Will Scott

Spring feel at Bempton Cliffs this morning. A few finches, buntings and Dunnocks on the move, plus a White-front through. Lots of seabirds getting ready for the season ahead!

Nice start to the year locally, with at least 2 Siberian Chiffchaff amongst 10+ Common Chiffs and a couple of intergrades at Hunmanby Water Treatment Works. By far the most Chiffs I've ever had in winter there. This was followed by a brutally cold seawatch at Flamborough that produced a Med Gull.

Recovery map, showing the distance between ringing (12/02/2024) and encounter (08/06/2025) locations

Turnstone ringed in Southend-on-Sea in February 2024

Qikiqtaaluk Region: the administrative region of Nunavut where Alert is located. May 2025.

Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)

Great morning around Bempton Cliffs today! Over 500 Pink-feet, 167 Lapwing and 19 Snow Bunting moved overhead, whilst fields supported 120 Corn Bunting, Lapland Bunting, 85 Yellowhammer. 2 Woodcock, 2 Chiffchaff and 3 Goldcrest were in the bushes, and 33(+) BN Dolphin moved NW.

Lovely views of the Eastern Black Redstart at St Mary's Church in Scarborough this afternoon, despite the torrential rain! It spent most of the time sheltering beneath broken gravestones.

A #BlackpollWarbler banded on the Farallones surprises birders 400 miles away in Los Angeles! Farallones vagrants are seldom resighted and some scientists think they are misorienting towards the Pacific with fatal consequences. This #bird defied the odds by making it safely back to the mainland! 🦉🌎🧪

A flyover Common Rosefinch was the highlight of today's arrival at Bempton Cliffs! Sadly it didn't stick around. Also Green Sand in off, 5 Pied Fly, 8+ Whinchat, 2 Spot Fly, etc.

Minimum of 12 1w Caspian Gulls on Bridlington South Beach this evening! Possibly more on the water, and I didn't have time to check the gulls to the south towards Fraisthorpe. Also Yellow-legged Gull, hybrid HG x Casp, 100s Common Tern south, 150 Turnstone. ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Remembering the 'great fall' of 1965 Sixty years to the day of one of the most sensational falls of migrant birds ever to have been documented in Britain, Moss Taylor looks back at this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Remembering the 'great fall' of 1965

Sixty years to the day of one of the most sensational falls of migrants ever to have been documented in Britain, Moss Taylor looks back at this once-in-a-lifetime event:

Migweek 2025 - Flamborough Bird Observatory Saturday 12th – Sunday 19th October 2025 Events Programme The full programme is not yet settled. The events shown below are confirmed but there we are hoping to add further events over the coming week...

Migweek 25 programme is live!!
Join us on the headland from 11th-19th of October for this free event celebrating the miracle of migration !
Please note all walks and in person talks require booking due to limited numbers.
Follow link for details
flamboroughbirdobs.org.uk/events/migwe...

Pristine juv Honey Buzzard over the house this morning. Initially low, then gained height until very high NW. Perhaps climbing to cut out across Filey Bay. Welcome house-tick!

Quality over quantity on this evenings RSPB pelagic off Flamborough. Highlights included juv LT Skua, 6 Arctic Skua, Roseate Tern, 5 Caspian Gull and a Great Crested Grebe.

Two of three freshly arrived Purple Sandpiper south of Bridlington Harbour this evening, feeding amongst Turnstone. Just the one Casp tonight, but fewer gulls present.

Some quality gull action by Bridlington Spa this evening, with at least 6 Caspian and a Yellow-legged (all juvs / 1w). Lots of terns feeding in the bay and 8 Teal dropped onto the sea. ebird.org/checklist/S2...

At least 9 Willow Warbler and a Tree Pipit at Bempton Cliffs this afternoon. A Purple Sandpiper heading NW at sea with a flock of Curlew was only the third I've had on the patch!

Early this morning #Whimbrel POTSKAR landed in Guinea, W Africa, after flying 7000+km from St-Petersburg, Russia. It took POTSKAR 5.5 days of NON-STOP flight, varying altitude from 10s of meters over the Baltic and the Med, to >5km over land. #ornithology

www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

Motherfucking wind farms…

More hints of early autumn at Bempton Cliffs today. A few migrant Willow Warblers joined the locals, three juv Marsh Harriers moved through and a juv Kestrel in off the sea quickly learned to avoid the Herring Gulls. Lots of juv Swallows and a few Yellow Wags moved through and 4 Minkes were present.

"Has the Albatross been seen?" "Sadly not for a few days now..."

Culling old memory cards and found this from 2021 at #Bempton - not my best but surely my most caption-friendly photo of the BBA....

@rspb.bsky.social @bemptonbirder.bsky.social #Seabirds #Yorksbirds #Albatross

Lovely trip to Bempton Cliffs from Bridlington. Big increase in Puffins lately, including lots of immature non-breeding birds. Large feeding frenzies of Kitts and auks on the south side of the headland contained a 2cy Med Gull, whilst several Red Admirals headed for land low across the waves!

A female Western Gull was recorded riding 150km in a garbage truck from San Francisco to a compost facility in Central CA, probably to forage. TWICE. An innovator, an icon, a genius.

This is one of my favorite @waterbirdsociety.bsky.social papers I've ever handled as managing editor #ornithology

Adam Hutt, Ollie Metcalf and Jack Ashton-Booth stand on top of a dark bank.

Stop 1 of Yorkshire 24 hr Bird Race. 00:30 and 15 species. Highlights include Bittern, Cetti's, Barnacle Goose and Badger. Donate here to support @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social Jack Snipe project www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...

Help raise £1500 to support animals – JustGiving Crowdfunding Iʼm raising money to support animals. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

We’re going to be doing a 24hr bird race around Yorkshire next Saturday 10th May, trying to see as many species as we can to raise money for our MOTUS Jack Snipe project www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding... @ollie333.bsky.social @jabbirdart.bsky.social

Great views of the Filey Eastern Subalpine Warbler rounded off a lovely Easter weekend's birding locally. Highlights included a surprise Cory's Shearwater past Bempton, the Ashy-headed Wagtail and Blue-headed Wagtail at Flamborough, the Bonaparte's Gull at Hornsea and a selection of common migrants!

We're pleased to be able to share this good news story about one of our #LDV Curlew ahead of #WorldCurlewDay tomorrow - full report on facebook.com/LDVNNR/ @naturalengland.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social @waderquest.bsky.social

#SuperSeabirdSunday Puffins showing well at RSPB Bempton Cliffs yesterday. #Birdguides #BemptonCliffs

I think it has a long way to go!!

A nice mix of migrants at Bempton Cliffs this afternoon, with totals including 14 Willow Warbler, 7 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, Whitethroat, 4 Song Thrush, 3 Redwing, 24 Robin (including some very grey birds) and 2 Yellow Wagtail. A new Moorhen also joined the resident pair. @flamboroughbird.bsky.social

My first Wheatear of the year graced the ploughed fields by Wandale Farm at Bempton this morning. Thrushes had also arrived, with 34 Blackbirds, 4 Redwing and 4 Fieldfare. Seabirds continue to return en masse, and a bloodied Gannet was a reminder of how brutal territorial disputes can be!

Good fun co-leading the first of our regular guided walks at #Bempton Cliffs @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social for the lovely volunteer team there with @bemptonbirder.bsky.social - challenging conditions but three Woodcocks stole the show....