Saturday 4th July 2009
	Seabirds started to feature today with a Scopoli's Shearwater seen from a pelagic off the Scillies, whilst in County Cork a total of 53 Cory's Shearwaters and 3 Great Shearwaters passed southern headlands during the day. Elsewhere, Caspian Terns were the order of the day: one found in the morning at Welney in west Norfolk proved to be a popular attraction; whilst in Scotland there was another at the Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire. There was another belated report of Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, this one was seen and photographed on 21st June at Needs Ore Point on the Solent in Hampshire. Could it have been the same bird which then wandered to north Devon? Also in Hampshire there was a report of a possible Gull-billed Tern at Titchfield Haven today. In Highland the River Warbler continued to sing near Applecross and in Aberdeenshire the Great White Egret remained at the Ythan Estuary. Elsewhere the Marsh Warbler was still holding territory at Otmoor in Oxfordshire.
-  Pete Hayman, RBA