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.

Blue-winged & Yellow Warblers - Massachusetts, Jul / Aug '25

And so our four-plus weeks of New England summer are coming to end once again. As ever we've based ourselves here at the in-laws place in rural Western Mass, the Mrs' childhood home, and although we've spent plenty of that time elsewhere, we've been here for multiple several-day stretches.

Which means there's been decent opportunities for both running and birding. Both involve navigating the single-track road just around the corner up Bragg Hill - my arch nemesis for the former, but just a brief inconvenience when walking to Deer Meadow Farm, the aformentioned abandoned, overgrown orchard, for the latter.

Of which: after seeing a U-Haul van and a dumpster in the driveway there the other day, I assumed my happy-tresspassing-summer-local-patch days were over. Happily, not so; as I emerged from the orchard for what I thought might be the last time, I bumped into the owner - who turns out to be a lovely guy who's into his birds, who (without prompting) offered access for me anytime I wanted. Thanks, Todd - I'll be back back next summer!

The garden here on Cronin Road is often quality, too, with lots of species in the line of scrub and woods at the back - indeed, these close-up Blue-winged Warbler shots were taken ten paces from our bedroom - and like everywhere here, it's gonna be a lot more productive in a couple of weeks time when migration kicks in properly.

But I'll be back in Yorkshire, doing plenty of birding, guiding and boast trips. Doesn't sound too awful to be absolutely honest.