Monday 4th August 2014
	Rarities today comprised the Stilt Sandpiper still in Northumberland, Black-winged Pratincole in Cambridgeshire, Laughing Gull in County Cork, White-rumped Sandpiper in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, Lesser Scaup in Somerset, the family of five Black-winged Stilts still in West Sussex, three Bee-eaters on the Isle of Wight, with a further two Bee-eaters a fresh discovery at Rayleigh, Essex. Scarcities included Melodious Warbler (Isles of Scilly), Red-backed Shrike (Buckinghamshire), Long-tailed Skua (West Sussex), Night Heron (Warwickshire), Temminck's Stint (Norfolk), Spotted Crake (London and Norfolk), Cattle Egret (Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire), Surf Scoter (two in Aberdeenshire), and three each of both Pectoral Sandpiper and Glossy Ibis. At sea, a Wilson's Petrel was off the Isles of Scilly, with 31 Cory's and 83 Great Shearwaters between there and Cornwall, and a further 40 Great Shearwaters were located off County Cork.
-  Chris Batty, RBA