Flamborough Headland, situated on the North Sea coast of East Yorkshire, is renowned for having the largest mainland seabird colony in Britain and a reputation for the best seawatching on the British east coast. Not least, the area is a fantastic place to witness bird migration and see small birds such as thrushes, chats and warblers making landfall after crossing the North Sea. It also has an impeccable pedigree in attracting scarcities from continental Europe and many rarities from farther east.

Events

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  The Rarity Garden
  Join us for a very special afternoon at The Living Seas Centre, South Sea Road, Flamborough, Sunday, 15 February 2026, 2pm – 5pm. Refreshments will be available after the talk. **** FULLY BOOKED **** Free Entry • Seats are limited, booking is essential. To book, please email: events@flamboroughbirdobs.org.uk Start the…
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  Event Dates for 2026
  Flamborough Seabird Festival 2026 The Flamborough Seabird Festival 2026 will take place over the weekend of Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June. The programme will include a series of walks principally focused on Flamborough’s seabirds when the colonies are at their busiest. Migweek 2026 Migweek 2026 will take place Saturday…

Latest Sightings

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  23rd January 2026
  Overcast, with misty conditions and light rain, strong east-south-east winds, and a high of seven degrees C. A total of 43 Russian White-fronted Geese roosted once again on the outer head before they flew off west. Additional wildfowl interest included three Eiders on the seawatch, three Gadwall and 105 Teal…
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  22nd January 2026
  Overcast throughout, with strong east-south-east winds, rain arriving early evening and a maximum of six degrees C. A Blue Fulmar and a single Snow Bunting flew south past the Fog Station in the morning. Forty-one Russian White-fronted Geese and eight Pink-footed Geese roosted on the outer head before flying inland…
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  21st January 2026
  Strong south-east winds were a particular feature of a mainly overcast and wet day; temperatures reached seven degrees C. Two Shelduck and eight Great Crested Grebes were recorded off the Fog Station. The Thornwick area hosted 30 Teal, 12 Tufted Ducks and a Jack Snipe. Elsewhere, four Woodcocks remained at…
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  20th January 2026
  A fresh south-south-easterly brought variable cloud cover and a maximum temperature of 8°C. A flock of 34 Russian White-fronted Geese flew over Northcliff Marsh and a further six were at Michlemires. Lapwings were also moving with 93 passing south over the Outer Head. Other sightings included 33 Woodcocks, a Jack…

Daily Birding Highlights

The Ringing Diary

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  Migweek 2025
  Every year FBO runs its Migweek event, offering daily guided walks, daily ringing demonstrations, talks and a migration station providing info, merchandise and chat. The event continues to grow in popularity with this year being the best ever with a big increase in visitor numbers. The team ran eleven ringing…
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  September 2025
  This month saw the final preparations for Migweek, with the clearing of rides at South Landing being completed. Twenty seven sessions were run across the headland including three at RSPB Bempton. Towards the end of the month we welcomed Dr. Joe Wynn from Liverpool University who is researching where trans-siberian…
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  August 2025
  What an amazing month for our ringing team! Thirty-one sessions were held at eight different sites which yielded a fabulous 1301 birds of which 1163 were newly ringed and 137 were re-traps, with two UK controls and one foreign control. Our team ran two public demonstrations on 16th & 17th…
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  July 2025
  The calm weather of July gave our team more opportunities to hold ringing sessions this month, with 33 run at 7 sites, including Thornwick roost, CES at Thornwick, South Landing and our usual garden sites. A total of 596 birds were caught with 551 of these newly ringed plus 45…

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