Champions of the Flyway!

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Flamborough & Bempton guiding, late Sep / early Oct '25

Barred Warbler, Flamborough 

I've just finished up my autumn guiding days at Flamborough and Bempton - five days over the last seven - and there was lots to enjoy (as ever), and lots of lovely clients to share it with (as ever ;-).
Siberian Stonechat, Bempton 

Rarer birds we enjoyed included a particularly lovely Siberian Stonechat (keeping very close company with a Whinchat at Bempton, for excellent instruction / educational opps!), Barred Warblers (at Bempton and Flamborough) and Yellow-browed Warblers, while other highlights included cliff-face Goldcrests (see below), continental Robins and Song Thrushes, frolicking Bottlenose Dolphins on several occasions, Great Egrets, Caspian Gulls, Marsh Harriers and much more.
Barred Warbler, Bempton
Two Goldcrests on the cliff-face at Bempton on the afternoon of the 2nd were a thrill to witness. Arriving in a howling south-westerly - i.e. a headwind challenging enough for birds hundreds of times their size - these tiny warriors of migration (weighing in at about the same as a 20p piece and about as long as your thumb) successfully battled in from over the North Sea and onto the welcoming terra firma of the Yorkshire coast.
Pitching onto the relative shelter of the 100-metre-plus cliff-face before even reaching the sanctuary of the nearest bushes (just 30 metres or so inland) tells you how desperate they must've been; but they made it nonetheless, and we marvelled at them as they searched the cracks and weeds for tiny insects below us as we peered over the edge of the platform at Bartlett Nab.
Bottlenose Dolphins, Flamborough
All my autumn 2025 dates are now sold out, but if you'd like to join me on my Winter Wetland and Woodland days at the fabulous Tophill Low reserve in East Yorkshire, have a look HERE.

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Boat trip Casps - Sep '25

A couple of sharp and stylish Caspian Gulls from recent boat trips, just because, well, they're sharp and stylish....

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Road to nowhere - Skipsea, 17th Sep '25

After overnighting at Flamborough, an afternoon and evening surveying on the Humber yesterday; with an hour or so to kill on the way down the coast, I approached the road which falls straight into the sea just beyond the Skipsea village - ideal. With a strong south-westerly and a swirling cloud fronts, I expected little, but parked up by the sheer drop and took a lunch break.
Little Gull (above), Osprey (below)
Just over an hour or so later, and I'd an Osprey in off the sea and south-west, several Little Gulls and Arctic Skuas, a trickle of Swifts in off and over the sea, Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns, Red-throated Divers, dark-bellied Brent Geese and more, mostly moving south into the wind; one of those fruitful bonus sessions that happily occur once in a while, reminding you that migration is marching on regardless of the conditions.
Common Tern
Gannet and Arctic Skua (above), dark-bellied Brent Geese (below)
Osprey, Swift, Little Gull

Sunday, September 7, 2025

The first fall of the autumn - Filey, 7th Sep '25

Better make it quick as I'm up in a few hours for a day on the boat (hopefully more of that to come), but for now, a few photos from today, the first reall fall of passerines this autumn.
Strong south-easterlies at this time of year is always worth a shot, and after work on the Humber early on, a late morning arrival in Filey was immediately productive....
I parked the car in the sheltered bowl of the Top Scrub, got out my lunch and a cup of tea, and instantly had four Pied Flycatchers buzzing around me, calling and chasing each other. Lunch was soon dispatched and a thorough patrolling of the Northern Coastal Area (lots of time in the Top Scrub, plus Long Lane, Long Hedge, Rocket Pole Field etc) produced a minimum of 15 Pied Flys:
Five Whinchats well scattered was an impressive count by recent standards, remarkably up-ended with a scan along the sheltered fenceline bordering the Rocket Pole field and Top Scrub revealing no fewer than 12 (!), in a genuine flock, which soon dissipated after a few minutes:
Other migrants in the area included eight Willow Warblers, 10 Chiffchaffs, two Spotted Flycatchers (above and below), three Common Whitethroats, one Lesser Whitethroat, one Garden Warbler, two Blackcaps and a Siskin.
with a heavy shower approaching, I stuck it out and banked on Carr Naze - well worth a bit of a soaking, with another four Whinchats (totalling 21), another two Pied Flys (totalling 17), three Wheatears, another two Redstarts (totalling seven) and another two Willow Warblers.
Classic Carr Naze in the rain - a Pied Fly freshly arrived and hiding in the Magic Bush (above), and a male Redstart in-off and onto the clifftop (below)
A hugely enjoyable six hours, and while there was no scarcity this time, there was more than enough to revel in....

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Filey Brigg, 4th Sep '25

Common Tern - one of many hundreds 

As described in the last post, it was quite the show on and off the Brigg, and while the Roseates arguably took top spot, various other species made it a multi-faceted treat; in truth, just the Gannets alone would've sufficed, being so close, so numerous and so dramatic.
Two Black Terns - a rare bird locally, and only really possible on patient seawatches or (if you're lucky) within tern congregations at this time of year - were as much of a joy:
(spot the juvenile Roseate above the Black)
Gannet
This immaculate juvenile European Golden Plover was extremely tame, trotting around the rockpools a few metres away for much of the time:
A few Grey Herons were likewise patrolling the rockpools
An even more tame juvenile Dunlin, completely fearless, as young waders so often are here at this time of year - very likely its first sighting of a biped...
Common Terns
Adult Roseate (left) with Common Terns