October began - where else this autumn?! - in the Kilnsea / Spurn area, Rich and I guiding a large visiting group for several days, incorporating not just the aformentioned sites but also the excellent new flood alleviation habitats a little further up the Northern bank of the Humber at Welwick / Weeton. Conditions were pretty challenging, but the birding was quality - including a gorgeous juvenile Pallid Harrier that followed us around and consistently showed up at close range....
.... and not forgetting two quality Phylloscs - Pale-legged Leaf and Arctic Warbler - bookending the guiding.
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler - nonchalantly twitched by Rich and I on our way to guiding at Spurn....
... and a Spurn Arctic Warbler - impossibly tame!
The forecast for the following 24 hours promised overnight easterlies and rain, and then sunshine - too much to resist, and so it was straight back to the coast for first light on 3rd, and a glorious session at Filey, which included stumbling upon not one but two Pallas's Warblers;
One of two Pallas's Warblers that welcomed me back to Filey on 3rd Oct. Unbeatable
the following day, and brother Yoav and I had a blinding session at Old Fall, Flamborough, similarly bathed in sunshine and surrounded by quality birds. A cracking two days, worth checking out here. 
Olive-backed Pipit, Flamborough
Guiding dominated much of the month, at Flamborough / Bempton for several days, then Spurn for a week, then Flamborough / Bempton for a few more days, then Spurn for the last week of the month (with any spare days surveying - a full-on month even by recent standards).
Pink-footed Geese arriving in off the sea at Flamborough lighthouse
The quality birding continued unabounded, with the Flamborough days providing such gems as Daurian Shrike, Olive-backed Pipit, Red-flanked Bluetail, movements of thrushes, finches and Whooper Swans, Yellow-browed Warblers, Merlins and much more, and culminated, wonderfully, with a close-in Humpback Whale feeding underneath us at Bempton... 
Humpback - a surprise bonus on one of my Birding Discovery Days at Bempton in October!
Red-flanked Bluetail, Bempton
Daurian (Isabelline) Shrike @Bempton_Cliffs yesterday, performing beautifully for my @YCNature group. If it stuck around ling enough for one of my tours, I promised to go and say hello - so we did. A beautiful bird with an appetite for Goldcrests! 🍽 pic.twitter.com/C9zRl4EYe6
— Mark James Pearson (@Markthebirder) October 7, 2024
Spurn, meanwhile, was everything you'd want it to be in October, with too many special moments to mention here; so much migration quality and quantity over the two weeks, with floods of incoming songbirds, lots of late autumn continental classics (Long- and Short-eared Owls, Woodcocks, Hawfinches etc), a wonderful variety and volume of wildfowl and waders, and plenty of scarcities sprinkled throughout.
Bearded Tit - a scarce but regular autumn migrant at Spurn
Vismig Jay gunning down the Spurn peninsula
What a place - and in 2024, I was fortunate to spend six working weeks (guiding over 130 lovely clients) there, each very different, and each rich and varied. Already looking forward to the spring.... 
Redwing - one of many thousands arriving at Spurn
Early November was spent intermittently birding on the coast (of course - it was that time of year); back in the suburbs of York, meanwhile, a Great Egret decided to make our neighbourhood home for a while, even landing on our roof on one occasion!
Quite the contrast between the two weeks, and not just in intensity - the first was unseasonably mild and pleasant (and full of birds, naturally!), while the second was snowy, sub-zero and generally Arctic.... which was (mostly) a blessing - despite tricky driving conditions, and extra efforts to make sure everyone was warm enough, the already beautiful landscapes were at their absolute picture postcard premium.
A huge pleasure to deliver, of course, and another class of ten 'graduated' with a much greater skillset and hopefully bucketloads of birding inspiration. More here. The aforementioned Eyemouth stopovers were enjoyable (as always), with a Little Auk themed seawatch on the way back down to England:
One of 24 Little Auks on an early Eyemouth seawatch
Back home for late November, and some relaxed coastal birding to round off the season; a forgettable December (for various reasons, which don't belong in a birding bulletin!) notwithstanding, a busy, bird-filled, wonderfully rich and varied 2024, for which I'm very grateful.
