Fluffy chicks at RSPB Bempton Cliffs
To celebrate International Owl day I held a small, fun owl-making workshop at Bempton Cliffs. We had an absolute hoot whilst raising funds for the reserve.
In the morning, I briefly met an Australian couple who were on their honeymoon. Whilst I was in the workshop they bought my flying puffin sculpture as their present and he really did become the flying puffin as he was going home with them on the plane to Australia! How amazing is that! (Yes I did do a happy dance)
Puffling and Gannet Fluffs
Pretty much all but two puffin couples had left the cliffs, but there had been two spotted. Only two on the whole reserve. I was lucky enough to meet a lovely chap who spotted a remaining puffling hidden behind some rocks. I would never have seen it without his help. What a star. Thank you that man! It was my first ever sighting of a puffling and it still had its fluffy head. So sweet. It flapped its wings, shuffled about a bit then went back behind the rocks. What a treat!
I knew there’d be plenty of beautiful gannets to see, and I wasn’t disappointed. The babies were in various stages of fluffiness and some were even in their beautiful dark grey plumage. Just stunning.
Porpoise or Dolphin?
Having counted my blessings I thought I’d have a wander to the other end of the reserve. There’d been whale, dolphin and porpoise sightings earlier in the day so I thought I’d chance my luck and turn the camera out to sea. I’ve no idea what I’m doing and have had zero experience of marine mammals (except for seals) so I couldn’t believe my luck when I caught the dorsal fin of something breaking the surface. That’s all I saw, but it’s the most I’ve ever seen and I was so happy!
Having looked online I THINK it’s a porpoise, but as always I’m happy to be given knowledge from those who know!
On that lookout I met another lovely chap – from Hampshire – and we got chatting. He was in a competition with his friend to spot as many different species as possible but was irked by the numerous pigeons.
It got me all philosophical – if pigeons were on the red list, we’d suddenly care about them and want to protect them. It’s what humans do. We don’t seem to value what is common until it is uncommon. I forget that sometimes my mouth says what my mind is thinking so goodness only knows what the chap thought.
Anyway, I didn’t see any owls, but I saw plenty to be thankful for and came home with a heart full of love and a mind full of wonder.
