Wednesday 24th October 2012
	The highlight of the day was confirmation of Britian's second Chestnut-eared Bunting at Eastshore, Mainland, Shetland Isles, initially photographed yesterday as a Little Bunting. Other birds on the Shetland Isles included Pied Wheatear and Olive-backed Pipit also at Eastshore, and Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler on Unst, but the Siberian Rubythroat was not located on Fair Isle. On the Isles of Scilly the American Buff-bellied Pipit remained with Penduline Tit, Radde's Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit, Little Bunting, Rose-coloured Starling, Spotted Crake, two each of both Red-breasted Flycatcher and Richard's Pipit, three Ring-necked Ducks and four Yellow-browed Warblers. Rarities elsewhere comprised Eastern Olivaceous Warbler in Fife, Daurian Shrike in Dorset, Red-flanked Bluetail and Arctic Warbler in Norfolk, Radde's Warbler in Northumberland, Dusky Warblers in both County Durham and County Galway, Red-throated Pipit and Red-footed Falcon on the Isle of Wight, Olive-backed Pipits in Cornwall, Essex, County Galway, Highland, Norfolk (2) and Suffolk, Rustic Bunting in County Durham, Little Buntings in Cleveland and Northumberland, Red-breasted Goose in Hampshire, Bonaparte's Gull in Devon, Spotted Sandpiper in County Kerry, Long-billed Dowitcher in Gloucestershire, Lesser Yellowlegs in Devon, County Kerry and Lancashire, American Golden Plovers in County Kerry and the Orkney Isles, Northern Harrier in County Wexford, two Lesser Scaups in Somerset, Glossy Ibis in Pembrokeshire, and Richardson's Canada Geese in Argyll (2) and County Sligo (3). However, the most significant news was that of the presence of a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler - a new bird for the Western Palearctic - in Dorset, at Southwell, Portland, on Monday, but not since.
-  Chris Batty, RBA