Bempton Bertie

At length did cross an Albatross,

Thorough the fog it came;

As if it had been a Christian soul,

We hailed it in God's name.

It ate the food it ne'er had eat,

And round and round it flew.

The ice did split with a thunder-fit;

The helmsman steered us through!

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798

Black-browed Albatross, Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire, UK.

Albatross…Albert…Bert…Bertie.

Bempton Bertie spent several summers visiting the UK’s only mainland gannetry at Bempton Cliffs to delight of all who sought a sighting of this majestic mollymawk from the southern oceans. Spending long periods away fishing at sea, his visits to the chalk cliffs ledges were sporadic at best.