The coast, late April '25 - guiding at Flamborough and Bempton

After returning from Orkney mid-month, late April was a game of two halves - guiding on the coast, and surveying (mostly up on the Moors - see upcoming post). Guiding consisted of a run of my Birding Discovery Days at Flamborough and Bempton, with teams of lovely, enthusiastic clients under blue skies, with a couple of birding sessions at Filey sneaked in while over there (see next post).

  

Good fortune with the weather has been the theme of the year so far - guiding at Tophill Low in March, two Schools of Birding in the Highlands (February and April), our trip to Orkney, guiding on the coast in April and surveying on the Moors and elsewhere have all been blessed with near-ideal conditions, for which I'm eternally grateful....

Wheatear on the golf course 

So with the sun shining and the birds showing off, Flamborough and Bempton were all about the summer visitors, breeders and migrants. Warblers had arrived, and were arriving, in full force - Sedge and Reed Warblers, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in good numbers, as well as a couple of Grasshopper Warblers (sometimes showing superbly) ......

(Click on photos to enlarge)

.... and a female Subalpine Warbler (above and below), which we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time for - fortuitously turning up five minutes from our meeting place at the lighthouse, and just before out meeting time of 0830! We had fantastic views as it fed avidly in the morning sunshine, unfortunately soon disappearing as visiting birders began to arrive.

Along with Spotted Crake (below) at Thornwick, scarcities were in the mix, as they always are during my guiding weeks at Flamborough and Spurn - but in truth, the real thrills came from the explosion of arrivals and activity I'd timed the trips for: hirundines everywhere, Wheatears, Yellow and White Wagtails on the golf course, the aforementioned warblers and more, signalling the arrival of spring proper.

And then, of course, there were the seabirds - at Flamborough, and at the always mesmerising, mighty Bempton Cliffs, where we finished every day with a frenzied flurry of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Fulmars and Puffins; with such a show right on the doorstep, it'd have been rude not to.

My autumn Flamborough Birding Discovery Days - with a focus on migration - are now available on the YCN website here;

Sparrowhawk in off, and back out to sea, at Bempton

.. while my Seabird Specials in late June and early July are available here.

Bottlenose Dolphins off Flamborough Head