Staff at the site were not expecting the seabirds to return to Bempton for at least another month, but thousands have been spotted at the site over the last week.

They have only appeared fleetingly so far, and site volunteer Alan Dawson said: "They have been back to the cliffs, but have left again. They come and go quite a bit at this time of the year, but it is still unusual.

"They don't just return in ones or twos either, thousands come back at a time.

"The reasons for their return are unclear, we don't normally see them back on the cliffs until mid February, but it could be down to their food situation.

"If the shoals of sprats or small fish move to shallower waters, the guillemots will generally follow them, and then they visit the cliffs because they are closer inland.

"We have also seen our first puffin of the year in the sea last week, but they only come on to the cliffs around May, and then only stay until July."

During the spring and early summer, there can be as many as 60,000 adult guillemots and their chicks along the sea cliffs at the RSPB reserve.

But in June, a bizarre natural event occurs as the young birds, which still cannot fly, tumble the 400 feet down the cliffs into the sea below.

And after that, they don't return to land until it is time for them to breed.

And it isn't just the guillemots that are returning.

Already the famous gannets are starting to put in an appearance, getting ready to settle down for the spring and summer and raise their chicks.

Site manager Ian Kendall said: "It really feels like the reserve is getting ready for its annual wildlife miracle.

Bempton Cliffs is amazing at any time of the year.

"But come the seabird season, with the sight, sound and smell of a teeming mass of 200,000 birds such as gannets, kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills, it becomes an even more special place to visit."

Ian also encouraged sealife enthusiasts to help secure the future of Bempton's visitors by signing up to the Letter to the Future at the reserve or by visiting www.rspb.org.uk/lettertothefuture.

The letter calls on politicians to make sure that the new Marine Act has the power to protect our seas and the wildlife that depends on them.