A Birdwatching and Cetacean Safari on Land and Sea!

The North and East Yorkshire Coast has long been famous for its seabirds. From the towering chalk cliffs of Flamborough Headland which reaches 6 miles out to sea to the Jurassic Coast of Scarborough and Whitby with two Bird Observatories at Flamborough Bird Observatory and Filey Bird Observatory and a watchpoint at Long Nab Scarborough Birders.

On our Yorkshire Coast Nature land and offshore seabird trips in the last few years we have seen Long-tailed Skua, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, Great Skua, Manx Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Corys Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Grey Phalarope, Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar, Gannet, Shag, Red-throated Diver, Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Caspian Gull and even Short-eared Owl!

The Yorkshire coast, once famous for its whaling fleet which sailed from Whitby is now becoming famous for its whale watching! In summer Minke Whales appear, following the Mackerel shoals, these fantastic mammals are the most regularly seen large cetacean on our coast, watch the YCN video below from some up close whale action! Harbour Porpoise are with us throughout the year and seen on most of our trips. Bottle-nosed and White-beaked Dolphins are now being seen every year on the coast in increasing numbers!

These special full day trips have been designed to allow the flexibility to target the best stretch of coastline depending on where the seabird and/or cetacean action is prior to the tour.

In 2020 we will run our trips from Staithes again with up to 6 hours at sea! We use chum to attract the birds to the boat which makes a big difference, often allowing closer views and opportunities for photography! The land based part of the tour is spent sea watching from a nearby coastal watch point to familiarise the group with the seabirds and seawatching techniques.

Throughout the day you will have a great opportunity to learn about field craft and identification from our local expert guides in a small friendly group environment. Each tour includes  the boat trip and an expert YCN guide in a small group environment maximum 10 clients. The meeting point will be in Staithes village in North Yorkshire