Sunday 9th February 2014
	Highlight of the day was the identification of a classic near-adult Slaty-backed Gull in Ireland. Photographs taken yesterday show the bird at Waterside, Galway, but there was no sign of it today when the observer returned. This is a first for Ireland and potentially only the second for the British Isles, following the bird in London and Essex in 2011. Back in Britain, the location of the Myrtle Warbler in County Durham was released, with several hundred birders seeing the bird today. Other new discoveries today included a Ross's Gull at Leighton Moss RSPB, Lancashire, another at Kinsale, County Cork and a Two-barred Crossbill at Broughton, Lincolnshire. Lingering rarity highlights included the Red-flanked Bluetail, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, American Buff-bellied Pipit, two Ross's Gulls, Laughing Gull, two Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers and a Black Duck.
-  Will Soar, RBA