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
- Migweek 2026 Programme
Saturday 10th – Sunday 18th October 2026 Every day Ringing Demonstration 8am – 12pm at the Living Seas Centre, Flamborough Come and meet FBO’s ringing team, see birds up close and discover the secrets of migration that bird ringing is helping to discover. ** Bird welfare is paramount – demonstrations will be cancelled if the…
Latest Sightings
- 25th September 2026
Generally overcast, with light westerly winds and temperatures peaking at 18 degrees C. A Cory’s Shearwater that flew north close inshore past the Fog Station at 0900hrs headlined, with a juvenile Long-tailed Skua also lingering offshore. Additional seawatch records included 35 Little Gulls, two Mediterranean Gulls, two first-winter Caspian Gulls,… - 24th September 2026A moderate southerly airstream developed during a sunny day, with temperatures reaching 19 degrees C. The day’s most impressive sighting related to a flock of eight Great White Egrets that flew south-east past RSPB Bempton Cliffs at 1830hrs and the Fog Station at 1844hrs. Eight Long-tailed Skuas were the highlight…
- 23rd September 2026A day of two halves that began with very light winds, sunny intervals and temperatures that reached 19 degrees C; but ended with blustery northerlies and temperatures no higher than 13 degrees. Two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas were recorded during seawatching along with four Sooty Shearwaters and 24 Little Gulls. Wildfowl…
- 22nd September 2026Sunny, with light winds and a high of 19 degrees C. Seawatch records included a Black Tern, two Little Gulls, two first-winter Yellow-legged Gulls and a Sooty Shearwater. Duck were also on the move, with 34 Teal off the Fog Station and another 190 off Beacon Hill. Elsewhere, South Landing…
Daily Birding Highlights
Recent Birding Highlights
Click on the button below for full details of all birding highlights for the last 30 days. The posts are ordered with the latest first.
Birding Highlights Archive
Select the required month and highlights for every day will be presented for the chosen period. This archive goes back to 2014 and posts ordered with the earliest first.
The Ringing Diary
- January – June 2026A brief round up of the efforts of the FBO ringing team over the first half of the year, generally our quietest period, we are often hampered by wind and/or rain. Our ringing tends to begin in earnest around mid April when migrant birds begin to arrive, then in May…
- 2025 Ringing Round-up2025 has been an excellent year for our ever-growing ringing team with new trainees joining us and two more ringers becoming licensed trainers. This year we completed 272 ringing sessions across ten different sites. We took part in six projects :- RAS-Re-trapping adults for survival, CES-Constant Effort site, NRS-Nest record…
- Migweek 2025Every 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…
- September 2025This 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…
Click on the button below for full details of all posts about ringing. The posts are ordered with the latest first.