Thursday 30th August 2012
	Mega news came from Co Mayo this morning when a Black Skimmer flew past Annagh Head - this represents the first Western Palearctic record of this American species. Elsewhere rarities comprised Blue-winged Teal in Clyde, Glossy Ibis in Cambridgeshire, Lesser Scaup and Ferruginous Duck in Somerset and Long-billed Dowitcher in Gloucestershire. Scarcity totals included eight Pectoral Sandpipers, four Wrynecks, three Buff-breasted Sandpipers, three Great White Egrets, two Barred Warblers, two Red-necked Phalaropes, two Spotted Crakes, Common Rosefinch (Norfolk) and Cattle Egret (Kent). Multiple Long-tailed Skuas were logged, including a count of 14 past Thorpeness (Suffolk).
-  Stuart Piner, RBA