North England Bempton cliff early morning?

nandbytes

nandbytes

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Bempton cliff have been on my list of places to visit for birding.
I saw the video by Nigel Danson which looks to me like it's shot from Bempton cliffs.

View: https://youtu.be/KIGQRNuhiFU


I always thought the area was gated and limited to opening times which starts at 9.30am.

obviously they are there much earlier than that. Do they have some kind of special permission or are there areas you can access 24 hours?

Some help and information would be much appreciated.
 
GeordieStew said:
Yep. Not sure if all of it is. But there's plenty of it.

I keep threatening to go for sunrise. Last time I went there was a fog/haar. Couldn't see any birds.
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We are planning to stay near York for a few days.

We'll spend a day at the Bempton cliffs as a family. On other days I'd like to make daily trips in the mornings while my family have their lie-in and then get ready for rest of the day.

So hopefully at least one or two days will be "productive" even with UK's weather
 
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It can get very misty in the early morning, as said.
Actually the cliffs are accessed by a public footpath, the RSPB (understandably) tends to channel folk through the Visitor Centre ... and paid entry.
So you do not have to pay, even if you are not an RSPB member, but bearing in mind the facilities available, it is no hardship to join the RSPB or pay to use the facilities. :)
 
gramps said:
It can get very misty in the early morning, as said.
Actually the cliffs are accessed by a public footpath, the RSPB (understandably) tends to channel folk through the Visitor Centre ... and paid entry.
So you do not have to pay, even if you are not an RSPB member, but bearing in mind the facilities available, it is no hardship to join the RSPB or pay to use the facilities. :)
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Thanks for the information. Is the public footpath easy to find?

I have signed up in the past and need to renew. I cancelled last time because I was out of the country a lot for the last 12 months.
Renewing now is as good a time as any.

GeordieStew said:
It's about an hour from York. The roads are mostly small and through villages.. I didn't realise when I stayed in York last weekend. Worth the visit though! Have a great time.
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Used to study/work in York. Also visited my old friends every year. Unfortunately the pandemic kinda ruined everything but I'm looking forward to restart again.
 
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Unless its changed in the last 12 months you can access the car park anytime. There is a gate to the left of the visitor centre that gives access to the reserve prior to the visitor centre opening.

Most importantly though check the weather forecast before a morning visit. If its sunny then the sun will be blasting straight into your face - given those conditions I wouldn't even go, its horrible. A cloudy sky on the other hand gives you excellent opportunities, but the next check is the wind direction.

If an easterly wind is forecast you will get the birds landing facing away from you. You might still get some good flybys, but best conditions for mornings are a west wind with light cloud cover.

For a first time visit, I'd suggest walking down the path by the visitor centre towards the cliffs, then turn right and go about 10 minutes along the path until you come to a decked area called Staple Newk. It's easily recognisable due to a huge rock cutout shaped like a letter 'J'. There will be countless gannets on there and if the wind is behind you they will glide in and almost stop as they try and land. It's like shooting fish in a barrel in those conditions!

You can also get good flybys there as they tend to circle round looking for a landing spot.

For the closest flybys, you're better off at the other (left when you first hit the cliffs) end of the reserve where there is a decked area on 2 levels. You can get quite close here as they fly in closer, and it also gives you chance to see chicks on the cliffs and maybe puffins.

Personally, I much prefer evenings, again preferring a west wind to get the birds facing me. If its sunny you can get gorgeous light and if its cloudy you can get lovely flat white detailed shots of the birds

Mike
 
pooley said:
Unless its changed in the last 12 months you can access the car park anytime. There is a gate to the left of the visitor centre that gives access to the reserve prior to the visitor centre opening.

Most importantly though check the weather forecast before a morning visit. If its sunny then the sun will be blasting straight into your face - given those conditions I wouldn't even go, its horrible. A cloudy sky on the other hand gives you excellent opportunities, but the next check is the wind direction.

If an easterly wind is forecast you will get the birds landing facing away from you. You might still get some good flybys, but best conditions for mornings are a west wind with light cloud cover.

For a first time visit, I'd suggest walking down the path by the visitor centre towards the cliffs, then turn right and go about 10 minutes along the path until you come to a decked area called Staple Newk. It's easily recognisable due to a huge rock cutout shaped like a letter 'J'. There will be countless gannets on there and if the wind is behind you they will glide in and almost stop as they try and land. It's like shooting fish in a barrel in those conditions!

You can also get good flybys there as they tend to circle round looking for a landing spot.

For the closest flybys, you're better off at the other (left when you first hit the cliffs) end of the reserve where there is a decked area on 2 levels. You can get quite close here as they fly in closer, and it also gives you chance to see chicks on the cliffs and maybe puffins.

Personally, I much prefer evenings, again preferring a west wind to get the birds facing me. If its sunny you can get gorgeous light and if its cloudy you can get lovely flat white detailed shots of the birds

Mike
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Hey Mike, that's really some great information. Thank you very much for that. (y)
 
Off to bempton on thurs for 10 days . Hopefully get some good shots with the new gear .. agree with all of mikes advice above .
Just to add it’s more than just gannets , there’s puffins ,razorbills,fulmars etc plus you often get kestrels and peregrines hovering at eye level in front of you . And come the evening there’s a good possibility of a barn owl on the hunt .especially this time of year .. plus all the small birds around I.e whitethroats , yellowhammers , even grasshopper warblers ..the mrs will be with me eyes and ears like a s***house rat she misses nothing …
two other good tips in the area is Filey dam ,squaco heron there last week . And Scarborough marine drive there’s usually peregrines nesting up there
 
the black fox said:
Off to bempton on thurs for 10 days . Hopefully get some good shots with the new gear .. agree with all of mikes advice above .
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good luck (y)
mind if I ask what the new gear is?

the black fox said:
Just to add it’s more than just gannets , there’s puffins ,razorbills,fulmars etc plus you often get kestrels and peregrines hovering at eye level in front of you . And come the evening there’s a good possibility of a barn owl on the hunt .especially this time of year .. plus all the small birds around I.e whitethroats , yellowhammers , even grasshopper warblers ..the mrs will be with me eyes and ears like a s***house rat she misses nothing …
two other good tips in the area is Filey dam ,squaco heron there last week . And Scarborough marine drive there’s usually peregrines nesting up there
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thanks for the tips and birds to look out for. Looks like later in evening is better than earlier in the morning.
That actually makes it better for us/me.
I still haven't decided on a date but end of the week is looking promising now. I have been waiting to get a car which I have finally found. Need to finalise the deal and then Bempton will probably be our first trip with the car.
 
nandbytes said:
good luck (y)
mind if I ask what the new gear is?



thanks for the tips and birds to look out for. Looks like later in evening is better than earlier in the morning.
That actually makes it better for us/me.
I still haven't decided on a date but end of the week is looking promising now. I have been waiting to get a car which I have finally found. Need to finalise the deal and then Bempton will probably be our first trip with the car.
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the olympus E-M1X +300mm f4 +1.4tc all new to me this year ..
and as Chris says above quite often flamborough and north landing is usually better for puffins
I'm hoping to at the very least get a trip on the Yorkshire belle boat .out of bridlington harbour to get under the cliffs ,but also have a couple of other aces up my sleeve weather dependant
 
Puffins are certainly a treat but surprisingly not going for them in specific. I have been to Skomer a few times for them and that was really amazing.
Just hoping to capture a nice variety of birds and certainly gannets too.

the black fox said:
the olympus E-M1X +300mm f4 +1.4tc all new to me this year ..
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ah nice. Look forward to seeing your shots.
150-400mm is the dream lens to get on m43. Keeping an eye out for some kind of a deal (can't afford the new price) but not many about.
 
send me a p.m when your going if i'm around we could meet up if you want , just finished packing the car and trailer ready for a early start tomorrow
 
I wont actually get to the cliffs till Saturday at earliest , got to set up the tent ,unpack etc as long as all goes to plan .. Friday will be chill out day ,shopping etc then get going Saturday

folk with long lenses that’s 90% of the people there LOL
 
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I went last year after visiting Flamborough. I found many were taking great effort to avoid paying but I was happy to do so. However, Flamborough was better for me as there were a few Puffins which is what I went for. At Bempton, it was good for Gannets but only one Puffin at that time but also a long way off.

Dave
 
Dave Canon said:
I went last year after visiting Flamborough. I found many were taking great effort to avoid paying but I was happy to do so. However, Flamborough was better for me as there were a few Puffins which is what I went for. At Bempton, it was good for Gannets but only one Puffin at that time but also a long way off.

Dave
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There's no avoiding paying, the footpath across the cliffs at Bempton is a public footpath, so no payment needed. Although if you're using the viewing platforms and the carpark then you really should.
 
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the black fox said:
send me a p.m when your going if i'm around we could meet up if you want , just finished packing the car and trailer ready for a early start tomorrow
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I will let you know if/when we have a plan.
As always all our plans happen at the last minute :rolleyes:
 
thanks for the Flamborough tip. Will add it to the list of places to checkout. (y)
Looks like there is a boat trip you can take but most likely will not be doing that.
 
Boat trips there are always weather dependant and tend to be expensive
 
Been here since thurs ,only managed a short session at bempton so far ,bitingly cold north eastern winds have made it unpleasant on the cliffs putting it mildly .. . Hoping for better later in week
 
My whole family has been unwell and I have fallen sick last night :facepalm:

So this trip has been cancelled. But we plan to go in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll all be better by then.
 
Exactly a year after starting this thread we finally made it to Bempton this morning! Just thought I'd report back despite being a year late.

Last year got cancelled because of some unforseen health issues :(
But really glad we made it this year.
Thanks to everyone for the information here, our visit was very smooth. With a couple of small kids really helps to be prepared beforehand.

There were plenty of Gannets!
Just two Puffins that were further away, but missus claims she saw couple more flying about but I didn't notice/see them.
Also saw tree sparrows, chaffinch and song thrushes.

The place itself was wonderful, well give North Landing a visit tomorrow.
 
Tulipone said:
I have been fighting an urge to get back there. Bet it was crowded today?
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It got worst over the course we were there.
We arrived at 7am and left at 10.45am. The car park was full by then.

It started raining heavily just as we sat in the car!
The weather was much better in evening after 4-5pm in the area but being there for sunset or very late is tricky for us because of the kids.

I'm tempted to make a solo photography trip myself in a couple of weeks if the weather is good.
 
You can get out to sea on the fishing boat trips in the afternoon from north landing around £8 pp chance to see seals and possibly puffins on the sea ..


We got that peeved with the cold last year that while there we bought a touring caravan and sold the blow up tent , had a couple of holidays so far and the Mrs has just booked us a week in Bridlington in 4 weeks time ,last week in June so will be venturing up there again hopefully the barn owls will be out hunting as well . I believe there were 4 shrikes around last week to
 
nandbytes said:
Exactly a year after starting this thread we finally made it to Bempton this morning! Just thought I'd report back despite being a year late.

Last year got cancelled because of some unforseen health issues :(
But really glad we made it this year.
Thanks to everyone for the information here, our visit was very smooth. With a couple of small kids really helps to be prepared beforehand.

There were plenty of Gannets!
Just two Puffins that were further away, but missus claims she saw couple more flying about but I didn't notice/see them.
Also saw tree sparrows, chaffinch and song thrushes.

The place itself was wonderful, well give North Landing a visit tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a great trip and hope the kids had fun. I've been looking for an excuse to head down again and the next time there is any reason to head down that way I will make the effort
 
the black fox said:
You can get out to sea on the fishing boat trips in the afternoon from north landing around £8 pp chance to see seals and possibly puffins on the sea ..


We got that peeved with the cold last year that while there we bought a touring caravan and sold the blow up tent , had a couple of holidays so far and the Mrs has just booked us a week in Bridlington in 4 weeks time ,last week in June so will be venturing up there again hopefully the barn owls will be out hunting as well . I believe there were 4 shrikes around last week to
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Afternoon weather has been cloudy+rainy both yesterday and today :(
The mornings have been really nice but as advised above it isn't necessarily ideal but still workable. but it wasn't particularly cold. Felt about 15c-ish....
Hopefully you will get a nice full clear day
Look forward to seeing what you get up to this year :)

Certainly missed the shrikes if they were still around :(

wookie6262 said:
Sounds like a great trip and hope the kids had fun. I've been looking for an excuse to head down again and the next time there is any reason to head down that way I will make the effort
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Kids enjoyed it a lot, even the nearly 2 year old enjoyed a lot, though I think she was enjoying the (pet) dogs more than the scenery and birds :facepalm:
 
Bempton cliffs yesterday was a lot more productive (bird photography-wise) than North landing today. We walked most of the way to headlands and back along the cliffs, not much happening closer for photography.
We did see a lot of Puffins flying below but nothing really came close. A bunch of skylarks around and starlings.
Saw a kestrel hovering about which was nice. Not sure if I missed a trick or good spots to pickup on puffins and gannets here or may be it just wasn't my day.
 
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