You could hardly turn a head at MigFest 2025 without spotting a Willow Warbler, hearing a fly-over Meadow Pipit, or seeing a young birder – each blending into the weekend’s ambiance, yet unmistakably standing out as a brilliant sight.
24 September 2025
MGSYB25 Ceremony finalists, winners, award presenter, & judges. L R Ravi senior winner, Noah, Levi, Nick Acheson, David White, Jonny Holiday, Seby, Bethan Clyne, Kasper, Sarah Harris, Milo junior winner by Rob Adams BEM
Preview Remove MGSYB25 Comp finalists and judges. L R Levi, Ravi, Noah, Milo, Bethan Clyne, Sarah Harris, Jonny Holiday, Seby, Stephen Menzie, Kasper, David White by Sukh Grewal
Senior winner, Ravi, completing the Estuary watch section of the competition, with judge Bethan by Bethan Clyne
Competitions, raffles, quizzes, and games were also highlights, expanding year after year to cater to a wide array of interests and ambitions. The renowned Martin Garner Spurn Young Birder competition had six finalists put through their paces in order to showcase their knowledge and passion for birding. Identification rounds out in the field – covering bushes, estuary, seawatching, and visible migration watching – were followed by theory questions involving bird ecology, identification, songs and calls, topography, and the reasons behind population changes in specified bird species.
Following impressive displays of knowledge, with only fractions of points separating them, the winners were revealed. The six finalists included junior competitors under 14 – Kasper Wall, Milo Dawes, and Sebastian Delapierre – and seniors aged 14 to 16 – Noah Bailey, Levi Gravett, and Ravi Grewal.
Top honours went to Senior Winner Ravi Grewal for his outstanding expertise, and Junior Winner Milo Dawes, who demonstrated flawless knowledge. The other finalists also delivered strong performances, highlighting the bright future of birding talent at MigFest 2025. Each finalist and winner received subscriptions to BTO, Spurn Bird Observatory, British Birds, Rare Bird Alert, and Oriental Bird Club, as well as a glass trophy. Ravi and Milo received the senior prize of Swarovski binoculars and the junior prize of Opticron binoculars, respectively. We are extremely grateful to all the competition sponsors for contributing material and equipment to these young birders to further fuel their existing passion for birds.
Other winners under 25, included Millie Chandler-Norris, who won a Spurn SWIFT! t-shirt for her photo identification submission to the Bird Observatories Council quiz (open to anyone of any age), and Zach Pannifer, for his submission to the bird identification quiz for under-25s on the British Birds stand, landing himself a one-year digital subscription.
It’s not over yet! One more competition is still to reach its conclusion: Capturing a MigFest Moment, with the winner receiving some Zeiss binoculars! Anyone who attended MigFest 2025 and is aged 25 or under is invited to submit a representation of their favourite MigFest moment – whether through artwork, poetry, or photography – something that captures what MigFest 2025 meant to them. So, aged 25 or under? Attended MigFest 2025? Make your MigFest Moment submission by 23:59 on 27th September 2025 at: bit.ly/CaptureMigFest2025
