Birding in October: What to See and Where to Go in the UK

The busiest month of the birding year. Summer visitors leave, winter visitors arrive, and more rarities are found than at any other time.

Updated 6 October 2026

October birds by habitat

Coast

East winds drop migrants into coastal bushes. Check sycamores and hawthorns for Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and the first Yellow-browed Warblers. Ring Ouzels and Black Redstarts use cliffs and sea walls. Offshore, skuas, Gannets and the first divers pass headlands. From late in the month, Snow Buntings appear on shingle.

Estuary

Wader flocks build towards their winter peak: Knot, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit. Brent Geese return to the saltmarsh, with Wigeon and Teal in the creeks. Where waders gather, Peregrine and Merlin follow.

Woodland

Jays are at their most visible, flying back and forth with acorns to bury. Tit flocks pick up Goldcrests, Treecreepers and Nuthatches. Look under beech trees for Bramblings among the Chaffinches. Tawny Owls are noisy now as young birds look for territories.

Garden

Listen after dark for the thin "tseep" of Redwings flying over. Continental Blackbirds join the local ones on windfall apples. Coal Tits make repeated trips to hide food.

Upland

Ring Ouzels gather on rowan berries before leaving. Golden Plover flocks move down from the tops. Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls start to leave the moors for lowland marshes.

What arrives in October

• Winter thrushes: Redwing first, from late September, then Fieldfare from mid month. Both come in off the North Sea in flocks and spread inland within days.
• Geese and swans: Pink-footed Geese build to tens of thousands in Norfolk and Lancashire. Whooper Swans reach Caerlaverock, Martin Mere and Welney. Barnacle Geese return to the Solway. Bewick's Swans arrive from late October, in far smaller numbers than they used to (Slimbridge logged 102 individuals all winter in 2025/26).
• Finches: Brambling, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll move south and west.
• Waxwing years: Waxwings come only when the berry crop fails in Scandinavia. In those winters the first reach Shetland and the east coast of Scotland in late October. In most years there are very few.

Arrival dates for every regular migrant are in our migration guide.

October rarity hotspots

West: American birds

Atlantic depressions carry North American birds to the Isles of Scilly, west Cornwall and the Outer Hebrides. Waders are the most regular: Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, White-rumped Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs. Red-eyed Vireo is the most frequent American songbird.

East and north: Siberian birds

Easterly winds bring Asian vagrants to Shetland, Fair Isle and the east coast from Northumberland to Kent. Yellow-browed Warbler is now expected. Pallas's Warbler, Dusky Warbler and Olive-backed Pipit are rare but found every year. Pechora Pipit and Lanceolated Warbler are close to Shetland specialities. Siberian Rubythroat and Eyebrowed Thrush are the birds people cross the country for.

How the news gets out, and how to behave at a twitch, is in our rare birds guide.

10 target species for October

1. Redwing: any berry hedge, and overhead at night.
2. Fieldfare: open fields and orchards from mid month.
3. Yellow-browed Warbler: coastal sycamores. Listen for a sharp, rising "tsoo-eest".
4. Ring Ouzel: coastal slopes and upland rowans.
5. Brambling: beech woods and finch flocks.
6. Pink-footed Goose: dawn flights in Norfolk and Lancashire.
7. Whooper Swan: the WWT reserves.
8. Short-eared Owl: coastal rough grassland in the last hour of light.
9. Jack Snipe: wet marsh edges. It bobs as it feeds.
10. Bearded Tit: reedbeds on calm mornings. At RSPB Leighton Moss they visit grit trays in autumn.

In the garden this month

• Hold the seed until November. RSPB advice from July 2026 is to pause seed and peanuts from 1 May to 31 October. Until then, offer only small amounts of suet, fat balls or mealworms.
• Clean everything now. Scrub feeders so they are ready for 1 November. Our bird food guide and feeder guide cover what to put out.
• Leave the windfalls and seed heads. Thrushes take the apples, finches the seeds.
• Keep water going. Change it daily.
• Clear old nests from boxes so they are ready for winter roosting. See nest boxes.

Where to go in October

• Isles of Scilly: the traditional October rarity trip. Book boats and beds early.
• Shetland and Fair Isle: the best odds of a Siberian vagrant. Beds are limited.
• Spurn and Flamborough: falls and visible migration in easterlies. See the Yorkshire guide. Bempton Cliffs is next door.
• North Norfolk: RSPB Titchwell Marsh for waders, wildfowl and coastal migrants, plus the goose flights.
• Suffolk: RSPB Minsmere for Bearded Tits and migrants in the dunes.
• The Solway and the Severn: WWT Caerlaverock and WWT Slimbridge as the geese and swans come in.

Watch the forecast. Easterlies mean the east coast. Fast westerlies mean the south-west.