidents don’t happen but put it in perspective against dog attacks and the mess some of the owners leave) I have always found the local foxes to be very wary indeed. In fact my visiting badgers were much happier to ignore me and carry on than the foxes were.

Last year that somewhat changed when, on rising for an early photo session start, I saw a trio of bouncy fox cubs rolling around the garden at 4.30 am. My original blog is HERE. At the end of the article you can see the proud mum and maybe notice that white spot just visible on her front left leg. From those 3 cubs I know that one certainly didn’t survive. This year I’ve found that one of the females definitely survived.

The mum is still a regular visitor and I grabbed a snap back on the 21st March. Again see the white spot on her leg.

Female fox that visits me most nights

Female fox that visits me most nights

This vixen visits every night and it was clear to see she had young somewhere as her teats were clearly visible –

Fox side portrait showing teats

Fox side portrait showing teats

I guess I’m a sucker for a chance at more photos of cubs and made sure she had something to take them every evening. Soon she was joined by one of last year’s females and again, it was VERY obvious that there are young to feed very close by –

Young red Fox vixen showing teats

Young Red Fox vixen showing teats

It’s been a pleasure watching these two in the evenings. They don’t often show up at the same time and I’m wondering if they were raising the same family. I’m trying to find out if the daughter could possibly come into milk to support a litter that her mother gave birth to. They both visit, collect food (sometimes stopping to eat themselves) and head off in the same direction each time. I have an inkling where they may be denned but as these are all mature gardens it’s difficult to know for sure. One thing that is clear, my immediate neighbour who has no time or care at all for wildlife has completely stripped his garden of all cover and the majority of the mature trees. Where I’m guessing the cubs played last year is now a no go area with no cover at all. I guess some people just want a tidy but lifeless garden. Shame.

The two girls have been busy back and forth each eveing and I’ve been fortunate to be able to try and get photos that normally would be out of the question. They are not bothered by the cameras at all and are happy for me to be rolling around on my conservatory floor while I attempt to get portraits or shots of them eating, drinking, scratching and..well…anything of interest….

Red Fox yawning

Red Fox yawning

 

Red Fox portrait closeup

Red Fox portrait closeup

The young vixen (one year old) even comes and has a look to see where her food is. I often find her sitting on the back doorstep or curled up around 10 feet away. I should point out that i do NOT and WILL NOT hand feed even though she probably could be encouraged. I want to give her an extra chance but I don’t want her to get into trouble by approaching other humans, especially those that believe foxes are somehow a threat to them. When I touch the door handle she will back off to a sensible distance….

Red Fox vixen watching me through the door

Red Fox vixen watching me through the door

So despite seeing last year’s cubs on April 28th, as I write this I have yet to see hide nor hair of this years young. I have a sneaky suspicion they are still around as food is still being taken in the right direction but both vixens are not showing much in the way of milk so I’m guessing they are weaned (at around 6 weeks old). However, not all has been happy in the fox camp. Both vixens suddenly developed limps as did a dog fox that I occasionally see. Very weird. My suspicious mind was wondering if some of my less wildlife friendly neighbours has caused this but I honestly can’t tell. I’m now thinking that maybe they have had a falling out with the badgers as the older vixen disappeared for a week to 10 days and when she re-appeared she had clearly been in a serious fight. She has lost her good looks with a serious injury above her left eye which is affecting her jaw also. She is lucky to have not lost the eye. I’m not going to post any images of this as it looks quite distressing. The good news is that she is otherwise fit and healthy, still has vision in both eyes and is capable of feeding herself and her offspring.

At the same time, the younger vixen (who we refer to as “daughter”) is not recovering. She has a really sore front paw which, when I took some photographs of it, I can see is infected. I’ll be off to the vets this week to see If I can get anything for her as it’s now been weeks with this issue.

For now I’ll leave you with a couple of images of them at their best. Fingers crossed that the cubs will be coming to our little refuge sometime soon.

Red Fox vixen sniffing the spring evening air

Red Fox vixen sniffing the spring evening air

Something tasty this way comes

Something tasty this way comes

Portrait of the older vixen showing her good looks

Portrait of the older vixen showing her good looks

 

Hope you enjoyed the images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Fox, Mammals, Nikon D7200, Photography, Wildlife Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |