Tuesday 21st April 2009
	The highlight of the day was the identification of Britain's third Glaucous-winged Gull, at Beddington, London. Present on a landfill site (that, remarkably, also hosted Britain's first Glaucous-winged Gull, on 18th April 2007) during the afternoon, and thought to be a hybrid Glaucous Gull, the true identity was not suspected until photographs were posted on the internet during the evening. It now transpires that the same bird had earlier been present - but not identified - in Berkshire at Queen Mother Reservoir on 3rd February, 26th March and 20th April, in Buckinghamshire at Willen Lake on 8th and 9th March, in Bedfordshire at Stewartby Lake on 10th March and in London at Rainham Marshes on 12th and 16th-21st March. As, in it’s home range, Glaucous-winged Gull is prone to hybridising with other large gulls, proving that the parents of this bird were both pure Glaucous-winged Gulls may never be possible. Other rarities included the Lesser Yellowlegs still in Essex, Taverner's Canada Goose again in Dumfries and Galloway, Cattle Egret in Devon and, in Hampshire, a Red-rumped Swallow was reported briefly near Andover. Scarcities included a Woodchat Shrike in County Waterford, Hoopoe in West Sussex, Temminck's Stint on the Isles of Scilly, Rough-legged Buzzard and Green-winged Teal in Norfolk, Ring-necked Duck in Highland, Ring-billed Gull in County Antrim, two Lesser Snow Geese together in Aberdeenshire and Pectoral Sandpipers in Gloucesterhire, Leicestershire (2) and West Sussex.
-  Chris Batty, RBA