Thursday 24th December 2009
	The highlight of the day was the sighting, albeit brief, of a Greater Yellowlegs at Kinneil Lagoon, Forth. With the last easily twitchable Greater Yellowlegs on the British mainland being in Cumbria in 1994, the current bird will prove most popular if relocated. Elsewhere, rarities comprised the Black Duck still on the Isles of Scilly, Snowy Owl on the Western Isles, Siberian Stonechat in Nottinghamshire, Spotted Sandpiper in Essex, Glossy Ibis in Worcestershire, Ferruginous Ducks in both Norfolk and West Yorkshire, Great White Egret in Warwickshire and single Cattle Egrets in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Scarcities included 13 Lapland Buntings across three counties, 10 Waxwings in Merseyside, five Caspian Gulls, three each of both Ring-billed Gull and Iceland Gull, two each of Richard's Pipit and Ring-necked Duck, and single Little Bunting (Highland), Rough-legged Buzzard (Cambridgeshire), Great Grey Shrike (Hampshire) and Shorelark (Suffolk).
-  Chris Batty, RBA