Remembering July rarities

Welcome to the third episode of The BirdGuides Podcast! Join Josh Jones, David Campbell and Ian Lycett as they take a thrilling trip down memory lane to look back at the jaw-dropping mega rarities that have sent British twitchers into a frenzy during previous Julys.

What you'll learn in this episode

• Why midsummer, typically thought of as a quiet time of year for birding, can deliver some of the rarest vagrants.
• The legend of Brean Down legend: we look back at the incredible story of the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross in 2007
• Reliving the legendary first twitchable Amur Falcon in Cornwall that drew hundreds of birders overnight.
• The mega frigatebird photographed by tourists in Scotland
• Which mega species should you be scanning the skies and coastlines for right now?

Episode timestamps

00:30 – write July off at your peril and favourite midsummer twitches

03:25 – the 2007 Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, released in Somerset and touching down in Lincolnshire

06:20 – the 2013 Ascension Frigatebird in Scotland

09:30 – one rare tern deserves another

14:00– the Sheffield Audouin's Gull

21:00 – time for another Caspian Plover?

24:07 – break

24:30 – Amur Falcon twitch

28:30 – Fair Isle's Brown Flycatcher in 1992

34:32 – what to seek out in July

Links

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Music by Matt Phelps