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.
Latest Sightings
- 26th April 2026
A light/moderate south-easterly wind developed during a day that comprised sunny intervals and a high of 13 degrees C. The morning seawatch highlights consisted five Eider and an Arctic Skua flying south, while 11 Sandwich Terns and three Manx Shearwaters headed north. Eight Gadwall included five on Thornwick Pools, where… - 25th April 2026
Although the day began with light winds and sunshine, the advent of blustery northerlies brought cloudier skies; temperatures reached no higher than 11 degrees C. Three Gadwall, a Little Ringed Plover, two Dunlin, one Snipe, three Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper were recorded on the outer head. A substantial arrival… - 24th April 2026Early morning fog soon cleared to leave a bright sunny day, light south-east winds and a best of 13 degrees C. Three Whimbrel, a Greenshank and a Bar-tailed Godwit overflew the Lighthouse. Elsewhere, Thornwick Pools attracted three Gadwall and three Snipe. Passerine migrants were scarce, although two Ring Ouzels and…
- 23rd April 2026A moderate easterly blew all day, occasional sunny spells and a maximum temperature of 12°C. Seawatching yielded a Whimbrel, an Arctic Skua and three Shelduck. A Manx Shearwater was feeding off Cattlmere and further along the south cliff a second year Caspian Gull was on the rocks. The numbers of…
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
- 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…
- August 2025What 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…
Click on the button below for full details of all posts about ringing. The posts are ordered with the latest first.