Whitby - 15th August 2026

My last stop on the North Yorkshire/Cleveland tour on Saturday was an old favourite, Whitby. As always, I was lucky enough to spot a couple of darvic-ringed Herring Gulls: Y:B55 and Y:829.

Y:B55 was the first gull I saw, on the swing bridge, in the centre of town. Annoyingly, I emailed the ringer the wrong number, but I'm sure had been ringed, at Rufforth Waste Disposal Site. I'll update, when I get the exact details.

Y:B55

Y:829 (GV52855), who I saw in front of the RNLI building, by the West Pier, was ringed at Rufforth Waste Disposal Site on 4th November 2016. It was a 3 i.e. born that year, which makes it 10 years old this year. Interestingly, this gull has been seen in Derbyshire twice since ringing. The first sighting was at Carr Vale, on 3rd April 2020, and then at Poolsbrook Country Park on 17th December 2022. It has also been seen in Leicestershire (Cotesbach Landfill Site on 2nd January 2025), before being recorded again in Whitby, in the summer months.

Y:829

Whitby Gulls - 31st August 2020

On the way home from Northumberland, Jayne and I stopped off in Whitby for the day. Whilst there, we spotted 3 darviced Herring Gulls.

Two of the gulls we saw, Y:633 and Y:B15, were new to us. Both birds had been ringed at Rufford Waste Disposal Site, at York. Y:633 was ringed on 20th May 2016, and Y:B15 was ringed on 17th February 2017.

Y:633

Y:B15 in full voice!!

The 3rd gull, 1R1B, was a bird that we had seen here in Whitby before, once in July 2015 (see here) and again in July 2017 (see here). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the project where this bird was ringed, or been able to ring the metal ring number, so I don't know where or when it was ringed.

1R1B

Whitby and Scarborough

Last weekend I was up in Whitby and Scarborough with the family. Whitby was quite quiet Birdwise, but I did spot a well known Herring Gull, with a darvic ring 1R1B.

Herring Gull 1R1B

I say, well known, because I saw this bird in exactly the same spot ( the top of a dustbin on the pier) back in July 2015 (see here). There were lots of other Herring Gulls around, along with the odd Fulmar and a pair of Shags. Red Admiral butterflies were present in good numbers (10+), and 4 Small Tortoiseshells were also seen.

Scarborough was a little busier. There were hundreds of pairs of Kittiwakes in and around the town centre and cliffs, including several with growing chicks.

Kittiwakes

Also present were Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls (3 of the latter, including 1 adult in full breeding plumage, on the sea by The Spa).

Mediterranean Gull

Turnstones were seen in the harbour, along with a small flock of 10 Redshank, a few more Kittiwakes and a pair of Rock Pipits that were carrying food to an unseen nest.

Rock Pipits

Colour-ringed Herring Gull

I was in Whitby on Friday evening, and whilst walking along the harbour, I spotted this colour-ringed Herring Gull.

Herring Gull

As you can see from the picture, it was sitting on the bin with many other gulls. I checked on the colour-ringing website (see here) when I got back home and emailed the  ringer of the bird. I'll update with details as soon as I hear back.

As well as adult birds, there were lots of juveniles about, including this bird.

Herring Gull (juvenile)

Whitby and Scarborough

Just come back from a few days in Whitby and Scarborough, where we enjoyed a bit of sunshine, a couple of games of crazy golf and some great seabirds.



Whitby Harbour

Around the harbour I saw dozens of Herring Gulls (adults and juveniles), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 returning Turnstones, Black-headed Gulls, 2 Fulmar, Cormorant, Starling and Oystercatcher.

On the way home we stopped off at Scarborough to look for the Mediterranean Gulls that winter around the area. 4 birds; 2 moulting adults and 2 juvenile birds, were found on the rocks belowthe Spa in the South Bay.

Mediterranean Gull (moulting adult)

Also present on the rocks were all the ususal gulls, Oystercatcher and an adult Sandwich Tern, which was also moulting out of summer plumage.

Adult Sandwich Tern