This post covers July, August and September 2025. For parts one and two, see here and here.
The end of June and the beginning of July are a busy time these days, and it's all about guiding for the breeding seabirds - and one species in particular. The success of 2024's Puffin and Seabird Safaris was replicated in '25, but with more dates, which happily filled up especially quickly - perhaps not surprising, given the heavy focus on the species in question.
Yesterday was #WorldSeabirdDay, which I spent guiding my final Puffin & Seabird Specials at the mighty #Flamborough Head.
We had the privilege of watching this Puffling exploring the outside world for the first time. Good luck, little one... (1/2)
#yorksbirds #ukbirds #ukbirding #seabirds
It was a season to remember for many reasons, all of them good - as described in this article I wrote for the Yorkshire Coast Nature website recently. Here's to this summer and its magical Seabird experiences back in my home range.
Time out from bird surveys here in Cumbria to breakfast with the local Red Squirrels...
#ukwildlife #ukmammals
Several days surveying in Cumbria was a pleasure, too, with Red Squirrels, Redstarts, and Red sandstone monuments setting a theme (see here).....
Male Common Redstart, Cumbria, July
Surveying on the Humber in July, particularly on the south side at Killingholme, can only mean one thing - the riot of colour and sound that is returning Black-tailed Godwits. More here.
Black-tailed Godwits, Killingholme, Lincs, July
Come late July and it was time to head over to New England for what's become a fixed part of the calendar, to spend extended quality time with family and friends. Just over four weeks this time, and a similar pattern of manoeuvres to previous summers: much of our time based in Western Mass (split between the folk's place in rural Warren and brother Ned's in Greenfield), with plenty of travels factored in throughout.
Scarlet Tanager and Yellow Warbler, Deer Meadow Farm, Warren
These included an always wonderful few days in the backwaters of Maine with our dear friends Kat, George and Indigo; a week in the wilds of upstate New York with the in-laws and nieces; and various visits to family members across the length and breadth of Mass.
Good times in mid-coast Maine with our dear friends Katherine, George and Indigo, including some productive local birding sessions (with thanks to Indi for sharing her bird ID knowledge!) - several posts to follow, the first dedicated to warblers: northernrustic.blogspot.com/2025/08/main...
Birding, as you'd expect on a family-orientated trip in the quiet of late summer, was a low key affair, but there was plenty of opportunity and plenty of quality birds over the course of the trip.
Blue-winged Warbler in the garden, Warren, Mass
At the very beginning of the holiday, the temperature surged to a blistering 100°F, and so did what anybody with the means and the opportunity would do - we drove across state and booked on a whale-watching trip out of Gloucester, north-east Mass. It was still ridiculously warm, but at least we were at sea, and the conditions were just perfect....
... as were the cetaceans. Over the course of more than five hours offshore (much of the action being at the northern end of Jeffrey's Ledge, off the coast of Maine) we hit the jackpot, with a minimum of five Fin Whales, nine Humpbacks, a Minke, three pods of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins, and various sharks (several of the latter of which were likely Great Whites). A memorably day... lots more details, photos and videos here.
Our week in Roscoe - deep in the sticks of New York state - involved some quality early morning sessions with Ned at nearby hotspots, Corbett Road Outlook being a favourite (below). More here.
Birding around the family homestead in the backwaters of Warren - like anywhere locally (or indeed nationally) - can be very frustrating; either you stick to roads (far from ideal, even in the country), or if you stray into the woods / countryside, you run the very real risk of getting shot in the head or savaged by dogs. Such is the very grim reality of rural US culture, and away from designated preserves and national parks, general birding can be an overcomplicated and disillusioning experience.
Laughing Gull, Maine
Breakfast buddies here in Roscoe, NY
#BirdingUSA #NYstatebirds
With that in mind, regular readers may recall that, on our summer '24 trip, I bit the bullet (no pun intended) and, er, wandered innocently into an overgrown orchard and extensive scrubby garden just a few minutes up the hill; knowing the place was unoccupied, I birded it (very) quietly and enjoyed plenty of productive sessions.
American Red Squirrel, Warren, Mass
I did the same this year, but on one visit, bumped into the owner, who was moving stuff out of the house.... expecting the worst (always best out there), I was shocked to discover he was, in fact a lovely guy who was not only into his birds but volunteered permission for me to go there whenever I wanted! Stay tuned, then, for more happy reports from there this summer....
Even Old World Warblers can be colourful... juvenile Willow Warbler, Killingholme
Back home for the end of August and straight back into the cycle of surveying and guiding. The latter involved Killingholme, on the industrial south bank of the Humber, where there were not only many thousands of waders (especially Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets) but also an impressive fall of warblers in the (very limited) riverside scrub; there's something extra satisfying about experiencing an unexpected fall of migrants in far from optimal circumstances. More here.
The more time I spend in the States every summer, the less time I get to guide the YCN Seabird & Whale Adventures out of Staithes - and even then, being self-employed, I have to prioritise guaranteed work over that which is at the mercy of the North Sea. This season wasn't the best, personally at least, with a fair percentage of mine cancelled due to the conditions, and fairly limited returns on the ones that sailed.
A long and eventful day guiding out on the somewhat choppy but beautiful North Sea again today - two trips out off Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast for @yorkscoastnature.bsky.social blessed with Bottlenose Dolphins (top pic) and Minke Whales (lower), many too close to photograph!
That said, such returns were hardly dull, with plenty of Minke Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises involved, Caspian Gulls illuminating most of trips, and plenty of other great marine wildlife; and after last year's bonanza, it all has to balance out....
September was otherwise characteristically busy, with plenty of guiding at Flamborough and Spurn, with lots of quality birds (and clients ;-) at both, and the always fantastic Migfest over three days at the latter (this year I delivered a 'How to Find Rare Birds' seminar / workshop, to raise extra funds for the observatory, as well as leading guided walks and fronting our YCN stand).
Another great @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social #MIGFEST draws to a close, and what a blast it was... as usual, Richard and I gave talks and led walks, but, as usual, the highlight was catching up with our wonderful wider community....
*Thanks to Oliver (and mum Liz) for letting us use this photo!
Off-the-clock birding was naturally fitted in as and when, and as you might expect, concerned trips to the coast. With spare time at a premium and having moved to Yorvik, it's all about surgical strikes, and making the most of those opportunities.
Several memorable days back at Filey included an impressive fall of Pied Flycatchers, Whinchats and Redstarts on 7th:
A fine day patrolling coastal #Filey - totals included 17 Pied Flycatchers, 21 Whinchats, seven Redstarts and plenty more. More here: northernrustic.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-...
@nybirdnews.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social
A fantastic aggregation of terns on the Brigg at Filey early in the month was a joy to experience, and within the masses there were up to four Roseate Terns and three Black Terns - Quite a sight (and sound):
Yesterday morning I spent a few hours immersed in an avian feeding frenzy around #Filey Brigg, with many 1000s of birds enjoying the bounty. Among those were four Roseate Terns - and surprisingly, they were indulging in some cheeky kleptoparasitism: northernrustic.blogspot.com/2025/09/file...
Stealing birding time between surveying and impromptu sessions to and from sites resulted in some entertaning returns, including this couple of hours at Skipsea:
The road to nowhere... East Yorkshire at it's most East Yorkshire, with the bleak Holderness coast (un)welcoming a swathe of migrants breezing through for pastures new.
An Osprey in-off, Swifts, Little Gulls, Arctic Skuas, dark-bellied Brents and more: northernrustic.blogspot.com/2025/09/road...
As mentioned, guiding days at both Spurn and Flamborough were a joy as ever, with lots of migration to soak up (and some qualities rarities and scarcities, as ever):
1/2 With migration in full swing on the Yorkshire coast, guiding is likewise all systems go, with the last few days spent with many lovely clients at Flamborough and Bempton
.... we've enjoyed Siberian Stonechat, Barred and Yellow-browed Warblers, influxes of Goldcrests....
At the very end of March, it was time to head back up to the true North for an extended period over the border - firstly for our sixth School of Birding, and then for an off-the-clock trip to Orkney with the Mrs.
Skara Brae neolithic village - outrageous. More here
The School was excellent as ever (more here), blessed with a fine team and almost entirely lovely weather in the field; the Mrs arrived towards the end of the class, and we spent the second week of April in the cluster of Northern Isles I'd never visited before (plenty of happy times on the more distant Shetland, but none previously on its much nearer neighbours).
Based in a lovely old cottage on Burray, we enjoyed a week of exploring the islands, their culture, wildlife, and most memorably, their incredible neolithic monuments and settlements. If there's prehistoric sites around we try and factor them in to our travels, and happily we were able to explore almost all the sites we'd hoped to over the course of the week, and boy, what a mind-blowing series of sites they were...
A pair of Redshank (left-hand stone) breeding at the Ring of Brodgar
The birding was excellent, too, especially for raptors, seaducks and waders, with plenty more besides - see here and here for more.
Greater Scaup and Slavonian Grebe, Loch of Harray
The second half of April became increasingly busy (as it always does as the spring kicks in properly) with a combination of surveying, guiding, and additional birding sessions factored in where possible. Of the former, plenty on the Humber but also some up on the Moors, where we were looking for breeding waders at several key sites.
Stonechat, Filey
All of which were productive, but none more than the otherwise inaccessible land within the RAF Fylingdales base. I've surveyed its edges before, but this was the first time I'd been given free reign to scrutinise all the rich and varied landscape within its understandably impenetrable security...
On the scrubby, regenerating slopes, we'd Redstarts and Tree Pipits (above) on territory, as well as multiple Cuckoos, Grasshopper Warblers, Ring Ouzels, lots of Stonechats, Willow Warblers and Whitethroats, and pleasingly numerous Whinchats; while in the more fertile upland areas, we'd Golden Plovers, Snipe, Curlews and Lapwings to plot on the maps. So that's how good our moorlands can be....
Adder and Curlews, RAF Fylingdales
Guiding concerned a run of days at Flamborough and Bempton, which were blessed with good weather and lots of good birding - timed for migrants, we were suitably spoiled for them, with the full range of warblers, Yellow Wagtails, Wheatears, and other long-distance returnees complimented by scarcities which included Spotted Crake and Subalpine Warbler.
Golden and White-tailed Eagles, South Uist
For May, another month, another great trip to Scotland - this time to the Outer Hebrides. It was our first School of Birding School Trip - i.e., a purely birding holiday for 'graduates' of our Schools, where we get to relax a bit more and focus just on in-the-field adventures - which was a great success, and hugely enjoyable from start to finish.
Male Ruff and Short-eared Owl, both on territory, North Uist
Bookended by overnight stays at our (familiar) Highland bolthole of Grantown-on-Spey, our ten days, ten guests, two vehicles and two leaders involved everything you'd hope for from such a trip in spring - great birds and birding, epic landscapes, beautiful beaches, a lovely team (and lots of laughs), a perfect hotel and yep, more great weather.
Avian highlights included plenty of Corncrakes (and many wonderful views!), breeding Hen Harriers, Golden and White-tailed Eagles, many Short-eared Owls, huge flocks of waders along the beaches and in the machair and plenty more - see here for more.
Back to Yorkshire for the latter part of May and much of June, where late spring migration was relatively uneventful, but the forests were bursting with life as always, both while surveying and just arsing around. The usual heady mix of Crossbills, Honey-buzzards, Nightjars, Goshawks, Adders and (much) more made for plenty of memorable days up there once again. More here.
Through at Flamborough for a brief family visit, and a morning walk on the clifftop on the tip of the Head in a blustery south-easterly - huge crashing waves, not another soul around, and loads of birds on the move....
... which were, handily, close in, heading into the wind and allowing lovely views. Lots of Kittiwakes, other gulls, Gannets - and a wonderful, constant procession of Fulmars. After just mentioning how it good it looked for one, what should swing effortlessly into view but a beautiful, smoky, stunning Blue Fulmar, from a long way north....
... what a beauty. Back up during 90 minutes strolling and stopping along the clifftop included a Northern Guillemot and two argentatus Herring Gulls, and a dedicated seawatch would've put some serious totals on the board (and perhaps further scarcities) - but that'll do more than nicely for a fairly brief family session.
