Bulbjerg

Bulbjerg is a lump of limestone left standing where the North Sea has eaten away the rest of the coast, rising about 47 metres straight out of the water on the Jammerbugt shore. It is the only bird cliff on the Danish mainland: kittiwakes nest on the ledges from spring into summer and their calls carry a long way in the wind. A path crosses the top for the view along the coast in both directions, and a steep track drops to the beach below the face. The sea stack of Skarreklit stood offshore here until it collapsed in 1978, which is the plainest possible lesson in how fast this coast is going.

History

For centuries blocks of chalk were sawn out of the cliff and used for building in the surrounding area or burnt to quicklime, and visitors carved their names into the limestone, among them a 19th-century king whose name can still be seen. Skarreklit, a rock column in the sea about 100 metres off Bulbjerg, stood long after the softer limestone around it had gone because its base was flint, but it fell in a storm in 1978, and its base can still be seen at low tide in calm weather; legend said its fall would mean the end of the world, and its name probably comes from the dialect word for cormorant. Bulbjerg is the only bird cliff on the Danish mainland and the only breeding place there of the black-legged kittiwake (Wikipedia, Bulbjerg).

What's there

• The kittiwake ledges - hundreds of nesting gulls on the limestone face in spring and early summer.
• The clifftop path - views over the bay and along the dune coast in both directions.
• The beach below - a short scramble down to sand and boulders at the foot of the rock.
• The dune plantation - pine and heath behind the cliff, with marked paths and shifting sand.

When to go

April to July while the kittiwakes are on the ledges; they leave once the young can fly. Early morning gives the best light into the bay, and the site is quietest outside the Danish summer holidays. It is fully exposed, so wind and horizontal rain are normal from autumn onwards.

Good to know

This is half an hour to an hour of coast, not a day out, and for most people the drive there is longer than the visit. Once the birds have gone it is a rock with a view. There is no shelter of any kind, the wind is constant, and the path down to the beach is steep, sandy and hard work on the way back up.

Nearby

Thy National Park lies west along the coast; Fjerritslev and the Limfjord are inland.

Key facts