Why our rock star puffins are standing on a cliff edge

Boudicca Fox-Leonard

9 JUNE 2019 • 7:00AM

At Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast, thousands of seabirds cloud the skies. Dave Aitken, a warden at the RSPB reserve, likens it to a snow globe that’s been shaken up. “The way they are packed in and float around. How do they do that without bashing into each other?”

Each spring, somewhere around 84,000 guillemots, 22,000 gannets, 40,000 kittiwakes and 27,000 razorbills come to lay their eggs in the rugged limestone cliffs that rise 400ft from the North Sea.

“This is probably one of the most special wildlife spectacles in all of Britain,” says Aitken. “From the scale of it to the sheer cacophony of the seabirds. When all the chicks are hatched and all the adults, we’ve probably got half...

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Jet ski riders may have hurt protected seabirds at RSPB Bempton Cliffs

Jet ski riders have been spotted driving into large flocks of protected seabirds resting on waters below the RSPB Bempton Cliffs nature reserve.

Some witnesses to the incident earlier this month were even concerned a few birds, currently in their breeding season, were injured by the impact.

It is not the first incident of its kind and according to Keith Clarkson, site manager at the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve jet skis should be banned from the waters below the cliffs during the breeding season.

“I was on the Yorkshire Belle last weekend and we were shocked to see the jet skiers just going straight through the flocks of birds without any attempt to avoid them whatsoever,” said Mr Clarkson.

He explained the sea below the cliffs where the birds nest is a critical part of their habitat as it is where they socialise, clean and even breed.

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Corrie aids recovery of baby puffin plucked from danger by canoeist

A LITTLE puffin had a lucky escape after being rescued from the North Sea by a passing canoeist.

Lucky Jim was found bobbing in the sea near Bempton Cliffs.

He was taken to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, where staff cared for him until he found a temporary new home, with Scarborough Wildlife Rescue Volunteer, Jim Ward.

Jim, 79, said: "He is very lucky to have survived.

"I have looked after and taken in a number of puffins over the years, but have never had one this young.

"It is a miracle he has survived."

Jim believes the puffin was just a fortnight old when he was found in the water.

He said: "He was just a little ball of fluff when I first saw him but now he is going through the various stages of growing up.

"He is losing his fluff now, but he won't get his orange and yellow beak until he is quite a bit older."

Lucky Jim was named after the volunteer, who will nurse him back to full health.

Jim is on hand to provide 24-hour support to the puffin, who he says enjoys nothing better than eating fish slivers and watching Coronation Street on an evening in his living room.

Keith Clarkson, site manager at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, said: "It's very unusual to find a young puffin this late in the year, but this is almost certainly due to the storms that occurred in the spring – something that, with climate change may become more frequent."

Read more: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Fluff-luck-Baby-bird-plucked-danger/story-19739360-detail/story.html#ixzz2dq7is8fY

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Shining a light on gannet numbers at RSPB Bempton Cliffs

Gannet numbers at RSPB Bempton Cliffs have soared in the last three years.

Research this summer has revealed that since 2009, there has been a remarkable rise of 40% in the number of birds breeding on the sheer chalk cliffs at the nature reserve between Bridlington and Filey, which is the UK’s largest mainland breeding gannet colony.

Previous surveys by RSPB staff and volunteers have shown a year-on-year growth since records began in 1969, when there were only 22 pairs at Bempton Cliffs. 

But this year’s figures reveal there are now 11,061 breeding pairs, a leap of 3,202 pairs since the last survey in 2009.

The researchers also counted 798 non-breeding birds, which, when they are old enough to find mates, will add to the numbers which turn the cliffs into an amazing wildlife spectacle throughout spring and summer.

Assistant Warden David Aitken, who led the boat-based survey that recorded the figures, is thrilled that these spectacular birds are going from strength to strength.

“Gannets and some other seabirds can fly huge distances – sometimes as far as 600km round trips – in their search for food,” he said.

“This is one of the reasons why vital offshore Marine Protected Areas are needed to safeguard not just seabirds but also other sealife and the important areas where they feed. 

Continued:  http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/326575-shining-a-light-on-gannet-numbers-at-rspb-bempton-cliffs