Best european seawatching spots for (seawatching) beginner (1 Viewer)

[David_]

Hello,

living away from the coast I have never been seawatching. The closest thing I have done is the ferry to Heligoland.

For next year I‘d like to do some seawatching somewhere Europe. So what are Europes best seawatching spots for beginners and what is the best time of the year?
Is it better to start land based or do a Pelagic trip first? A Pelagic would have the benefit of being guided and probably get closer looks than watching from land. So maybe a combination of doing a Pelagic first and than spend some days at the coast (ideally an area where are other interesting birding locations nearby)?

 

[Butty]

You really want 'the best' suddenly and all at once? Why not just spend as much time as boredom permits looking straight out to sea whenever you're near it? Obviously, places that have some sort of 'headland' aspect to their geography are more productive than those buried away in bays, etc. As in so many aspects of birding, one gathers experience bit by bit.

 

[David_]

I didn‘t mean best in terms of seeing the most species or rarest species but as the best place to learn.
I am fully aware that one gathers experience bit by bit and this is not a query about how to see the most seabird species on a trip.
Living away from the coast I rarely spend time there. So if I am traveling to the sea why not go somewhere where there is a good chance to see a bigger number of seabirds?

 

[DMW]

Are you able to travel at fairly short notice? Weather conditions make a huge difference to most land-based seawatching locations, and can be the difference between staring at a mostly empty sea and seeing large numbers of seabirds.
If you can do this, you could get to one of the regular seawatching headlands in Cornwall or SW Ireland and be pretty certain of there being experienced seawatchers in situ. If you ask nicely, somebody is bound to help you out.
Alternatively, one of the French Channel sites such as Le Clipon might be easier for you to visit. It will be a rather different set of birds but still plenty to see.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Some good advice already. I'm unsure what seawatching in Germany is like (probably more interesting for wildfowl on the Baltic coast, and a small chance of more pelagic species on the Nordsee coast) so heading to one of the hotspots in western Europe probably makes more sense. Cornwall, Ireland and Portugal are all the classic locations (e.g. Porthgwarra, Bridges of Ross, Sagres), or if you wanted a pelagic experience, there are trips out from the Isles of Scilly and Pembrokeshire in the UK (I'm unsure about other countries). The crossing between Portsmouth and Bilboa used to be quite good, but I'm not sure it runs any more.
Hopefully you will receive better advice from others who don't get sea-sick in the bath...

 

[Mike Crawley]

Google (other search engines are available) Scilly Pelagics.
It’s expensive but it’s a great opportunity to get out on a small boat and get really close views of shearwaters, petrels (including Wilson’s) and other pelagic wildlife

If that’s too extreme, there are some great headlands in Cornwall that I have seen some great birds from.
I haven’t been to Southern Ireland but some famous spots there too.

No doubt France, Portugal and Spain have some great spots too.

 

[cafe birder]

I would recommend booking accomodation for 2 weeks next September in West Cornwall. Go to Pendeen or Porthgwarra depending on wind direction and stare out for several hours. At first it can be a bit overwhelming but there will be others around to point you in the right direction and gradually those black dots will start to make sense. You will be best to use a scope and Pendeen has a big advantage in the presence of a number of offshore rocks. This means you know you are looking at the right bit of sea, which is surprisingly difficult to do otherwise. I suggest at least 1 to 2 or more weeks as it's not a skill most develope overnight. Short pelagic trips from Penzance will also help. Several French headlands are also good as are some Iberian ones. The latter look set to become the premier spots in Europe.
Have fun, you won't regret it
Regards Howard

 

[Ribbon]

A bit closer to Germany there's Westkapelle in The Netherlands. Probably not the greatest spot in Europe, but the hide is pretty close to the sea which can give good views of the birds passing by. I've had wonderful days at the place and it's a must visit for me every autumn.
Best days are in September and October with westerlies and north-westerlies (above 5bft.)
Come early for a good spot at the hide, but with really stormy circumstances watching from the car (you can get your car close to the sea) is also an option.

Trektellen.org

Trektellen.org

trektellen.nl

 

[Andy Lakin]

The spots in Cornwall are a great idea but personally I would find them really daunting when massive numbers are passing if I were a total beginner. You have just got to accept that you are probably going to miss a few good birds. When people are calling birds out as distant often it is impossible to get on them.
I will chip in with Spurn Point or Flamborough on the Eas Coast of England as a good bet if you have a car to get around. Both sites have some extremely knowledgeable birders who are always happy to help. The organised seawatches that are guided free of charge on a couple of days a year are worth joining ( I don't know how far ahead they are advertised) Also there is usually a good chance of other rare birds turning up if the seawatching is quiet. As others have said you need to put the hours in preferably starting at first light. It is worth persevering if it is quiet as some days you only get low figures of some species if they show at all. Don't be afraid to let people know what you are looking for so people can point birds out to you.
Good Luck wherever you go.

 

[Rob Hunt]

Estaca de Bares in Galicia, northwest Spain is a great site. They have a website detailing the seawatching there.

 

[Jos Stratford]

You really want 'the best' suddenly and all at once? Why not just spend as much time as boredom permits looking straight out to sea whenever you're near it?

Don't think I'd be taking that advice 🙂

I'd also go with the Cornwall suggestion - not only excellent seawatching, but cracking landscapes and always the side benefit of possible American waders or other good birds nearby for non-seawatching moments.

 

[Butty]

Don't think I'd be taking that advice 🙂

It's intended as an initial option for somebody of whose abilities, experience, location, time, money, personal inclination (etc) we know nothing or little (and is, after all, the way that most of us learnt seawatching). But none of those things apply to you, so I should certainly expect and recommend you to ignore it 🙂
From the little that the OP has said about his situation and his constraints, I'm guessing it more likely that he wants to find somewhere on the coast relatively near him (Germany or nearby, or coast of central/northern continental Europe anyway) that has good general birding and has better potential for seawatching than other coastal sites in that region - rather than him wanting to go on a seawatching-focused trip that's 2-3 countries away, which (as I suspected would happen, and tried to forestall by my first comment) has been the tenor of most other advice.

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

It's intended as an initial option for somebody of whose abilities, experience, location, time, money, personal inclination (etc) we know nothing or little (and is, after all, the way that most of us learnt seawatching). But none of those things apply to you, so I should certainly expect you to ignore it 🙂

It's how a lot of us learned seawatching, but you aren't getting any input from others to learn from. I would agree with others about going to Cornwall / Bridges of Ross / Estaca de Bares at the best times of year if you have the time and resources to do so.

 

[Jos Stratford]

It's intended as an initial option for somebody of whose abilities, experience, location, time, money, personal inclination (etc) we know nothing or little (and is, after all, the way that most of us learnt seawatching).

I'm guessing it more likely that he wants to find somewhere on the coast relatively near him (Germany or nearby, or coast of central/northern continental Europe anyway) that has good general birding and has better potential for seawatching than other coastal sites in that region - rather than him wanting to go on a seawatching-focused trip that's 2-3 countries away, which (as I suspected would happen, and tried to forestall by my first comment) has been the tenor of most other advice.

Even bearing all of this in mind, I would recommend Cornwall or the other similar options - if the German coast on the Baltic side for example, the observer could well die of old age before any true seabirds happen to pass by (an average full day in the eastern Baltic almost certainly will produce zero shearwaters and petrels, zero Gannets and Kittiwakes, an occasional skua if lucky and virtually nothing else. Maybe a few auks on a good day.

Heading to the better seawatching areas, indeed to the best, you will have umpteen seabirds passing - you can home your skills and learn from the closer birds and begin to get a feel of different species. Additionally, as mentioned by others, a good seawatching point will also likely have other observers who may shout stuff out that you can also then learn from.

As the guy is going to travel in any case, I'd say go to one of the better places and soak it all in, an amazing day in one of the top seawatching sites is going to be amazing for beginner and more established birder alike. Furthermore, a poor day at the one of the key headlands, Pendeen etc, is still likely to offer the beginner a reasonable selection of everyday seabirds such as Gannets and perhaps a few shearwaters ... probably still more than an average day at a suboptimal locality.

 

[SlowLowFlyingTurkey]

Pendeen is excellent, and another advantage of going to Cornwall in August or September is the option to do a day trip to Scilly from Penzance for a bargain priced pelagic - the ferry is fairly cheap for a day return and allows a few hours birding each way, plus a few hours on the islands.

 

[Dave Boyle]

Seawatching from Cape Clear is amazing - the birds are so close you can just use binocluars a lot of the time - don't need to worry about trying to identify distant specks - on a good day there's nowhere better & on a quiet day there'll still be shearwaters & stormies passing close enough to get a decent look at them. If the seawatching is quiet the nightlife will more than make up for it

 

[Swindon Addick]

Bird Observatories are probably a good place to look for - there are a scattering across Europe and loads in the UK. Check first whether they're focussed on seabirds or if they're entirely about migrating birds from inland areas. Some of them will do organised events where there will be people who can help and advise, which is very useful if you're starting out.

Spurn do two mornings a year of guided seawatching as part of their annual MigFest event, where the people who do their routine monitoring will call out species IDs and which direction to look in, usually based on the offshore wind turbines which provide good landmarks. That's a weekend in September and pretty cheap, plus there are guided walks looking for migrants so there's something to do with the rest of the day too.

I have an annual ritual of missing Sooty Shearwater, which they see regularly but never when I'm there.

 

[Andy Lakin]

My number one tip is try and get close to the best birders as they have fantastic id skills and are also brilliant at giving directions (you can't beat somebody giving rubbish directions). Often sound doesn't travel very far if the weather is a bit rough. Also find out what people are using for reference points.

The previous post reminded me of an embarrassing event at Spurn. There had been quite a lot of folks seawatching but it had gone dead and something half decent had turned up so everybody left except me. I thought I would sit out to try and get some year tick seabirds. I was deep in thought when a Sooty Shearwater went past as there were a lot of day trip type birders about I thought I would put it on RBA. My mistake was I put it out as a Sooty Tern like a tool as like I said I had been day dreaming and iirc there had been one in the country very recently. Thankfully I instantly realised my cock up but it felt like an age texting RBA to put a correction in as loads of birders were heading my way thankfully a couple of birders arrived straight away and were able to pass the message on😀.

 

[GreenRooky]

I went to the Flamborough seawatch festival last year for my first time seawatching and it was great. Having really experienced people to call things out was super helpful and with the guided watches in the morning and late afternoon, it left mid day for exploring the headland or popping to Bempton for a long and great days birding.

 

[Montereyman]

Where I live in Monterey, CA there is a point across which many thousands of migrating pelagic birds cross by for weeks at a time. It is the primary bird counting location for these species. Check for where people are doing the bird counts and you will have a good idea of where to go and when. In some cases a charter boat will take out groups of photographers a short distance from shore to get into the flight path of the birds.

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