The Loneliest Bird…
At the end of March 2022 a rare bird returned to RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast, the Black Browed Albatross! These huge birds are usually only found in the southern Atlantic ocean around the Falkland Islands and Antarctica. This particular bird, nick-named “Albert” and “Albert-Ross” is believed to have blown off course however and it is thought to be the only one of its type in the northern hemisphere.
Albert first showed up here in 2017 and has returned every year since, seeming to spend its winters around Scandinavia. Sightings have been logged in Norway, Denmark and Sweden and reports of an attack around Norway by 9 White Tailed Eagles had led many to believe that would be the end of this huge bird. It returned to Bempton however to huge fanfare!
Once word was out on social media that Albert had returned, birders and the general public began flocking once again to see this “once in a lifetime bird”, Many people camping out all day on the Staple Newk viewpoint hoping to catch a glimpse.
It is not actually known if this bird is male or female, or where exactly it goes or why it keeps returning. It is thought to have followed the Gannet colony which make Bempton cliffs their home for the breeding season. The gannets are the only bird anywhere close to the size of Albert.
Albatrosses have huge wings, around 240cm of span and they generally glide on updrafts, which actually prevents it from heading back south due to the still air around the equator. That renders Albert “exiled” in the northern hemisphere. No friends and no partners. These birds can live to 70 years old, and it is believed to be able to survive with no problems up here, just a rather lonely existence. With climate change however, maybe one day it won’t be such a rare occurrence for these vagrant migrants to venture further than their current territories…
Some days at Bempton viewers are treated with magnificent view and close flybys by Albert most of the day, other days he ventures out to sea for hours at a time and sometimes for a few days at a time before returning. So a sighting is not guaranteed if you do visit. But when he is there it is an obvious sight, gliding around with huge outstretched black wings.
I attempted a couple of visits to see Albert last year but when I was there he was not! I manged to time it perfectly with the days he was spending time out at sea! I visited Bempton on the 10th of April hoping this would be the day, and was told when I arrived at 0830 that he had been spotted already that morning so it was looking good!
I went straight up to the viewpoint where he is usually seen only to be told that I had just missed him, he had gone out to sea. huge sigh…. Apparently however he had done that a few times this week but returned in the afternoons. So I went round the rest of the reserve and viewpoints capturing images of the Gannets, Puffins, Razorbills etc and then returned mid afternoon to see if Albert would return…
I did not have to wait long! As I arrived at the viewpoint, there was still lots of people around and they were all pointing their cameras or binoculars at something….There he was just circling around right in front of us all! He was actually trying to land on the cliff among the Gannets but they are not very receptive to him, being a bigger bird and not one of their own they often chase him away.
After many attempts, Albert finally found a landing spot and sat for a while before being shooed off once again by the Gannets. After a bit more flying around he went behind the cliff we were watching and found another spot to sit and relax out of view.
It was certainly a thrill to see this huge bird and capture some images of it. Its also great the amount of visitors Albert has generated not only to the area and to Yorkshire but to the RSPB at Bempton Cliffs. As great an experience it was you cant help but feel sorry for Albert and the fact that he is destined to live out his life as probably the loneliest bird in the world…