The BirdGuides Podcast

Welcome to the 15th episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Today, David, Ed and Ian catch up on some of the recent big stories, including the Northern Nutcracker irruption and some exciting megas, as well as good breeding news for Hen Harrier.

In this episode

• Why are Northern Nutcrackers irrupting into Western Europe?
• Could a bird possibly reach Britain?
• A look back at the last records of the species on British shores.
• Good news for Hen Harriers at Geltsdale RSPB, but what's the outlook like for the species in Britain?
• A round-up of the rare and scarce news for late September and early October.
• Analysis of the latest BBRC report.

Episode timestamps

01:16 – Ian's weekend at Flamborough

06:06 – Nutcracker invasion into Western Europe. Britain next?

19:29 – Hen Harrier success in Cumbria and their UK status

28:15 – Recent rarities, from Shetland to Scilly

45:58 – BBRC report thoughts

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. Have you seen any of the recent rarities discussed in the show? Let us know!

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

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The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Northern Nutcracker photo by Ian Wells.

Welcome to the 14th episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Today, Ian and Josh are joined by Lucy McRobert to chat about the Isles of Scilly and, specifically, five things that make the islands one of Britain's premier birdwatching destinations.

In this episode

• Where are the Isles of Scilly and why is it so good for birdwatching?
• The joy of not having to use a car to go birding.
• Scilly's spectacular seawatching.
• The archipelago's famous track record of rare North American species.
• Memorable food on the islands!
• Scilly's special community.

Episode timestamps

06:50 – Being able to bird on foot

16:30 – Scilly's special seabirding

24:08 – Epic food!

30:00 – North American vagrants

41:35 – Scilly's community spirit

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. Have you been to Scilly before? Let us know!

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Red-eyed Vireo photo by Kit Day.

Welcome to the 13th episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Today, David, Ed, Ian and Josh are joined by Sam Viles as they take a trip down memory lane to remember the epic easterly autumn of 2016, which was filled full of incredible vagrants including Britain's first – and so far only – Siberian Accentors.

In this episode

• The weather that shaped an extraordinary run of eastern rarities in Britain.
• Ian's magical day on Fair Isle in early October.
• Josh's dramatic twitch of Britain's first Siberian Accentor and the subsequent run of records.
• A bumper day for Sam in North-East England.
• What it was like working at Dungeness during autumn 2016.

Episode timestamps

03:30 – The weather that started it all

06:30 – Ian's super Sunday on Fair Isle

17:08 – Britain's first Siberian Accentor on Shetland

25:06 – More accentors and an epic day at Spurn

31:50 – Sam's big day

35:07 – Best of the rest

39:49 – Autumn 2016 at Dungeness

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. What was your highlight of autumn 2016? Did you see one of the Siberian Accentors? Let us know!

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Siberian Accentor photo by James Lowen.

Welcome to the 12th episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Today, David, Ed and Josh catch up to talk about the recent MigFest at Spurn, as well as an arrival of American vagrants in Britain and Ireland and news of turtle dove releases in Hampshire.

In this episode

• David and Josh are back from MigGest and talk about their weekend in East Yorkshire.
• Birding highlights from Spurn.
• Controversial European Turtle Dove releases in the South Downs National Park.
• Signs of recovery for Iceland's Gyr Falcons.
• An arrival of American rarities in Britain and Ireland.
• Recent quality patch finds for David and Josh.

Episode timestamps

02:50 – David and Josh report back from MigFest

13:20 – turtle dove conservation controversy

27:00 – Gyr Falcon recovery in Iceland?

35:30 – Arrival of American vagrants

41:00 – Patch goodies for David and Josh

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. Did you go to MigFest? Let us know!

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper photo by Seán Holland.

Welcome to the 11th episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Today, Ed, Ian and Josh discuss the shock news of Britain's third Egyptian Nightjar in Shetland at the weekend, as well as other recent national birding highlights and their own autumn patch efforts so far.

In this episode

• Rarity of the decade? Britain's third Egyptian Nightjar stuns birders in Shetland.
• A look back at the previous British records of Egyptian Nightjar.
• A nice run of Nearctic waders and Ortolan Buntings.
• Mixed fortunes for the English-born Montagu's Harriers.
• Recent patch action.

Episode timestamps

01:30 – Egyptian Nightjar in Shetland!

11:25 – Remembering overseas encounters with Egyptian Nightjar

14:25 – Other rare and scarce news

22:30 – Recent patch action for Ian and Josh

29:30 – What's on the September patch radar?

34:50 – Appreciating common warblers

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show.

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Egyptian Nightjar photo by Rebecca Nason.

Welcome to the 10th episode of The BirdGuides Podcast. Today, David and Josh are joined by Alicia Hulland and Tasha Noble from The Birding Girlies to talk about their birdwatching community and social media movement that they created to make the hobby fun, supportive and accessible for women and girls.

In this episode

• How The Birding Girlies began.
• The early birding lifes of Alicia and Tash.
• What The Birding Girlies stands for.
• The invisible barriers that women face within birding.
• What the future holds for The Birding Girlies and how you can follow.

Episode timestamps

00:50 – Introducing The Birding Girlies

03:50 – Spark birds

08:15 – The slippery slope of twitching

13:36 – How The Birding Girlies began

25:00 – The perils of social media

30:40 – Advice for men

37:27 – What the future holds

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show.

The Birding Girlies Instagram

The Birding Girlies Facebook

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Welcome to the ninth episode of The BirdGuides Podcast. Today, David, Ian and Josh are joined by the RSPB's Mark Thomas to talk about the exciting recent news that six Montagu's Harrier chicks fledged in England this summer.

In this episode

• The status of one of Britain's rarest breeding birds.
• The unexpected breeding of 2025.
• How Mark safeguarded two Montagu's Harrier nests.
• GPS-tagging two juveniles.
• What the future holds for 'monty's' in Britain

Episode timestamps

03:21 – Montagu's Harrier in Britain

10:50 – Why are they struggling?

17:00 – Protecting the nests

27:30 – Following the tagged juveniles

34:01 – How to keep up to date with their movements

41:12 – What the future holds

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show.

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Welcome to the eighth episode of The BirdGuides Podcast. Today, David, Ian and Josh chat about six important things that anyone who is new to birdwatching or looking to take their interest in birds to the next level.

In this episode

• The importance of binoculars and what size and brands are best.
• The most effective way to learn bird identification.
• Beginning to take photos and enjoy bird photography.
• Knowing what to look for and where.
• How to share your sightings.
• Listener questions answered.

Episode timestamps

03:49 – Listener questions

10:00 – Binocular basics

18:40 – The value of field guides

29:58 – An introduction to cameras

39:09 – Getting a patch

48:43 – How to stay in the loop and know where to go

54:05 – Sharing your sightings

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Browse our range of field guides in the BirdGuides Bookshop

Buy The Complete Guide to Patch Birding from the BirdGuides Bookshop.

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. If you're new to birding, tell us what tools you've found most valuable.

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Welcome to the seventh episode of The BirdGuides Podcast. In this bonus episode, Brian, David, Ian and Josh offer their thoughts on AI's influence on bird photography and ask whether standards should be set among birders. Meanwhile, there is news of mixed fortunes for breeding Ring Ouzel and Roseate Tern.

In this episode

• AI's growing influence on bird photography – is it time to draw the line?
• When editing an images changes the reality.
• How will records committees deal with the increasing use of AI alteration?
• A bleak future for Ireland's breeding Ring Ouzels.
• England's Roseate Terns enjoy a bumper breeding season.

Episode timestamps

01:00 – The problems with AI in bird photography

12:30 – How to moderate and the future of records

21:55 – Ring Ouzel going extinct in Ireland?

27:33 – Good news for Roseate Tern in England

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. Tell us your own thoughts on the use of AI in bird photography.

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.

Welcome to the sixth episode of The BirdGuides Podcast. Today, David, Ian and Josh are joined by Irish birder Brian McCloskey as they talk Suffolk Zitting Cisticola breeding success, the seawatching season so far and an intriguing egret in Co Kerry.

In this episode

• Zitting Cisticola breeds in Suffolk again. Is this species going to become Britain's next colonist?
• The guys discuss the seabird season so far and Brian shares his exciting sightings from western Ireland.
• An unusual Little Egret in Co Kerry got birders briefly excited about Snowy Egret.
• The best of the rest of the rarity news.
• Josh's dream bird observatory is up for sale!

Episode timestamps

01:03 – Ian's back from Sweden and introducing Brian

07:30 – Zitting Cisticolas breed in Suffolk again

13:43 – Seawatching season so far

20:30 – Bulwer's Petrels in Spain

24:50 – Break

24:55 – Odd egret in Kerry

30:32 – Tern excitement in Northumberland

33:35 – Touring Black Storks and Montagu's Harriers

40:55 – Josh's dream island

Links

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Stay updated with the latest news at www.birdguides.com/podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Please subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast app and leave us a 5-star review to help other birders discover the show. Tell us about your own experiences of the seawatching season so far and if you've seen the Suffolk cisticolas!

How to stay connected

📱 Download the BirdGuides app: Real-time bird news in the palm of your hand. Get the BirdGuides app for iOS on the App Store / Android on Google Play.

💻 Visit the website: For sightings, breaking news and other birding content, visit www.birdguides.com.

📧 Newsletter: Sign up to our award-winning weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.

Follow us on social media:

📸 Instagram: @_birdguides

👥 Facebook: BirdGuides

🦋 Bluesky: @birdguides.bsky.social

🐦 X (Twitter): BirdGuides

Support the show

Please take 30 seconds to rate and review us. Your reviews help other birdwatchers find the show!

The BirdGuides Podcast is brought to you by Warners Group Publications.