AFTER a two-year absence that needs no explaining, the Airedale and Bradford RSPB Local Group was able to return to the St Ives Estate in Bingley for the annual International Dawn Chorus Day at the beginning of May.

The end of April into the first couple of weeks of May is the very best time for sighting woodland birds. The adults are in-and-out of their nests, collecting food for their fledglings - birds that have hatched but are yet to take to the wing - and the amount of foliage on the trees does not obscure the view of birdwatchers.

Led by local expert, Mark Doveston, a large group took an early-morning tour of the varied habitats to be found in this public park. We commenced at the Coppice Pond, where the now resident swans came to greet us, used to being fed daily.

Common woodland birds accompanied the group as they took a clockwise turn around the estate. A couple of the first swallows to arrive in this area this year were seen swooping and diving above the trees. It was lovely to hear the willow warbler, but the wood warbler and garden warbler had not yet arrived in the area. The hoped-for tree pipit also failed to materialise.

A pied flycatcher was heard on the top of the hill and later in the older woodland below the pond. This was encouraging as 20 years ago, pied flycatchers were identified in the area and to encourage them to remain, many nest boxes were put up around the estate. The species then disappeared. It made a reappearance three years ago, and the fact that it is still being heard suggests that it has re-established a territory in the area.

Having hidden itself away all morning, the nuthatch gave itself away with its distinctive ‘pew pew pew pew, chwee chwee’ right at the end of the walk.

Having Mark with us throughout the walk was invaluable for his expertise in identifying birdsong, as well as knowing the likely places where the birds are likely to be heard. Throughout the walk we identified thirty-nine different species including treecreeper, chiffchaff, goldcrest, redpoll, and lesser whitethroat.

By the middle of May, the leaves on the trees were making bird spotting in our area difficult, so the local group took themselves off to Bempton Cliffs on the East Coast, where there are no trees.

During the summer Bempton Cliffs RSPB Nature Reserve is home to half-a-million seabirds. The internationally important gannet colony (or gannetry) affords some great close-up views of this magnificent looking bird. Britain is an important location for gannets, as it is home to 56 per cent of the World’s population. More than 1,630 pairs nest on the cliffs, making it the largest mainland colony in Britain.

Also nesting on the cliffs were guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars. A relatively small population of puffins (approximately 200) have made their summer home at Bempton but were difficult to spot as they were either at sea or nestling in their burrows.

However, the highlight of the trip was getting to see ‘the world’s loneliest albatross’ hanging out with the gannets.

A black-browed albatross - inevitably nicknamed ‘Albert’ or ‘Albie’ (even though its sex has not been determined) - has been visiting the area for the past three years. Normally a resident of the southern hemisphere, until recently it was thought to be the only albatross across the whole of the northern hemisphere. However, on April 2 another adult was filmed off the coast of Denmark - let’s hope they meet one day.

It’s not known how old Albie is, but albatrosses can live for more than 70 years. It looks like a huge gull with remarkable long narrow wings that span more than two metres. They are rarer than they once were, but there are still an estimated 600,000 pairs breeding in places such as the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is the most common albatross, but its conservation status is described as ‘near threatened’ due to its declining population.

It is most likely that it was blown off course; it is thought to have been in the northern hemisphere since 2014. It has also been spotted across the North Sea in Germany and Scandinavia where it spends the winter. It is unlikely that it will ever get ‘home’ because of light equatorial winds.

As well as the seabirds, in the nearby shrubland, we saw several smaller birds, including corn bunting, linnet, whitethroat and various warblers. A rare colony of tree sparrows lives near the visitor centre year-round.

As with the walk two weeks previously, one member of the group identified 39 different species.

Everyone enjoyed the day in the sunshine and are looking forward to the group’s next field trip in the autumn.

*To find out more about Airedale & Bradford RSPB group visit

group.rspb.org.uk/airedaleandbradford/