Wednesday 22nd July 2009
	The mid-summer lull was once again shattered this morning, with the discovery of a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in Kent. The bird was seen at St Margaret's at Cliffe briefly 10.20am, before disappearing. Luckily, it returned shortly after, and remained on site until 1.40pm when it flew a short distance and was lost to view. Despite a thorough search of the area by large numbers of birders it wasn't seen again. This represents the second for Kent, and the first twitchable bird for Britain since the Shetland individual in 1997. Other rarities included a Collared Pratincole in Yorkshire, single Lesser Yellowlegs in Fife, Lothian and Yorkshire, an American Golden Plover in Norfolk and the Franklin's Gull on Orkney.
-  Will Soar, RBA