Given October easterlies have been made illegal down the East Coast, have to settle for a palette other than 'Sibe'. Six Bearded Tits (very!) high over @flamboroughbird.bsky.social today - dropped into cover crop before disappearing back into the stratosphere and moving off south. Far from annual.

Still at least ten Yellow-browed Warblers around the headland @flamboroughbird.bsky.social including two at South Landing, where this Pied Flycatcher fed in the sycamore canopy.

Clearly hoping for a different sort of 'brow', this Yellow-browed Warbler nevertheless provided yesterday's highlight. I was stood on the seaward side of the Fog Station @flamboroughbird.bsky.social grilling Robins, when this little sprite called over the sea before making landfall on the fence.

The ultimate technophobe, it's taken me three months to 'pluck up the courage' to set up and take out the new camera. Glad its first day coincided with two good birds @flamboroughbird.bsky.social. Dotterel & Lapland Bunting yesterday, both so much scarcer over recent years.

Migweek 2026 is live ! Please follow the link to this year’s event list, with expert talks by Craig Thomas, Joe Wynn and Keith Clarkson, guided walks, vismigging and bird ringing demonstrations plus much more don’t miss out. flamboroughbirdobs.org.uk/events/migwe...

Join FBO for the Seabird Festival next weekend to celebrate the iconic breeding birds of the headland. Open Seawatch observatory and expert evening guided walks, it’s not to be missed!

Having missed lunch break, didn’t look like I’d get out … then a meeting was bumped by an hour. A quick walk up Beacon Hill @flamboroughbird.bsky.social rewarded when dropped onto our first Red-footed Falcon (a female) for 14 years! Happily seen by a few locals late afternoon.

This morning’s @flamboroughbird.bsky.social seawatch team rewarded with an adult Long-tailed Skua north at 1012hrs; also 379 Manx Shearwaters north. @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

First passerine migrant I’ve bumped into in two days … female Red-breasted Flycatcher in bushes next to @flamboroughbird.bsky.social lighthouse. Nice start to the day

A touch of the Mediterranean @flamboroughbird.bsky.social this morning. Bumped into six passerine migrants, a Wheatear, 3 Spotted Flycatchers, a Golden Oriole & a Woodchat. Not too shabby!

Bigger seas still @flamboroughbird.bsky.social in face-numbingly strong easterly winds resulted in an enjoyable seawatch: ten White-fronted Geese south, 1 Velvet Scoter, 1 Puffin, 3 Little Auks north & 2 Blue Fulmars.

Strong easterlies produced big seas & bracing temperatures @flamboroughbird.bsky.social … but also birds. 12 Tundra Bean & 48 White-fronted Geese the highlight along with a Blue Fulmar, adult Little Gull & 1st winter Caspian Gull.

First chance to scour the outer head since the north-east winds/snow. Picked out a Tundra Bean amongst the Pink-feet to trigger the year’s first @flamboroughbird.bsky.social mini-twitch. 51 Woodcock an excellent tally, also 40 Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe & a whopping 635 Linnets on North Marsh cover crop.

Car left at home for obvious reasons & hiked out to the @flamboroughbird.bsky.social Seawatch Obs. Heavy snow meant the sea wasn’t visible often, but two Manx Shearwaters still surprised. Best a Woodcock that hadn’t heard snow-deadened footsteps approaching & flew up over my right foot!

Sunrise @flamboroughbird.bsky.social ushers in 2026. Enjoyable day wandering the headland rewarded with 2 Great Northern Divers, 4 Velvet Scoters, 2 Russian White-fronts & a Long-tailed Duck.

It’s never over until it’s over. If November is the new October, then even December remains in play. Nevertheless, finding a Little Bunting along the South Cliffs @flamboroughbird.bsky.social this morning was not on the radar. @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

Cracking morning @flamboroughbird.bsky.social with a ‘Seawatch’ Waxwing in off that rested in the Gorse Field. A male Northern Bullfinch likely originated from same area. Also 11 Whoopers, 2 Merlin, ‘new’ Yellow-browed Warbler, 27 Twite, male Snow Bunting & low 100s thrushes arriving.

A glorious morning @flamboroughbird.bsky.social in every sense. Watching two Minke Whales lunge feeding amongst seabird frenzies when a vocal Bee-eater circled overhead at 0945hrs before drifting south. @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

'High pressure' spring birding on the east coast not for the faint-hearted. Today's find a female 'grey-headed' wagtail on the @flamboroughbird.bsky.social golf course - the day's only passerine migrant. Walked 41km this weekend for the oriole, the wagtail and 2 Northern Wheatears 😅

My only migrant find @flamboroughbird.bsky.social this morning a singing first-summer male Golden Oriole. Distant (obviously 😉), it soon moved on. After yesterday’s spoonbills, another species that featured on my Lesvos trip - keep going at this rate & the cinereous bunting twitch will be popular!

Nice start to my first day's birding @flamboroughbird.bsky.social in three weeks - two Spoonbills circled the outer head and then flew south-west at 0750hrs. @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

Birds concentrated on ice free cliff top fields @flamboroughbird.bsky.social. Thought the Lesser White-fronts had left, so surprised when they crested a field I was walking towards - dived behind a hedge and treated to best views yet. Winter thrushes, Woodcock and this Water Rail also showing well.

Snow Bunting by name, snow bunting by nature. A flock of 32 birds on Beacon Hill @flamboroughbird.bsky.social this morning. Small numbers of Golden Plovers, Lapwing, Fieldfare & 1000s of Common Gulls along the cliffs further evidence of cold weather movement #UKbirds

A mid-winter walk along the South Cliffs @flamboroughbird.bsky.social often just a case of counting wintering Stonechats. Today was different ... a flock of 26 Snow Buntings surprised, but a gorgeous adult Iceland Gull the highlight - the headland's first white-winged gull for over a year!

Happy New Year from the @flamboroughbird.bsky.social seawatch team. Enjoyable company during a relatively quiet few hours, but two Velvet Scoters a bonus.

So 2024 highlights, (re-)finding Eastern Olivaceous & Blyth's Reed Warblers @flamboroughbird.bsky.social. Also lucky enough to see 3 of my most wanted: Hoatzin, Pel's Fishing Owl & Crescent-faced Antpitta. The latter the first bird to bring tears to me eye as I crouched in the cloud forest. #birds

Morning walk @flamboroughbird.bsky.social felt like a lament to days gone by. Highlights two drake Pochard (a species I no longer see annually) & a flock of seven Corn Buntings; the largest flock I've come across on the outer head for years.

An exciting 35 minutes at South Landing @flamboroughbird.bsky.social from first light (actually just before first light) rewarded with 45 Little Auks moving 'north-east' & hundreds of Kittiwakes streaming past. #UKBirding

Our Storm Darragh garden clean up had to wait for the inevitable seawatch @flamboroughbird.bsky.social. The gale force northerlies produced with 52 Little Auks, four Puffins, a Black-necked Grebe, 2 Great Northern Divers, 3 Sooty Shearwaters & 5 Manx Shearwaters all reorientating back north.

Eye of the storm @flamboroughbird.bsky.social. Took advantage of brief calm to walk the outer head ... the Lesser White-fronts with their White-front friend were still present. A Great Northern Diver flew south, while this confiding Snow Bunting was my first of the winter. #UKbirding