Flamborough - early October '26

Incoming Song Thrush (above) and Redwing (below)

It's been pretty much non-stop since we got back from the States in late August, with much of the last six weeks spent working away from home (with surveys and recreational birding filling in the blanks); a few days off beckon, so a little time to regroup and decompress (unless the discouraging weather forecasts change, in which case - to the coast, of course!).

I've spent much of the last week back in the old manor at Flamborough, guiding different groups of lovely clients every day. It's been rich and varied (as ever) from a migration / conditions perspective - blue skies and sunshine to torrential rain, perfectly still to tree-bendingly strong winds (from pretty much every point of the compass), positively balmy to proper autumnal chilliness.

Incoming Blackbird (above) and Short-eared Owl (below)

Every day, and every group, is different, which keeps me laser-focused and on my toes, and keeps life interesting; the more engaged my teams are the better it is for me, and I had an especially good run in that respect this week, with lots of great new clients and very welcome returning ones.

Incoming Bramblings... 

We always meet at the Lighthouse (a perfect place to start, plus all the required facilities are at hand), and more often that not, there's plenty to enjoy in the first few hours on the Outer Head, on land, at sea, and above us overhead. This week was no different, and we had lots of incoming migration -

... Redwing... 

- including Redwings, lots of Bramblings and Chaffinches, plenty of Swallows and House Martins, a very late Swift (which naturally got the heart pumping faster), and on the finale morning a Short-eared Owl - which came in off the sea, low over our heads and crash-landed in the hedge just a few metres away before gathering its bearings and heading off inland.

... Song Thrush... 

The cliffs here are always worth a slow, steady wander to check the shoreline and the sea just beyond it - the former held hundreds of Grey Seals (always a joy) as well as Caspian Gull (and commoner gull species for comparison), various waders (including Curlews, Redshanks, Turnstones and Dunlins), Little Egrets, hunting Peregrine, hirundines whipping along the cliff edge and much more;

.... Barnacle Geese.. 

 ..the sea, meanwhile, was excellent on several mornings: close-in feeding frenzies and flocks on the move included Balearic Shearwater, close-up Manx Shearwaters, Arctic Skuas, Little Gulls, Red-throated Divers, all three commoner tern species, and big numbers of Gannets and auks. Various species also on the move in the area included Goosanders, Barnacle Geese, Pink-footed Geese, Common Scoters, Grey and Golden Plovers, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and more.

... another Song Thrush... 

Of the various other local spots to choose from, Thornwick Pools and (especially) South Landing were very productive; the former for waders and wildfowl, and the latter for, well, a variety of reasons:

The sheltered bay and beach afforded great close-up views of waders including Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstones, Curlews and Redshank, as well as lots of Rock Pipits and alba wagtails, while we caught up with a flock of Shorelarks in the fields above the bay. Out over the water, we'd flocks of Little Gulls, Arctic Skua, plenty of close-up Red-throated Divers (above and below), Gannets and auks and more on the move.

The wooded ravine, meanwhile, came into its own as multitudes of migrants channelled in, particularly after storm fronts. It's always an absolute thrill to experience visible inbound migration as it happens, and it's even more of one to share it with groups; while there's no guarantee it'll always happen, it's a question of right time, right place when it does. We had lots of small surges of e.g. finches, buntings and thrushes throughout, but one afternoon in particular was outstanding.

Yet another Redwing - every one a joy 

My ever-enthusiatic team stuck it out whilst a very wet storm front swept south-east across the Headland and out into the North Sea (we did seek shelter while it did so....), and if any birds were moving along its edge, I banked on the South Landing - and more specifically, the open, raised area of the car park at the top of the slope.

 

Happy to say, it was the right decision: just as we parked up, the rain eased, the wind dropped, and the birds flooded in, right over our heads. Well over a thousand Redwings, almost five hundred Song Thrushes and 62 Bramblings were the most numerous highlights - funnelling up ravine and the slope, often calling, and often in groups.

Other species incoming and overhead included Jack (and Common) Snipe, Snow Bunting, lots of Starlings, Chaffinches, Reed Buntings, Skylarks, Swallows and House Martins, plus several Mistle Thrushes and Blackbirds, Grey and Pied Wagtails, and smaller numbers of Yellowhammers, Rock and Meadow Pipits.

Fancy joining in the fun? My 2027 Flamborough Migration Specials are available to book now on the Yorkshire Coast Nature website HERE 

Spurn - 25th to 29th September '26

Right place, right time.... 

Catching up..... I spent the working week guiding at Spurn last week, only my second time there this year (after the residential group in late April). It's usually more - up to six weeks a year recently - and so I've missed the place a lot, including over Migfest, but will get that back on track next year.

Shelducks looking like a painting on the Humber 

Back to my routine of a different group of six every day, and as ever, each day was different; even quiet days are entertaining at Spurn if you know where to look. The first couple of days were dominated by pleasantly warm, settled weather, which didn't deter migration - plenty of Robins, pipits and Buntings arriving, warblers including a good sprinkling of Chiffs and Yellow-browed, and a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (which we found in Corner Field and was trapped soon after) among others. 

Yellow-browed Warblers

Add on to that swirling masses of wonderful waders on the Humber and some interesting activity over the sea (Little Gulls, terns, skuas) and, while we didn't exactly coincide with fall conditions (yet), all was well with the world.

Despite the ongoing warm sunshine, the latter half of day four saw the wind gently swing into the south-east, as forecast - and like clockwork, birds immediately began to arrive. In the skies, Redwings, Song Thrushes, Skylarks, Chaffinches and Brambling began to trickle in; in the bushes, a few more warblers, the odd Pied Fly and Redstart...

Many a gorgeous, soupy Robin to appreciate

... all good stuff, but with rain forecast for overnight (and the wind remaining south-easterly), hopes were high - the first such winds of the autumn proper, and all the expectation that comes with them. So, I was up and out pre-work and to the Warren, where within a minute or two, both Lapland and Little Bunting flew over - not a bad start! - with incoming finches, buntings, thrushes and pipits all raising excitement levels.

Pied Flycatcher 

Would it tail off by 0830hrs, when I was to meet my team for the day at the Bluebell? Erm, no. The radio crackled and one of those classically dour, almost unbelievable Spurn messages came through - "Eye-browed Thrush, Church Field". Jesus! My clients barely had time to put their boots on before I was firmly frogmarching everyone the five minutes up the road, where any other lucky locals were similarly converging with great haste.

A great start to great Spurn day - one of those where you're constantly bumping into new arrivals in the bushes - Yellow-browed Warblers, Pied Flycatchers, over a hundred Robins, dozens of Chiffys, Blackcaps and more - and then hearing / looking up to find incoming migrants pretty much wherever you are; we'd 110 Brambling, 25 Redpoll, two Tree Pipits, a few Siskins, 38 Song Thrushes, plus Swallows, Skylarks, Grey and alba wagtails and much more.

Another fine week at one of my favourite birding places - thanks to all the locals for their always much appreciated help and assistance, and see you all again in a couple of weeks!

(From there, back to York for a few hours' sleep and then to Filey for first thing and more great birding.....)

Redpoll

A welcome invasion - postscript (Humber Estuary, 1st Oct '26)

Golden Plovers against the industrial backdrop of Saltend 

As described in the last post (see here), the last day of September was fantastic on the coast, especially for the big numbers of Song Thrushes arriving in off the sea. Early the following morning, I drove to Paull (on the North Bank of the Humber, just east of Hull) for a regular surveying work session. Initially cool with low cloud and a south-westerly breeze, it was immediately evident that visible migration was again underway....

Skylark migrating over our heads 

Guess the most numerous species? Yep, Song Thrushes, ticking softly as the headed into the breeze, gaining more and more height, and clearing the Humber towards Lincolnshire. It's a decent spot for channelling birds and vismig can be pretty good here, but I've never seen Song Thrushes using it en masse as a launch pad for crossing the river.

Song Thrushes! Check out those orange underwings... 

As the cloud cleared, so many of the birds got higher, and many of those became just visible (and still audible) specks in the blue; it slowed down somewhat, but not before I was joined - coincidentally, as they were also surveying on site! - by Will and Chris. We enjoyed plenty more thrushes, as well as pipits (including no fewer than three Tree), Bramblings, Chaffinches, Skylarks and many more species heading west and south-west.

A fabulous sight, especially after the previous days events - and a privilege to witness two parts of their multi-sectioned journey from Northern Europe to the Iberian peninsula. Full counts on trek here.

Curlews (below with a Bar-tailed Godwit)

A welcome invasion - Filey, 30th Sep '26

One of.... many 

 

Six Song Thrushes arriving (in six seconds!) in off the sea 

Alright, in light of the fact I'm getting further and further behind here (legitimate excuses of full-on working / guiding, failing to shake off an annoying virus, and any other limited spare time spent birding), a quick summary of a really lovely seven-hours-plus yesterday, lapping up some fine incoming migration at my favourite coastal patch of Filey.

I only got back to York after a week guiding at Spurn late the night before (more on that to follow soon), and prior to that, I was in Scotland delivering our School of Birding Deep Dive Specials (more on that to follow, well, soon....), and despite having lots to attend to (and not feeling great), I couldn't resist....

The previous day saw the first magic switch to an easterly wind so far this autumn, and boy, did it deliver (check back soon for that Spurn entry!); today, the forecast was for strengthening south-easterlies, veering south-south-east, with the chance of storm fronts moving through. Opportunity knocks!

A few broken hours sleep later and I was parking up at Carr Naze shortly after dawn. Action was immediate; within five minutes or so, I'd watched lots of Redwings, Meadow Pipits, Song Thrushes, Reed Buntings and others bombing in off the sea ond over / past my head, and a Lapland Bunting trilled close by and inland. Game on.

It could really have gone either way, and I was half-expecting a fairly muted wander strutinising the cover for whatever leftovers were still lingering from yesterday's arrival. Long story short, it very much went the right way, and I was instantly locked in to my favourite mode - slow clifftop patrols, scanning and listening, pausing and strolling and pausing again. 

With at least a few hours to enjoy, I opted for long sessions on the wizened joke-shop-witches-finger of Carr Naze and its wild and weedy plateau flanked by steep slopes and crumbling cliffs, permeated by sessions checking nearby scrub and hedgerows. By mid-afternoon, I'd enjoyed an excellent quantity and quality of continental immigration, with many highlights...

... but there was only one real headline-grabber today - the beautiful Song Thrush, in its almost endless battling droves.

But for that initial arrival of Redwings early on, almost every other thrush between dawn and mid-afternoon was a Song Thrush - and my, there were a great many arriving. By the time I had to drag myself away, I'd a (bare) minimum of 842 having made it in off the sea, not including the masses in the bushes and scrub (which totalled another 300 or so, but will have included some overlap).

Many were in singles, many more were in small parties of two to five, and many others were in larger flocks of up to fifty - not a common scenario at all with this species, and clearly a rare occurence, at least in recent autumns. They arrived, across a broad front, channelling magically onto or along the flanks of Carr Naze - Filey at it's absolute, hypnotic best - whatever the conditions:

In sunshine, cloud, and (most numerously) when several storm fronts passed over, which - combined with a strong south-south-easterly - channelled the birds lower, over the waves and whipping up onto the Brigg. Some prolonged stretches saw a constant stream of birds arriving, some of which were literaly crash-landing onto the slopes in front of me.

There were plenty of other species arriving with them, including two Lapland Buntings (several hours apart), plenty of Skylarks, Starlings, a Wheatear, 28 Chaffinches, no fewer than 52 Bramblings, plus Redpolls, Rock Pipits, Siskins and Reed Buntings and among others; a pair of Ravens, in from the north were, amazingly, the first I've ever had in Filey.

In the scrub, bushes and hedgerows, well, it was again all about the thrushes - hundreds of them, ticking softly from every available piece of cover, ably backed up by Robins (up to 50 in the area, including many fresh-in on the slopes of Carr Naze) and many Chiffys. Scarcer species included a Ring Ouzel, a Pied Flycatcher, two Redstarts and at least two Yellow-browed Warblers - classic late September fare sprinkled throughout the day.

Robins facing off on the cliff slope (having only just arrived)

Ravens (above), Brambling (below)

A couple of very tired Chaffinches

Redstarts on Carr Naze