Sunday 14th April 2013
	The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Red-flanked Bluetail in Norfolk at Horsey Gap, where it went on to show throughout the afternoon. Elsewhere, the first Alpine Swifts of the year arrived in Britain - more than three weeks later than is typical - in Cleveland (Skinningrove), Lancashire (Marton Mere) and West Sussex (Pagham Harbour), but none of them lingered for long. A Lesser Scaup identified at Borwick Water, Lancashire, was perhaps the twelth individual of this species to be recorded across Britain and Ireland in 2013, but only the second female. Elsewhere, lingering rarities confirmed as still present were both the Harlequin Duck and Richardson's Canada Goose on the Western Isles, Pied-billed Grebe in Somerset, Red-breasted Goose in Dumfries and Galloway, Bonaparte's Gull in Glamorgan, Little Bunting in County Durham, Glossy Ibis in Pembrokeshire and West Sussex, with single Lesser Scaups in Cleveland, Clyde, Glamorgan, Herefordshire and Lincolnshire. The best of rest included Hoopoes in Glamorgan and Somerset, White Storks over Bedfordshire and Cornwall, a new Ring-billed Gull in Argyll, the Pallas's Warbler still in Berkshire, and the Rose-coloured Starling in Devon.
-  Chris Batty, RBA