Weekend June 2017 – Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

We travelled to Yorkshire and stayed at Hunmanby for two nights on 23 and 24 June 2017. We had gone particularly to see the seabirds on the cliffs at Bempton and to photograph them on the nest. We have been several times before but generally either in May or later on in August. This time we chose late June especially so that we would find the baby gannets still on the rock face but fledging and also whilst the Puffins were still in sit around their burrows on the upper parts of the cliffs. They are the first of the varied species to leave the cliffs and go back to sea in July and generally when we have been before in August they have already left.
After Bempton - we drove into the forest on the Southern edge of the North Yorkshire moors to investigate the raptor view point that has been developed there. Even with a full postcode and a sat nav – this isn’t easy to find. However, it is worth persevering and the walk from the little car park to a view point overlooking a very quiet dale and forest is very pleasant in itself.

 We talked with two well equipped birdwatchers who independent of each other confirmed a sighting of a Honey Buzzard about an hour before we arrived. Whilst there another birdwatcher caught view of a Goshawk but just for a second or two and with such a large panorama we failed to pick this bird up before it disappeared from view. We will go back but armed next time with a telescope as well as our binoculars. What is not to like in spending a quiet hour in a beautiful and remote area with wonderful views despite not seeing anything special!
The next day we drove home via the little and attractive market town of Louth in Lincolnshire.Our goal this time was to photograph the Peregrine falcons which have nested on the beautiful and large parish church there.

 We hoped – once again – that in late June the young would be almost fully grown but not yet flying making photography perhaps easier. This time our plan paid off and I took some nice shots of both parent birds and their young.