Staithes pelagics, 29th August '25

Our YCN Seabird and Whale Adventures kicked off again in late July, but - having been in the US for the last few weeks (as every summer) - this was my first date guiding on the boat this season, and (also as every summer) I couldn't wait to get started.

This time last year was memorably exceptional, and I was very lucky to be in pole position throughout (see here, here, here and here); back to the present, meanwhile, and the team have had a fantastic few weeks (see e.g. Jono's post here). This, combined with the preceding low pressure systems and weather fronts moving through over the last couple of days, brought out a bit of the pessimist in me...

... but thankfully I was only half-right (or less, depending on your approach). There had indeed been a huge clear-out of seabirds (particularly Sooties, of which we had none), but there was still plenty to enjoy, and the combined day list from the two trips was in fact really good.

Doing two trips back to back (in this instance, a three-hour first, followed by a five/six-hour) meant a 0420hrs start, a drive across the Moors as the sun came up (illuminating the surreal swathes of smoke from the still-smouldering fires), and an eBird checklist kicking off at 0630hrs (see here); just shy of eleven hours later and it was back to car in the harbour for the drive home to York.

Minke Whales (above), Caspian Gulls (below)
 

Between those times, we had plenty to enjoy, including: four Minke Whales, four skua species (eight Arctic, single juvenile Long-tailed, single Bonxie and two Poms), a juvenile Little Gull, hundreds of Common Terns, Razorbills and Guillemots, a single Puffin, and two beautiful juvenile Caspian Gulls that arrived at the boat together some five miles offshore (and stuck around long enough for everyone to practically touch them).

By no means up to the lofty heights of preceding trips this month, but hardly dull either, and there's still plenty to play for in September....

Puffin (above), Arctic Skuas and Common Tern (below)

North Killingholme, 28th Aug '25

Spending much of the summer on the other side of the Atlantic in recent years, it means my powder remains dry for enjoying autumn migration on this side of the pond at the end of August; on the one hand, I'm always impatient to get back in the ring, but on the other, it means I'm fully charged up and ready to go just as the real business begins, without any chance of early burn-out or fatigue.

And so it was / is this year. My first two days back at work involved a long day's surveying on the south bank of the Humber at North Killingholme, Lincolnshire, followed closely by my first day back on the boat off the North Yorkshire (see next post), and I couldn't wait to get back into it.

A 0430hrs start and the drive from York, to Hull, across the bridge and south-east to my heavily-industrialised section of the riverbank, a place where I've spent a lot of time surveying over these last six or seven years, and full estuary and reserve counts for the next ten hours. I always enjoy it there, and after a long time out of the country and with migration kicking in, I was always going to be satisfied.

Which I was, in fact more than anticipated. The Haven (the tidal wetland reserve which is so important, especially for waders, at different tide times) was loaded with Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets in particular - with over 4000 of the former and an impressive 307 of the latter - as well as plenty of other species.

(all wader photos: Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets, plus Curlew, above)

So far so good, but a huge bonus was how stacked the bushes were with warblers. With industrial sites and factories on one side and the (very wide) river on the other, the healthily messy, mature scrub between the two can be good for passerines, and acts as a bottleneck for species moving through.

Willow Warbler (above), Blackcap (below)

Which was resolutely the case, compounded by a sunny, sheltered eastern side (by the raised track I survey from) attracting all the insectivorous migrants right alongside me.

It was an absolute joy just waiting for the warblers to reveal themselves, with lots of Chiffchaffs (above), plus Willow Warblers, Common Whitethroats (below), Reed Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Cetti's Warblers, Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler, along with various other passerines enjoying the bounty.

A perfect re-entry into Old World, autumnal land-based birding; a quick turnover and then offshore the following morning. Full eBird checklist here.

Reed Warblers

New England extras, summer '25

Scarlet Tanagers (above and below)

Baltimore Oriole (above), Common Yellowthroat (below)

Monarch

Broad-winged Hawk

American Red Squirrel

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (above and below)

Female (above) and male (below) Cardinals in the garden - no prizes for guessing who put in the hard miles with childcare

Turkey Vulture and House Wren

Straight to Vireos - New England, summer '25

We're back, we're jetlagged and we're happy to have a warm sun shining here in Jorvik today. Just a couple of posts left from the States, this one concerning three of the Vireo species we encountered: Red-eyed, Eastern Warbling- and Blue-headed.

Red-eyed are well scattered and pretty commonplace in suitably woody habitats across New England, and even when you don't see them, they're usually singing nearby.

We came across these Eastern Warbling-vireos at Cabot Woods, one of our regular spots near Greenfield, Mass, the first I've seen for some years; amazingly, I happened to notice that the American Ornithological Society (AOS) had split them the same day (!) into Eastern and Western (previously together as Warbling Vireo). See here for more. 

And finally, Blue-headed Vireo from a woodland walk in Maine a few weeks back.