A Photographic Bucket List
I have always wanted to witness and photograph the gannet colony up at the RSPB Bempton Cliffs and this summer I was able to do just that.
We arrived at the RSPB centre, parked up and set off on a short walk to the top of the cliffs. It was dirzzly, wet and cold. Before reaching the coastal footpath we saw a few gannety flying past and how beautiful did they look, their white feathers somehow luminious aganst the dark skies. By the time we got to the edge of the cliffs we were treated to the spectacle we'd come to see... thousands of gannets (many on their second brood).
When not fliying,the gannets were widely circling the cliff edges, often hovering. Many sat on the cliff edges - colonies preening and preening each other, feeding chicks and some were even mating. The male gannets often carried in plants in their beaks to give their nesting mates..
It really was a sight to see!
Some Gannet Facts
It was easy to spot the gannets - they have distinctive black and blue pointed beaks and beautifully white feathered bodies with a tinge of warm yellow on their heads at the end of their long necks. They have black legs, topped with a stylish thin line of white. As adults their wingspans cam reach a lengthy 100cm and they can weigh up to3.600g, eating a diet of the fish they so expertly catch.
Gannet Photography
It was challenging on our first afternoon as the weather was dark and rainy, but this made for more interesting photography as the whites of the gannets appeared luminous against the dark skies.
The second morning back was bright sunlight against clear blue skies and windy. This made for more conventional images - though I loved the way the wind blew the bird's feathers about. The gannets also hovered more, I imaging working out how best to land.
Challenges
Gannets fly fairly fast, though nothing as fast as flying pufffins!. They can also be a bit unpredictable in flight, making it hard to guess where they might be coming from or going. Once locked on to a bird, by the time I managed to click the shutter, the bird had turned and was flying away from me, so I only got a shot of it from behind. I have lots of perfrectly focussed bum shots!
The first afternoon the light was dimpsy and although it was only drizzling, it was the kind of drizzle that can soak you without you noticing. It was tricky trying to keep our cameras and lenses dry.
There was also the fact that the path and lookout decks are above where the gannets stay, forcing you to shoot from above. I had to find areas of path that allowed me to get my lens a bit lower. Of course when the gannets fly past, they are pretty much near eye level, or just above, and often fairly close - which is a wonderful thing to experience - you can almost feel them whooosh past.
Photography Equipment Used
My trusty Canon EOS R5
Canon 100 - 500mm lens
About RSPB Bempton Cliffs
Set on the top of the spectacular Yorkshire coast each year during April and July about half a millon seabirds fly inland to nest and rais their families on the chalky cliffs overlooking the North Sea. During this time there are gannets, kittiwakes, guillemots and puffins living on the cliffs edge. In spring corn bunntings, linnets and skylarks visit to breed in the scrubby grassland on the top of the cliffs while barn owls and kestrels hunt, occasionally accompanied by short-eard owls.
Our two days were at the beginning of August, so saw gannets and kittiwakes as the other birds had already left.
The area is part of the Flamborough headland and to vvisit go to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Cliff Lane, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO15 1JF
See more
View the gallery of all my gannet photography
See my photos of the short beaked common dolphins taken on the Devon Sea Safari
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