Autumn visible & nocturnal migration
Redwing, fieldfare, song thrush, finches, larks, pipits. East coast headlands; nationwide at night, United Kingdom.
Best time: 1 Oct – 31 Oct (October). Where: Spurn, East Yorkshire (Spurn Bird Observatory), Gibraltar Point NNR, Lincolnshire, Fair Isle, Shetland (United Kingdom). Time of day: Nocmig runs all night, peaking from about 2 h after dusk to 03:00.
- You can go on your own
- Low cost
- Binoculars essential
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 1 Oct – 31 Oct. October (mass thrush arrivals with east winds)
Active from 1 Sep to 20 Nov (September to November) in a typical year.
Time of day
Nocmig runs all night, peaking from about 2 h after dusk to 03:00; visible migration and finch/pipit calls in the first 3 h after sunrise, best in the first hour.
- Nocturnal migration: last light → first light
- Visible migration: sunrise → 3 h after sunrise
What will you hear?
Thin 'tseep' of redwings passing overhead all night, then a stream of finch, pipit and lark flight calls at dawn.
Binoculars?
Binoculars essential. Nocmig is ears only, but dawn vis-mig at Spurn and Gib Point is small birds high overhead — binoculars essential.
Where to go
- Spurn, East Yorkshire (Spurn Bird Observatory) — The UK's top vis-mig site; Migration Festival in September. Accommodation at the observatory. Map
- Gibraltar Point NNR, Lincolnshire — Bird observatory on the coast. Map
- Fair Isle, Shetland — Remote observatory with accommodation; wind is the constant. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Spurn: park at the YWT Discovery Centre (pay-and-display) and walk south along the peninsula; the observatory sells cheap hostel beds for a dawn start. Gibraltar Point: free NNR, car park charge, open at all hours. Fair Isle: flights from Tingwall or the Good Shepherd ferry from Grutness; the bird observatory has accommodation. Nocmig works from any garden.
Cost: Free; Spurn Discovery Centre car park £5 per day (YWT members free) and Gibraltar Point £2 (2 h) / £5 per day (2026); observatory beds extra.
Field-recording notes
Nocmig: an overnight static rig pointed at the sky, then scan spectrograms. Quiet, overcast nights with light easterlies are best; it works from almost any garden or roof with an open sky. Trektellen posts live counts to time a trip.
Sources
Similar spectacles
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More: all spectacles in the United Kingdom · bird migration hotspots · the United Kingdom in October