A swift suprise at Bempton

Myself, Phil Owen and Henerz 'swiftly' decided on a decision to twitch an Alpine Swift that had been showing relatively well at Bempton Cliffs on the East Coast of Yorkshire. Only 15% of Alpine Swifts stay more than one day and can be effectively 'twitched' so making the decision to just 'go' assuming it roosted the night before was a major risk.

 

 

We arrived with clear blue skies at 6am, without another birder in sight. This wasn't good news as it looked like we were going to have to do all the hard work and find this by ourselves bearing in mind this was a swift... constantly on the wing! We could only go on from what we had heard on the previous day. It was favouring the highest cliffs which were well over a mile North of the visitor centre. Having had a lot of rain in the night, the place was saturated and waterlogged. We had to wade through grass at knee height. Within a few hundred metres, we were already soaked and my mood was starting to darken very quickly!

 

 

It got worse and worse by sliding and slipping in the mud and a cold perishing wind did not help things (considering I was dressed for July - it felt like 9 degrees!) We put in a good two hours without a sighting of this bird and myself and Phil decided to split up and head back.

 

 

I got so far and in a huff sat down on one of the seats. Phil spotted a couple of Swifts cutting through the air, but one of them was just that little bit different. It was larger, browner, with a unmistakeable white belly! ALPINE!!! We both shouted and nearly made a nearby photographer drop his camera in fright! As quick as we'd seen it, it had gone, obviously making its way up to the highest point. After a quick phone call, Henerz, was able to get brilliant views of it. We eventually joined him to see this fabulous bird again. It seemed to be carrying out a circuit of the headland.

Alpine Swift

We also acquired super views of breeding Gannets, Razorbills, Guillemots, Puffins, Kittiwakes and Fulmars.

The Gannets showed superbly

Razorbill

Puffin

This was also one of the best places in Yorkshire to see Corn Bunting where we saw a few sat singing on fence posts.

Singing Corn Bunting

Yellow Wagtail was also seen as were a good, healthy population of Tree Sparrows

Tree Sparrows

 Moving on from Bempton Cliffs, we stopped off at Wykeham forest Raptor point which in the past has produced reliable for Honey Buzzard. The weather conditions were slightly on the windy side which was probably holding the majority of birds down. With it being such a vast range to scan, we felt a little on our own despite there being a more people 'viewing'. Sadly, on this ocassion they were sleeping...

Come on woman, there's a bloody Honey Buzzard to look for!!

Dispite not seeing the Honey Buzzard, a flock of 30+ Crossbills were a good sight. A Tree Pipit gave good views from a nearby tree and a couple of Willow Warblers and Goldcrests were heard singing.