Bempton Cliffs 2025

A Day at the Edge: Dunchurch Photographic Society Visits Bempton Cliffs

On Saturday 17th May 2025, members of the Dunchurch Photographic Society ventured away to Bempton Cliffs near to Bridlington in Yorkshire. The reason for the trip was to visit the RSPB Centre and capture some of the nesting action of the local bird population that includes Gannets, Puffins, Razor Bills, Fulmars and several other species that make the cliffs in the area their home. 

 

It is understood that approximately 500,000 seabirds will gather around the Bempton Cliffs area between March and August each year to nest and ultimately raise a family, using the towering chalk cliffs as their haven overlooking the North Sea. 

 

Whilst the cliffs themselves make for an impressive chalk landscape photograph at the best of times, the presence of so many seabirds in action all at the same time and visible from many of fenced footpath vantage points makes for a dynamic adventure for many photographers. Dunchurch members attending this photographic opportunity were treated to some great action throughout the day with many fantastic images captured for consideration in our competitions in the 2025/26 season. 

 

The day served as a great chance this year to try photography that offered different challenges to what some members usually undertake. In places, the action was fast paced with sleek Gannets and Fulmars offering a relatively large target to pan. This made it necessary to trade ISO and shutter speed to best capture the action. However, the north-north west wind on the day also made for some lovely close-in action as the birds hovered and turned to make the best use of the wind current for landing. 

 

Elsewhere, the Puffins and Razor Bills, much smaller targets, proved a different challenge all of their own. Trying to spot them, and then be able to photograph them tested everyone in attendance! It was rugged underfoot in places, despite the footpaths, and good exercise – up to 5 and a half miles covered across a plethora of vantage points. And there was time at the café on site, between sips of coffee or bites of a sandwich, the local clan of Jackdaws and Pied Wagtails were present to dash in and out between the outside tables to earn their scraps. 

 

It was a fantastic day trip, and discussion amongst the members in attendance that this would not be the only time we would look to attend – so much to see and capture with the camera that Bempton Cliffs would be very much a place that we would want to come back to. 

 

Report Prepared By

David J. Bray AFIAP, CPAGB, E.CPE