Saturday 3rd March 2012
	A Greater Yellowlegs was seen very briefly at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, Aberdeenshire this morning, as it flew past the visitor centre, but it couldn't be relocated. This is the second record for the county, following one in 1957 on the Ythan Estuary which was seen alive for a short while, before being found dead later the same day. Long staying rarities included the Common Yellowthroat in Gwent, Spanish Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and Red-breasted Goose in Hampshire (with another of the latter in Suffolk), Hooded Merganser in Kent, Bufflehead in Cornwall, Pallid Harrier in County Galway, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Norfolk, single Bonaparte's Gulls in County Antrim and Glamorgan, Blue-winged Teal in the Isles of Scilly, Lesser Scaup in Glamorgan, three Long-billed Dowitchers in County Wexford, Lesser Yellowlegs in Cornwall, Spotted Sandpiper in Somerset and Glossy Ibises in Suffolk, Pembrokeshire (3), Norfolk (4) and Lancashire. The Thayer's Gull or hybrid was seen at Taynuilt, Argyll.
-  Will Soar, RBA