Bempton Cliffs, on the spectacular Yorkshire coast, is home to one of the UK’s top wildlife spectacles and one of RFNS’s favourite reserves. Around half a million seabirds gather here between March and August to raise a family on the towering chalk cliffs that overlook the North Sea.
Here 
Puffins, Fulmars, Razorbills, Gannets, Kittiwakes and Guillemots live life on the edge. There are more Gannets diving into the deep here than anywhere else on mainland England.
But it’s not all about the cliffs. In spring and summer Buntings, Skylarks and Linnets breed in the grassland and scrub where land meets the sea, while Kestrel and Barn Owls hunt under wide open skies, often joined in winter by Short-eared Owls.
On our reccy on 27th June, all the above seabirds were in action. The Puffins were mostly rafting out on the sea, possibly getting ready to depart with their chicks in the next two to three weeks but hopefully there will be some stragglers for us to still see on our trip. The Gannets, Guillemots, Fulmars and Razorbills were all in full attendance, the air was alive with their cries and the cliff ledges packed full of them with their chicks.
There are six main viewing platforms spread over the RSPB’s cliff top trail, which is spread over about 2 miles of track. The more adventurous can follow the clifftop trail outside of the RSPB section, although you must be very careful as there are no cliff top edge fences around here, but some nice mounds on which to sit to eat lunch.
The trail goes alongside large sections of meadow, and we were lucky enough to see Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Reed buntings, Tree sparrows, nesting Swallows, a Peregrine falcon and a couple of Brown hares. The little pond was full of dragonflies and damselflies laying eggs and there are supposed to be Great crested Newts in it,but we didn’t see any on our visit.
On the day that we did the reccy the place was very busy(due in part to publicity from a recent episode of Spring Watch) but they had plenty of staff and volunteers around to help with any queries.
The Café was busy from opening to closing but was well staffed with 4 people. The Café had fresh cakes, with hot and cold drinks and some sandwiches available from fridges. The Ladies Loos had a bit of a queue.
There isn’t much seating once you get beyond the café area and it could be a long walk back to the café for people to eat their lunches,unless you find a rare spare bench, or a bit of a grassy bank on which to perch.
The platforms on the cliffs have been improved since our last visit but were often quite busy, meaning that you had to be patient to get a good view. They also had a few rangers stationed around at some of the main viewing platforms with scopes and were very helpful if you had any queries.
They have opened the grassland area near the centre and mown paths through the grass, which makes for a wonderful area to see butterflies,dragonflies and other insects, birds and wildflowers.
There are 2 mobility scooters available for use on the main RSPB tracks, but they are often booked up early. So, if you want one of these please book them through their website. They are available free of charge (although a donation would always be welcome).
Please remember to bring your RSPB membership card,otherwise it’s £8 per adult entrance fee.
Leaders:Vinny Holt and Charlie Farrell
The trip is open to friends and family. But please remind your friends that :
Our trips are run by our Members for Members. Everyone joins our excursions at their own risk.
(Our full statement on our liability may be read on our website Disclaimer – Rochdale Field Naturalists’ Society)
The Coach will leave at 9.00am, from Morrison’s car park in Heywood.
Coach Bookings
We’re making it simpler to book a seat on our coach trips.
All you now need to do is pay your £20 in advance by BACS, making sure that you put COACH and the month of the trip in the reference section,i.e. for the next coach trip this would be ‘Coach June’. This is so that the treasurer knows what you are paying for. There is no need to put your name in the reference part as that automatically comes on the statement (unless you bank under a different name in which case you should let the treasurer know). If you do not indicate what the payment is for you won’t be booked on the coach.
There is also no need to email anyone. Once the payment has been made your booking is secure, unless the coach is over subscribed. If that is the case you will be informed and your payment returned. Booking will be on a first come basis.
If, in exceptional cases, you find it difficult to pay in advance, then you can email the treasurer rfnstreasurer@gmail.com to say you will pay on the coach. This can be by cash or card but not by cheque.