Monday 12th October 2009
	The highlight of the day was the identification of a Brown Shrike at Staines Moor, Surrey. First found yesterday and believed to be a Red-backed Shrike, the true identity was not confirmed until well into the afternoon today, but the bird remained on site until dusk. On the Shetland Isles a Red-flanked Bluetail and two Lanceolated Warblers were discovered whilst the Taiga Flycatcher remained along with the River Warbler, Western Bonelli's Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit, Arctic Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, two Hornemann's Arctic Redpolls, four Bluethroats, two each of Little Bunting and Lapland Bunting, a Barred Warbler, Sabine's Gull and Ring-necked Duck and eight Yellow-browed Warblers. Two Red-throated Pipits headlined on the Isles of Scilly with a supporting cast of nine Yellow-browed Warblers, three Wrynecks, two each of both Red-breasted Flycatcher and Rose-coloured Starling, a Lapland Bunting and a brief Ring-billed Gull. Elsewhere, a Lanceolated Warbler was found on the Orkney Isles whilst the Blackpoll Warbler and Arctic Warbler remained in County Cork, and likewise the American Buff-bellied Pipit in County Clare, Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll on the Western Isles, Radde's Warbler in East Yorkshire, two Long-billed Dowitchers together in Lancashire, Lesser Yellowlegs in Lothian, White-rumped Sandpiper in Essex, American Golden Plovers in each of Argyll, County Cork and Fife, Blue-winged Teal in County Dublin, Hooded Merganser in Cleveland, Glossy Ibises in Aberdeenshire, County Wexford, Gwynedd, Kent (3) and Northumberland, Cattle Egrets in Gloucestershire (2) and Kent and single Great White Egrets in Hampshire, Somerset and Suffolk.
-  Chris Batty, RBA