Thursday, 16 May saw 9 intrepid members of the ‘All Day Birding’ group set off for the wilds of West Cumbria to visit the seabird colony at St Bees Head, one of the few places in the north west of England where cliff nesting sea birds can be seen.
The day was bright and breezy as the group assembled in St Bees, with the travellers by car meeting up with a couple of group members who chose to let the train take the strain. Soon the group were heading north from St Bees village towards the RSPB managed sea bird colony, accompanied by the delightful sounds of Skylark, Whitethroat and Stonechat from the surrounding farmland and heath. Out to sea meanwhile, ‘rafts’ of seabirds could be seen, which on closer inspection showed themselves to be a mix of Guillemot and Razorbill, two of the commoner cliff nesting Auks to be seen in the UK, together with a very occasional, and much rarer Black Guillemot.
Soon the seabird colony came into view and the cliff ledgers could be seen packed with nesting Guillemots and Razorbills, together with the occasional Fulmer (a sea bird related to the Albatross) wheeling overhead.
After a picnic lunch looking out to the Isle of Man to the west and the highlands of Southern Scotland to the north, the group retraced their steps towards St Bees and the long journey home. Our return walk was interrupted by views of a piratical Raven which had obviously visited the cliffs to steal an easy meal of a Guillemot egg. We watched as the large, black bird landed close to us and proceeded to break open its prize and eagerly devour the contents!
A terrific day’s birding was had by all, and special thanks go to Maureen for organising the expedition and for Lewis and Ron who took on the driving duties!
The groups next trip, to Smardale Nature Reserve in Cumbria, will take place on 20 June.