This post covers August and September 2023. See previous posts for earlier in the year.
As has been the norm for some years now, late July signalled the beginning of our Yorkshire Coast Nature Seabird and Whale Adventures out of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast, which continue through to the end of September. It was another season of great sightings (including many whales, dolphins, quality seabirds and huge Common Scoter passage), but one of the standout highlights was a close-up Ocean Sunfish (a rare species in the North Sea).
Ocean Sunfish right by the boat in this afternoon's @YCNature pelagic out of Staithes, North Yorks! Not often the Minkes play second fiddle..... pic.twitter.com/ScjFirq8EN
For the latter two weeks of August, we headed south to the migration crossroads of Tarifa, the south-western tip of Iberia, where I co-led a Yorkshire Coast Nature trip with our friends Inglorious Bustards. Amity and I arrived a week before the group, ostensibly on a recon, and also to enjoy some downtime in the sunshine.
Griffon Vulture (on the wall outside our lodge front door)
How was it? Well, both weeks were wonderful, and we (and the clients) enjoyed epic raptor migration, beautiful scenery, rustic lodge-style accommodation and unforgettable experiences with a whole range of cetaceans in the Strait of Gibraltar.
(Happily, I'll be leading the same trip this summer, and there are still spaces left.... see here for details)
Little Swift, Andalucia
With plenty of time deliberately set aside for birding, I'd resolved to really make the most of the autumn here on my doorstep, stepping up my (already enviable) local birding opportunities and lapping up as much migration as I could, from August to, well, whenever it finally ended.
Sooty Shearwater, Filey
I hit the ground running immediately on return from Tarifa, greeted by huge feeding frenzies of seabirds, many of which were very close inshore (to an unprecedented degree, in recent times at least) off the Brigg and in the bay here at Filey. Countless thousands of birds were involved, like nothing I've ever seen here, and longer-term locals maintain it was like nothing they'd ever encountered, either - truly breathtaking scenes.
One of many Caspian Gulls....
Several days from 31st August onwards were the most consistently intense, although it continued well beyond that, and periodically intensified again throughout September. The most numerous species were gulls, terns, auks and gannets, with shearwaters and (particularly) skuas often joining the fray.
Common Crossbill, Arndale, 18th Sep - a rare bird on the deck locally!
Terns included many hundreds of Common, several Black and Little, plenty of Arctic and Sandwich, and regular Roseates (with seven on 1st Sep) - indeed, a six tern species session on 1st Sep on the Brigg was a rare occasion here. Both Manx and Balearic Shearwaters joined the throng, and skuas were plentiful - double figures of Arctics were standard, with both Long-tailed and Pomarine dropping in on several occasions (although Bonxies were notably, expectedly scarce).
At least two of the seven plus Caspian Gulls in this evening's huge inshore feeding frenzy by the Brigg here in #Filey. If you can find more, let me know, I'm too tired! pic.twitter.com/6TQkUE00I8
Gulls included many thousands of Herring, big numbers of Common and Black-headed, regular Little (with an outstanding 232 on 3rd), Yellow-legged and Mediterranean, and, fantastically, many Caspians; it was a thrill to pick out a minimum of eight on 31st and multiples on many days thereafter of a species that was a genuine local rarity here just a few years ago.
Screaming, shitting and haranguing during a brief break on a long journey, this Roseate Tern youngster reminded me why I don't have kids 😁 #Filey@ZEISSBirdingpic.twitter.com/oRMWTUGOPH
A Brown Booby, intitally picked up at Flamborough, frequented the bay for a couple of days, too - amazingly flying parallel with me along the shoreline as I took my regular beach run on 4th... which I celebrated with one of many swims in the sea around this time, routinely surrounded by noisy swirls of terns, skuas, auks and gulls.
Best ROAR (Rare On A Run) ever? My usual #Filey beach run had an exotic guest among the tourists today - a Brown Booby, which cut inshore and gave amazing views! Celebratory swim with Arctic Skuas and terns all around me soon followed.... 1/2 pic.twitter.com/F0HnBFrMPz
By the second week of September it was time for the Spurn Migration Festival (Migfest), and what a blast it was. We (Yorkshire Coast Nature) were there as always, to exhibit at our stand, lead walks etc, as well as sponsoring the lecture marquee - we've been proudly involved since day one and it's a real pleasure to see Migfest in such great shape and more inclusive than ever.
Back at Filey, the sea continued to provide, and by mid-month it wasn't just about the inshore feeding frenzies - favourable winds meant lots of very productive autumnal seawatching. The 13th was particularly enjoyable, with six hours producing five shearwater species (as well as a Leach's and more):
The face of a happy birder, who - after years seawatching on the Yorks coast - saw five Shearwater species on the same day for the first time here y'day; throw in Leach's Storm-petrel, four Long-tailed Skuas, Minke Whales & lots more, and it was a good, good day here in #Filey. pic.twitter.com/bqsOgzAfzd
... while the 16th was also very productive, with all four skuas (including four Long-tails), lots of Sooties (over 50) and Manxies, two Balearics, more Casps and a Sabine's Gull over nine hours observations.
Whooper Swan, in off the sea at Bempton, 23rd Sep - one of a pair that were the first to arrive on the Yorkshire coast this autumn
But for some happily productive guiding days at Flamborough and Bempton, the latter part of the month was unremarkable, and dominated by a procession of low pressure systems and strong south-westerlies - but October was just around the corner, and full of promise.....
