Black-browed Albatross, RSPB Bempton Cliffs

Black-browed Albatross, RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire

I've never been a twitcher, the few times I have indulged in the "sport" of twitching in the past have been stressful and have usually resulted in big fat dippy dips for my troubles. I'm also not a birder birder nor a sociable birder and twitches make me feel very uncomfortable, I generally find the whole experience unpleasant and so I now rarely twitch, preferring to poodle around enjoying birds in my own way and generally keeping to Devon and Cornwall. 

The last "twitch" I did was to Exmouth to look for the Northern Mockingbird, only around 60 miles away from Plymouth and true to form another dip. It wasn't a proper twitch though, the bird had been present at an undisclosed site in Exmouth for months but COVID lockdown meant no opportunity to go and see it although I know of a few naughty birders who did. With lockdown easing the exact site details for the bird were released (although many unofficially knew where it was) and the hordes descended but I kept away for a couple of weeks until the fuss died down only for the bird to depart to Sussex the night before I travelled to Exmouth on the train to see it. 

A trip to Tenby last year to see the residing Walrus wasn't really a proper twitch but at least it proved successful and while not really twitches the trips to Cumbria in June and August last year for butterflies were equally productive. I also managed to see the White-tailed Lapwing at Blacktoft in October last year but it wasn't a twitch as we were already visiting nearby York on a prearranged holiday.

However there was one bird present over the summer last year at RSPB Bempton Cliffs that really piqued my interest, a Black-browed Albatross, and I watched the bird sighting news and admired the hundreds of photos of it on social media channels with much envy. I had planned to visit Bempton during our trip to York but we didn't travel up to Yorkshire until the 27th September and the Albatross finally departed on its oceanic wanderings on the 25th September which is why I saw the White-tailed Lapwing instead, a very nice bonus bird but not the one I had really hoped to see.

Amazingly the Albatross returned to Bempton in March of this year and has been showing very well, social media channels are again full of images of it and again I am more than a little envious. Fortunately I had 5 days off in a row from work (10th to 14th April) and so I made plans for us to travel up to Bempton to see the bird and I kept my fingers crossed that it would still be present.

Our original plan was to stay in Bridlington, a 10 minute train ride from Bempton, but it looked a bit of a shabby place and so we ended up staying in Hull instead, an hours train journey away. The journey up to Hull by train on Sunday 10th April was very enjoyable and along the way I saw the usual Red Kites, Stock Doves and Roe Deer along with a pair of Goosanders on the River Exe north of Exeter.

I had an early start on Monday 11th April, catching the 06:39 train from Hull to Bempton, and I alighted at Bempton on time at 07:37 having seen 4 Grey Partridge, Roe Deer and numerous Hares along the journey. A brisk walk of around a mile and a half saw me arriving at the clifftops of RSPB Bempton Cliffs at about 08:10 with a few stops made along the way to admire Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammers in the hedgerows. 

Tree Sparrow, Bempton

News on Birdguides stated that the Albatross was currently present on the cliffs and so I walked along the cliffpath to the Staple Newk viewing platform where a group of birders were silently pointing telescopes and cameras down the cliffs. I has a quick peek over their shoulders and there it was, around 20 metres away, sat on the cliff face in full view amongst the Gannets and sticking out like a sore thumb.

And there it sat for the next 3 hours, occassionally standing up to change position or to stretch its wings but mostly sitting there preening, sleeping or getting into a fracas with the nearby Gannets! 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Staple Newk Viewing Platform

Staple Newk Viewing Platform 

Staple Newk Viewing Platform 

Gannet, Staple Newk

Gannet, Staple Newk  - almost luminous green legs and toes

Legs and Toes close up

Gannet, Staple Newk  - collecting nest material

Gannet, Staple Newk

Despite the sunny skies I did get quiet chilled by the strong and cold wind blowing across such an exposed position and so as more and more visitors arrived to view the bird I headed off along the cliffpath for a walk to try and warm myself up. Getting out of the wind made all the difference and I was soon feeling much more comfortable and so I headed back to the viewing platform just as the Albatross flew off out to sea. I managed to refind it sat out on the water having a bathe before it flew back to the cliffs where it flew around for a short while giving an amazing aerial performance before settling on a different spot on the cliff face.

Puffin

Puffin

Staple Newk Viewing Platform from the south

Black-browed Albatross and Razorbill

Black-browed Albatross and Razorbills

David duly arrived and he managed to get some good views of the bird before it undertook another fly around but this time when it resettled on the cliff face it was out of view and so it was time to call it day and head back to the visitors centre for some lunch (and I had been watching it for over 5 hours!).

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross and Herring Gull

Black-browed Albatross and Herring Gull

While eating lunch at least 6 Tree Sparrows entertained us as they "chupped" away in the bushes or on the roof of the cafe. After finishing our sandwiches we had a walk northwards along the cliff path, admiring the views from the cliffs and the swirling, noisy, smelly mass of seabirds present - Gannet, Puffin, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot and Razorbill.

Tree Sparrow, Bempton Visitor Centre

Bempton Cliffs

Kittiwake, Razorbill and Guillemot

Guillemots

Razorbill

Razorbills

I also managed to see my first Swallow and Sand Martin of the year overhead along with a flyby Peregrine and offshore I found a lone Grey Seal and a distant pod of at least 6 Bottle-nosed Dolphin moving north before it was time to walk back to Bempton for the train journey back to Hull.

The next day was spent sightseeing around Hull and we headed back to Plymouth the day after that on Wednesday 13th April, the train journey again being very pleasant with more views of Red Kites and a surprise sighting of a Marsh Harrier (along the River Humber).

It had been a great trip away, much needed in these weird times of war and Covid and economic stress, and I didn't dip. The Black-browed Albatross was an amazing bird to see and observe but do I want to go on a twitch again anytime soon? Probably not.