Thursday 12th May 2011
	The highlight of the day was the continued presence of the displaying male Great Snipe at Cley, Norfolk, albeit it was present early in the morning, with a Lesser Yellowlegs identified at the same site later in the day. Elsewhere, new discoveries comprised a Spotted Sandpiper in Buckinghamshire at Caldecotte Lake, a Broad-billed Sandpiper in Cumbria at Bowness Railings, and a territorial Savi's Warbler at Lodmoor, Dorset. Otherwise, brief encounters included single Red-rumped Swallows in Dorset, East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, and Black Kites over East Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present today were the Iberian Chiffchaff in Cornwall, Snowy Owl on the Western Isles, Bonaparte's Gulls in both Cornwall and the Western Isles, King Eider in Aberdeenshire, House Crow in County Cork, and Forster's Tern and American Golden Plover together in County Wexford. Disappointingly, the Rock Bunting could not be found at Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire, and the long-staying Rufous Turtle Dove appears to have left Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire; where it has not been seen since 9th May.
-  Chris Batty, RBA