Bird and wildlife walk from Thornwick Bay to Bempton Cliffs on 9th May 2025

When I set off from Thornwick Bay holiday park there was a Swallow sitting on the roof of one of the buildings near the visitor centre.  It did not stay there long!

I walked up onto the cliffs and was surprised when a Weasel or Stoat (not sure which) popped up out of the long grass.  Once again, it did not stay there long!!

Guillemots and a couple of Razorbills were perching on the side of the cliff

This photographer was doing something that I would not dream of doing!

Jackdaw admiring a group of Pink Campion flowers

Northern Gannet at the side of the cliff

Male Reed Bunting at the top of a twig at the edge of the nature walk at Bempton Cliffs

Sedge Warbler in a thicket

Warbler at the top of a tree in the Dell

Gannet with black iris - presumed to show that it has survived bird flu

Razorbill enjoying a rest at the edge of the cliff

Puffin on the rocky cliff face

Distant Corn Bunting on concrete wall

Barn Owl flying over the fields at Bempton Cliffs

Jackdaw having a rest on a bench outside the visitor centre

Gannet picking a flower for its partner

Time for the Gannets to move on

Gannet with something to talk about!

Young Gannet just arriving on the cliffs

Gannets in love

Gannets having an argument!

Meadow Pipit on a concrete post at the edge of a path leading back to the holiday park

View past the holiday park of the two lighthouses in the distance at Flamborough Head 

Linnet on a gorse bush in the early evening sunshine

Goldfinch at the top of the hedge

Birds, including rare Red-backed Shrike, at Thornwick Bay - 22nd and 23rd May 2024

There was very heavy rain in the morning on 22nd May and I stayed in the mobile home until after lunch.  When the rain stopped I went for a walk in the area near Thornwick Bay.

Goldfinch on top of pine shrub in Thornwick Bay Holiday Park

Male Blackbird gathering food for his young

The morning's heavy rain had brought a rare visitor to Thornwick Bay - a male Red-backed Shrike

Buck Roe deer in a field on the cliffs at North Landing

Male Stonechat perching on gorse at North Landing

Barn Owl flying above a field in North Landing

The next day I went for another walk in the Thornwick Bay area in order to see more wildlife

Common Whitethroat singing on a bush near the back of the holiday park

Two large Cayuga ducks were sitting at the edge of the lake

Statue of a deer at the edge of the lake

The Mute Swans that I had seen on a nest earlier in the week now had two young cygnets

Pied Wagtail standing on a pedalo in the boating lake

Male Yellowhammer on a twiggy tree near the boating lake

Thornwick Bay Holiday Park boating lake

Female Roe deer munching on Meadow Buttercups in a field near the boating lake

Another view of the proud Mute Swan parents with their two baby cygnets

A pair of Red-backed Shrikes were hiding in shrubbery at the edge of the holiday park.  I believe that this is the female.  They were really difficult to see.

By now, Shrike news had spread and the paparazzi had turned up at Thornwick Bay!

Greenfinch perching on a thin twig

Thornwick Bay and beach

Pretty pink Cow Parsley flower on the cliff

Dark sheep with light-coloured lamb in a cliff-top field

Linnet perching on barbed wire near the edge of the cliff

This poppet - my very last Yorkshire Puffin - had a beak full of Sand Eels!!