Friday 25th September 2009
	The highlight of the day was the discovery, by a novice birdwatcher, of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Deerness, Orkney Isles; only the second Nearctic landbird to be recorded in the British Isles so far this autumn. After the true identity had been noticed (from photographs posted on the internet) the bird was relocated and showed well until dusk. Nearby, the Sandhill Crane remained on South Ronaldsay as did three American Golden Plovers; one on North Ronaldsay and two in Deerness. On the Isles of Scilly the first Steppe Grey Shrike for the archipelago was discovered on St Martin's. Elsewhere around the islands a Long-billed Dowitcher, two Rose-coloured Starlings, a Richard's Pipit and a Pectoral Sandpiper were recorded. Lingering rarities comprised the Fan-tailed Warbler still in Kent, Snowy Owls in each of County Donegal, County Mayo and the Western Isles, Arctic Warbler and Citrine Wagtail on the Shetland Isles, Blue-winged Teals in both Cleveland and County Dublin, Long-billed Dowitchers in Merseyside and Somerset, Lesser Yellowlegs in Lothian, American Golden Plovers in Argyll, County Cork, County Limerick, County Waterford and the Western Isles, a Ferruginous Duck in Somerset, Cattle Egrets in Hampshire and Gloucestershire (2) and Great White Egrets in Hampshire, Lancashire (2), Somerset (2) and Suffolk. Glossy Ibises totaled 24 in ten counties comprising six in Cumbria, five in Kent, three in both Suffolk and West Midlands, two in Norfolk and singles in Devon, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Norfolk and West Sussex.
-  Chris Batty, RBA