Wednesday 16th September 2009
	An astounding reward for a dedicated patch worker came in the form of a first for Britain, and second for the Western Palearctic, today. An adult summer Tufted Puffin was found off Oare Marshes KWT, Kent, as it swam west along The Swale at 10.55am. It stayed on the water for fifteen minutes, allowing just six other birders to connect, before it flew west upriver, not to be seen again. The best of the rest was the Arctic Warbler on Fair Isle, Shetland, whilst other new arrivals included a drake Black Duck at Walmsley Sanctuary CBWPS, Cornwall, Red-throated Pipit at Spurn, Yorkshire, Lesser Yellowlegs at the Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, Aberdeenshire and a Blue-winged Teal at Titchfield Haven NNR, Hampshire. Lingering rarities included Long-billed Dowitcher in Fife, Glossy Ibises in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, Citrine Wagtail and American Golden Plover on the Western Isles, White-rumped Sandpiper in Essex, Baird's Sandpipers in Cornwall and on Anglesey, Blue-winged Teal in County Dublin, Lesser Scaup on Shetland and King Eider in Lincolnshire.
-  Will Soar, RBA