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The robin and the nutcracker

October 31, 2026 · 21 min

Show notes

Welcome to this bonus episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Two rarities, the Rufous-tailed Robin in East Yorkshire and Slender-billed Nutcracker in Norfolk, have made major headlines this autumn. Josh and Sam are joined by Brian McCloskey to talk about these birds, their British rarity context and the twitches they sparked.

In this episode

  • Britain's first twitchable nutcracker for decades
  • Josh and Sam tell the stories of their twitch to Norfolk
  • Mainland Rufous-tailed Robin draws massive crowds to Flamborough Head
  • Brian describes twitching the robin from Ireland.
  • More nutcrackers to come?

Episode timestamps

01:15 – Nutcracker in Norfolk

09:30 – Rufous-tailed Robin in Yorkshire

13:45 – Tough viewing at Flamborough

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Rufous-tailed Robin photo by Ian Curran.

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