Puffin spotting at Bempton Cliffs

On the weekend we went to Bempton Cliffs to look for Puffins.

Bempton cliffs are made of chalk and they are 400 feet high above the North Sea.  Lots of ships have been wrecked on the cliffs. 

 This is one of the largest seabird colonies in the UK.  A colony is where a large group of birds come to nest at the same time.

250,000 birds come here every year to make their nests and lay their eggs. In April the puffins come here and also lots of gannets and kittiwakes

Gannets

Gannets are big birds and their bodies can be a metre long.  They have long wings for flying for a long time.  They are white with black wing tips and an orangy yellow head.

Gannets only come to land to nest on steep cliffs.  A nestingn colony of gannets is called a gannetry.

Gannets mostly eat fish like herrings, mackerels and sandeels.  They catch them by swimming on the water and sticking their heads underwater to spot their prey. Then they dive down after it.  They also hunt by flying over a shoal of fish and then plunging into the water. It can point its wings backwards to it can enter the water like an arrow.  Gannets can eat so much on one fishing trip that they can hardly take off from the water.  They can fly up to 400 miles on one fishing trip.

The gannet has a special way of greeting its mate.  They hold their wings out and bang their beaks against each other.  Then they sweep their heads down over each others neck.

The male gannet builds the nest and the female lays one egg.  They incubate the egg under their feet and move it on top of their feet just before it hatches. When the baby is ready to leave the nest it will just fly off and land on the sea.

Guillemots and Razorbills

Guillemots and razorbills look almost the same, but the guillemot is dark brown instead of black and they have a long pointy bill.  Razorbills have a more rounded bill.  They are both part of the bird group called Auks.  They nest in large colonies with tens of thousands of birds.  

They hunt by dipping their heads under water to find fish, then they dive down.  They mostly catch fish at around 50 metres deep.  They swallow the fish underwater.  When they are fishing to feed their chicks they can carry the fish back.  Razorbills can carry a few fish at a time and guillemots can only carry one fish.  

Guillemots nest on rocky cliffs and there can be up to 20 birds on every square metre.  This makes it difficult for predators to take their eggs.  Each egg has its own colours and marks so the parents can recognise their own egg.

Razorbills nest in crevices or under rocks and their nests are further apart.  They lay a single egg.  

When the chick is ready to leave the nest they will jump off the cliff ledge and into the sea.  The male parent will follow it and look after it for a few weeks out at sea.  The females stay at the nest to guard it so they can come back next year.  

At Bempton Cliffs there are about 59,000 guillemots and 15,000 razorbills.

Kittiwakes

Kittiwakes are a medium sized gull.  There are more kittiwakes in the world than any other gull.

Kittiwakes nest on narrow ledges and make their nests out of mud and grass.  It has a cup on the top to hold the egg. They have to built a new nest each year.  They lay 2 eggs and both parents look after the chicks.  They store the fish in a special storage section of their gut and regurgitate it for the chicks.

When the chicks are ready to fly they return to the nest to be fed by their parents for a few more weeks.

Puffins

The bird that everyone wants to see is the puffin.  Puffins are sometimes called the Clown of the Sea because of their colourful beaks.  They are a part of the seabird group called auks.  Their beaks are bright yellow, blud and red but in winter they are just grey so they look more like penguins. 

Puffins live out in the ocean and only come to land to breed.  They are better at swimming than flying and their wings are made to fly underwater. They have to beat their wings 400 times per minute to fly. They can dive as deep as 60 metres to find fish. They use their wings as paddles and their feet as a rudder.

Puffins can carry 10 fish in their beaks but once there was a puffin that carried 62.  Their beaks have

backward pointing spines so they can store rows of fish in their mouths without swallowing them

In Spring, puffins return to land to breed. Puffins usually mate for life and the males give the females presents of grass or feathers They use their beaks as picks and their feet as shovels to make burrows.  If they can they use a rabbit burrow.  Puffins lay one egg and both parents share the chick feeding until it leaves the nest.  Baby puffins are called pufflings and when they are ready to leave the nest they do it in the dark.

Razorbills