Thursday 18th September 2008
	The highlight of the day was the discovery of an American Redstart at Mizen Head, County Cork this evening. This is only the third Irish record and the first anywhere in the British Isles since 1985. Associated with the arrival of this bird was a Red-eyed Vireo on The Mullet, County Mayo. Elsewhere, rarities recorded today included a Baird's Sandpiper in County Cork, a brief Red-throated Pipit in Gwynedd, the Great Snipe still in North Yorkshire, a Wilson's Phalarope commuting between East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and on the Shetland Isles, Lanceolated, Western Bonelli's and Arctic Warbler were all seen. Lingering rarities included the Greater Sand Plover in Aberdeenshire, White-billed Diver on the Orkney Isles, Hudsonian Whimbrel and Citrine Wagtail together on the Isles of Scilly, Cattle Egret in Carmarthenshire, Hooded Merganser in Dorset and single Great White Egrets in both Ceredigion and Hampshire.
-  Chris Batty, RBA