Bempton Cliffs 2009

[Ollie]

Hi all,

Yesterday Ben, (Tormentil) myself and another friend Dave went to Bempton Cliffs for the day to photograph the seabirds.

We were lucky and unlucky with the weather which may seem strange but to explain. The weather was very bright and sunny and very windy. It was all to easy to blow the whites on the birds due to the bright light. The lenses also had a job locking on to the subjects at times due to lack of contrast between birds and the bright backgrounds, and it was one heck of a job trying to hand hold the 400mm lenses whilst being buffeted by the very strong winds. My arms ached by the time we left and I can usually hand hold the 400mm with no trouble.

However the wind did help us in the fact that it was coming in from the sea and the birds were having to fight against it to stop themselves being pushed into the cliffs as they came in to land. This slowed them up a little making it a little easier to get in flight shots

We had a cracking day and I'm still sorting through over 2000 images I took.

Here are just a small selection. Hope you enjoy them. Bempton is a great day out, and I would highly recommend a visit within the next month or so.

Click the images twice to see the full sized image.

Gannet


Gannet


Gannet


Guillemots


Puffin


Kittiwake


Puffin

[Ruth Daniel]

Wow,stunning images Roger....I love the first Puffin!
I bet it was a bit chilly on the E coast yesterday in this wind!
We're going to RSPB South Stack next month to see the sea birds there.....how were the Puffin numbers there?
Thanks for sharing your super shots!

[Richard G.]

Nice set Roger, hope there's more to come..

[Chris Hawes]

They're great pictures Roger! I was at Bempton yesterday too - I wonder if we met? However I was only there for an hour or so, not as long as I'd like.

[diggleken]

Originally Posted by Ruth Daniel

Wow,stunning images Roger....I love the first Puffin!
I bet it was a bit chilly on the E coast yesterday in this wind!
We're going to RSPB South Stack next month to see the sea birds there.....how were the Puffin numbers there?
Thanks for sharing your super shots!

Totally fab pics indeed!
Puffin numbers have been poor there for a while I believe Ruth, so interesting to see what you get at South Stack - hopefully including Choughs and Peregrines, plus lots skulking in the scrub - Cettis near Valley too?
Ken

[Ollie]

Thanks for the comments.

Ruth the Puffin numbers seemed to be slightly up on last year but saying that it's hard to judge when you only pay one visit a year.

Chris we maybe did see you as we spoke to most people we met and we were there from 9am until around 4:30pm

[Fourwings]

Thats a superb set of images Roger, I'm hoping some better weather is forcast again soon so I can have a day there.
Puffin is a bird I'd really like to photograph.

[Tormentil]

As Roger said It was a bit breezy to say the least and it did make hand-holding our eqpt a tad difficult at times. And boy was it cold !!!

However, it was a great day out and I've managed to get my 1800 shots down to 97. Here's a few samples....

Fulmar


Herring Gull


Guillemot


Puffin


Whitethroat

[DavyG]

Stunning set of images Roger, the Gannets and Puffins especially.

Ben, your pics are excellent also, the Whitethroat is amazing.

We're off to the Farne Islands again in July, I'll have to look at a map to see how close we'll be to Bempton Cliffs.

Dave

[Colarris]

Lovely pics, you should send them to the Springwatch programme when it starts