It’s not just the sights that make this a truly magical place.
Or the sounds that assault your ears and surround your senses.
It’s also the smells that combine with the visual and audio treat to create an awesome wildlife display.
Welcome to a ‘city’ break with a difference… a Seabird City.
It might sound like a marketing manager’s clever cliché, but this coastal gem in East Yorkshire more than lives up to its well-earned nickname.
Visit at any time of the year and the dramatic Bempton Cliffs are a magnificent sight; imposing columns of chalk towering above the North Sea waves crashing below.
But in spring and summer this rugged coastline becomes home to one of the UK’s most spectacular wildlife experiences.
Visit RSPB Bempton Cliffs during the peak months of June and July and one thing is for sure – you certainly won’t be alone.
And it’s absolutely glorious.
You’ll be joining around half a million nesting seabirds as they swoop, dive and circle above and below you, accompanied by a squawking soundscape… and the ever present strong, distinctive smell of millions of bird droppings.
It is natural, after all.
From purpose-built viewing platforms perched on the cliff edge, visitors get a front seat view of thousands upon thousands of birds clinging precariously to nesting sites in what seem to be impossibly accessible nooks and crevices carved into the chalk.
It is a remarkable opportunity to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, and, yes, the smells of one of nature’s great displays.
Each year these majestic cliffs between Bempton and Flamborough come alive with nest-building adults or young chicks taking their first fledgling steps.
It’s where Kittiwakes, with their yellow bills, dark eyes and black wingtips, along with Guillemots – including the ‘bridled’ version with a white ring round the eye and stripe behind it – live life on the edge.
But the stars of this wildlife show for me are Gannets, one of Britain’s largest seabirds.
You can’t really miss them. Bright white with black wingtips and yellow on their heads, they are distinctively shaped with a long neck and long pointed beak, long pointed tail, and long pointed wings.
I never tire of staring out to sea and watching them plummet from the skies at 70 mph, diving beneath the waves for fish.
And as if the sheer volume and variety of birds wasn’t enough of an attraction, for folks like me who are simply wowed by the incredible speed and agility of these aerial acrobats, there are more Gannets diving into the deep here than anywhere else on mainland England.
This is also home, for a short time at least, to one of Britain’s most popular seabirds. Who can resist the ‘clowns’ of the sea – the ever-popular puffin?
Because of their size, and the height of the cliffs, they are hard to spot as they swim around beneath you but look hard enough – or even better gaze through binoculars – and you will see them courting and nesting on the cliff edge during breeding season.
Puffins spend most of their time at sea, away from gazing eyes, so for the best chance of catching sight of these comical and colourful feathered favourites, time your visit for between April and mid-July.
But whenever you visit from March to August there will be plenty of nesting birds to spot.
While the fantastic Farne Islands, in Northumberland, and spectacular South Stack, in Anglesey, rightly claim their place as top spots for birdwatching, Bempton probably offers one of the most accessible mainland sites to experience this annual wonder of nature.
A two-minute walk from the visitor centre and café, close to the car park, takes you to the heart of the action, with three miles of chalk cliffs and paths to walk. For the best views of the key cliff nesting sites, there are five viewpoints, three of them fully wheelchair accessible.
For more details about RSPB Bempton, visit www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/bempton-cliffs
For details about things to do and where to stay in East Yorkshire as a destination, see www.visiteastyorkshire.co.uk