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Summer birding trip to UK (1 Viewer)

N

nwanko

Member
Czech Republic
Hello,

I am thinking about a summer birding trip to UK and asking for your help and tips for my stay.

I live in Prague and I will definetely take a flight to UK. I am considering my budget, so I would like to choose Ryanair or other low cost airline, so possible airports are Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, East Midland or London. I want to travel by public transport in the UK, so I am looking for some easily accessible birding sites. Would you help me to find some?

I am looking forward to watch birds which live near the sea - gulls, terns, waders, puffins etc. Especially birds which is not possible to watch in Czechia.

Thank you for your help

Daniel
 
Farne in North East England or Anglesey in North West Wales both fit the brief for seabirds. For waders maybe sites on the Humber (eg Blacktoft) or the Dee (eg Burton Mere Wetlands) could be thrown in.
 
I would have thought either Bempton Cliffs (East Yorkshire) or Anglesey (North Wales) would be good bets for auks, terns and other sea birds. Not sure about Yorkeshire public transport but would have thought Liverpool to Holyhead (Anglesey) on train should be achievable.
 
If you fly into Edinburgh you have easily accessible seabird colonies. The islands of the Firth of Forth are just off North Berwick which is a easily reached from Edinburgh by bus or train. You can then take a boat trip from North Berwick harbour. These typically go around the Bass Rock, the largest single island gannet colony in the world and one of the other islands with puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, shags and cormorants. The nearby sites include Musselburgh, where there will be scoters (up to 5 species in recent years) and the Lammermuir Hills with a high density of Red Grouse. From Edinburgh you can go by public transport north and west to the Highlands and the West Coast, for other seabirds like Black Guillemot, Manx Shearwater - as well as Cetaceans. Black Guillemot, Manx Shearwater and European Storm Petrel are present, in very low numbers, in the Firth of Forth but they are much more numerous and way easier to see on the West coast.
 
I second the shout out for the Edinburgh suggestion above.

An alternative might be to fly to Glasgow and then make your way by bus or train to Oban and catch a ferry to Mull. It's a bit more travelling than you'd need to do on the Edinburgh trip, but still a good one. On Mull there are companies that will take you out on land safaris to see the wildlife, and there are also several boat operators that visit islands such as Staffa and the Treshnish Isles. I think Mull's accommodation sells out quite quickly though so it might be worth booking early.

There are also boat trips that run from Oban itself, but you'd get more time at sea if you took one of the trips from Mull.
 
david kelly said:
If you fly into Edinburgh you have easily accessible seabird colonies. The islands of the Firth of Forth are just off North Berwick which is a easily reached from Edinburgh by bus or train. You can then take a boat trip from North Berwick harbour. These typically go around the Bass Rock, the largest single island gannet colony in the world and one of the other islands with puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, shags and cormorants. The nearby sites include Musselburgh, where there will be scoters (up to 5 species in recent years) and the Lammermuir Hills with a high density of Red Grouse. From Edinburgh you can go by public transport north and west to the Highlands and the West Coast, for other seabirds like Black Guillemot, Manx Shearwater - as well as Cetaceans. Black Guillemot, Manx Shearwater and European Storm Petrel are present, in very low numbers, in the Firth of Forth but they are much more numerous and way easier to see on the West coast.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot!!!
 
A few things to consider.

Mull is amazing, but I don't know how cheaply you'll be able to do it if you're budget is tight.

A Bempton/Farne combo gets you loads of breeding seabirds, excellent views of Gannets, Auks, Kittiwakes, Fulmars. I'm guessing you could bus it to Bempton. Train should get you close enough to Seahouses for a boat to Farne, loads of breeding Terns (including a few Roseates), Auks, Eiders. It's possible that you can score all the seabird species that you can at Bempton, but the Gannets would be fly-bys rather than on nests. Also, if bird flu flares up it may not be possible to land on Farnes, although I guess they'd still do boat trips round the islands.

A Chester/ Holyhead combo is you're other good option. Staying near Chester (easily reached by train from Manchester) will give you bus access to sites on the Dee, as well as to Gronant for the Little Tern colony.
Train from Chester to Holyhead is easy enough. Buses should get you to South Stack and fairly close to Cemlyn. The seabird colony at South Stack will get you similar species as at Bempton, but it is nothing like as impressive, and there are no nesting Gannets, just birds passing offshore. There are Chough here though.
Cemlyn is great for Terns, Sandwich, Arctic & Common, occasionally Roseates.
Black Guillemots are easy in Holyhead itself if you know where to look.

Avoid last week of May in England and Wales (school holidays). Scotland has different school holidays, not sure when the spring one is.

Further questions welcome.
 
Phil Andrews said:
I would have thought either Bempton Cliffs (East Yorkshire) or Anglesey (North Wales) would be good bets for auks, terns and other sea birds. Not sure about Yorkeshire public transport but would have thought Liverpool to Holyhead (Anglesey) on train should be achievable.
Click to expand...
There's a station at Bempton on the Scarborough-Hull line. There are stops at Filey and Bridlington as well, so it does give options for a number of sites in the area.
 
Of all the boats trips I done in the summer the best one I done is the Staffa and the Treshnish Isles when I did it (5+ years ago) you could do it all in from the Oban ferry company.
 
Thank all of you for your tips.

Now I consider two options:

The first one is a take a flight to Manchester, then bus/train to Bempton. Bempton cliffs seems to be a great site for birdwatching. Farne islands could be a great choice, too.

The second one is to fly to Edinburgh and from there it is close North Berwick. However, I checked the website of Scottish seabird centre (North Berwick) and it looks as if nearly all the the boatrips are sold out, especially the ones with landing on the island in early summer.

As you mentioned, Mull and other Herbides islands would be amazing, but not easily accessible by public transport. I have to give up these places.
 
nwanko said:
Thank all of you for your tips.

Now I consider two options:

The first one is a take a flight to Manchester, then bus/train to Bempton. Bempton cliffs seems to be a great site for birdwatching. Farne islands could be a great choice, too.

The second one is to fly to Edinburgh and from there it is close North Berwick. However, I checked the website of Scottish seabird centre (North Berwick) and it looks as if nearly all the the boatrips are sold out, especially the ones with landing on the island in early summer.

As you mentioned, Mull and other Herbides islands would be amazing, but not easily accessible by public transport. I have to give up these places.
Click to expand...
An alternative from Edinburgh would be to go over the Forth to Fife and get the boat from Anstruther to the Isle of May. There should be boats most days. This is a brilliant place for seabirds, with very large numbers of Puffins in particular. It's also a good place for bird migration. Anstruther is easily reached by bus.
 
nwanko said:
Thank all of you for your tips.

Now I consider two options:

The first one is a take a flight to Manchester, then bus/train to Bempton. Bempton cliffs seems to be a great site for birdwatching. Farne islands could be a great choice, too.

The second one is to fly to Edinburgh and from there it is close North Berwick. However, I checked the website of Scottish seabird centre (North Berwick) and it looks as if nearly all the the boatrips are sold out, especially the ones with landing on the island in early summer.

As you mentioned, Mull and other Herbides islands would be amazing, but not easily accessible by public transport. I have to give up these places.
Click to expand...
Check out the Sula Boat Trips Welcome to Sula Boat Trips

David
 
With us being an island you're coming to the right place for sea birds. I'd maybe head to the west coast of Scotland. Though it depends on the time of year I've spotted birds I've always wanted to see. Great skuas, Ospreys, and White tailed eagles to name a few.
Golden eagles aren't that difficult to see either if you come inland a bit. I wasn't even out birdwatching, I was working near Perth and one soared above every day, sometimes coming down very low. The owner of the house I was working on had to take his small white poodle inside during those times in case the eagle snatched it. I was actually hoping he'd forget one day just to see what happened.
 

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