Thursday 8th March 2007
	The highlight of the day was the discovery of a male Desert Wheatear well inland at Irlam, Greater Manchester. Desert Wheatear is one of the last vagrants to arrive in the autumn and is also one of the first vagrants to arrive in spring - although it is much more infrequent at this season, this being only the tenth such record for the British Isles. However, in this instance it was disappointing that news of this exciting find was not released earlier in the day. Although neither the Great Spotted Cuckoo in Kent nor the Gyr in Cornwall could be located many other rarities remained on show including the Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire, White-billed Diver, Spotted Sandpiper and Dusky Warbler in Cornwall, White-tailed Eagle in Aberdeenshire, Cattle Egret in Devon and Long-billed Dowitchers on Anglesey and in Kent.
-  Chris Batty, RBA