Thursday 2nd October 2008
	The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler on Foula, Shetland Isles – the fifth record of this species in Britain this autumn. Other birds recorded around the archipelago included ten Yellow-browed Warblers, three Richard's Pipits, two Red-breasted Flycatchers, single Short-toed Lark, Little Bunting, Bluethroat, Ring-necked Duck, Barred Warbler, Honey Buzzard and Lapland Bunting with single Hormenann's Arctic Redpolls remaining on both Fair Isle and Unst. Rarities elsewhere included the Gull-billed Tern in Argyll, Lesser Yellowlegs on the Western Isles, Rustic Bunting in Cumbria, two Small Canada Geese in Dumfries and Galloway, Siberian Stonechat in Dorset, two Cattle Egrets in Devon, Red-footed Falcon in East Yorkshire, Ferruginous Duck in Buckinghamshire, Glossy Ibises in both Cambridgeshire and West Yorkshire and single Great White Egrets in Essex, Hampshire, Staffordshire and Suffolk. Many west coast locations enjoyed productive seawatching including five Sabine's Gulls, six Long-tailed Skuas, 25 Grey Phalropes, 30 Pomarine Skuas and over 250 Leach's Petrels scattered across nine counties. Away from the Shetland Isles, scarce landbirds comprised 17 Yellow-browed Warblers, four Great Grey Shrikes, three each of Red-backed Shrike and Lapland Bunting, two Little Buntings and singles of both Woodchat Shrike and Common Rosefinch.
-  Chris Batty, RBA