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My Favourite Yorkshire Birding Day 2025 - Mark Pearson
Tue 9th Dec, 2025
When Rich asked for my favourite Yorkshire birding day of 2025, I was immediately spoiled for choice. With so many great guiding days and personal birding days to choose from, it was always going to be a very tough call….
Atlantic Puffin © Mark Pearson
Putting aside the many personal days I’d enjoyed throughout the year – particularly during migration periods – how could I choose between (amongst others) all those fabulous YCN Birding Discovery Days at Spurn, Tophill Low and Flamborough in the spring and autumn?
Razorbill © Mark Pearson
And then I cast my mind back to the summer, and the always popular, always really enjoyable Puffin & Seabird Specials I lead on the Great White Cape of Flamborough Head.
Flamborough - North Landing © Mark Pearson
We usually attract good people (naturally!), but over the course of my eleven specials, for whatever reason, it was a particularly diverse spectrum of clients - from lesbian and gay couples, a non-binary birder, people of colour, to a family with three autistic kids – so how could I possibly choose one day over the rest?
Mark guiding on the YCN Puffin Safari
Well, one of those days involved no fewer than three sessions out on the magnificent cliffs, enjoying multitudes of Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Guillemots and much more on each – fantastic morning and evening sessions, and a very special one in the afternoon….
... planned in advance to set up a marriage proposal on the cliff top (in full view of said Puffins!). I'm happy to say she said yes (emphatically!), and it was an overwhelmingly romantic highlight of the week (and indeed the year), which I captured from a distance (as planned) after I'd left them to their own devices.
Mark & guests on the YCN Puffin Safari
It might not seem like it enough of the time – especially in these dark and divisive days - but the world is full of lovely and diverse humans, and no day better reminded me of that than this very special one back in early July.
The very happy couple!
Thanks to Stephen for the photos (and I hope you and Flo have a wonderful future together!).
YCN Wildlife Guide
To see our 2026 Puffin Safaris CLICK HERE