The Nutcracker - a rare visitor to Britain. Photograph by Wendy Green.

David Nicholls wrote about the Nutcracker in Nature Watch in the Courier 5 November 2023: "A small number of Nutcrackers turned up on Mersea in 1968. It is a member of the Crow family that lives mainly in the forests of Russia. The Birds Britannica describes it as looking like a huge starling that feeds mainly on the seeds extracted from the cones of pine and spruce trees, hence its name. When there is a shortage of their food Nutcrackers go on irruptive migrations westwards and occasionally reach Britain. Birds Britannica says that sightings of Nutcrackers in this country are restricted to the following years: 1911, 1933, 1954, 1968 and 1985.
Date: 1968