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Remembering autumn 2016

September 23, 2026 · 45 min

Show notes

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

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Siberian Accentor photo by James Lowen.

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