Thursday 28th August 2014
	Seawatching in Ireland produced the biggest surprise of the day - a Swinhoe's Petrel seen flying past Kerry Head in County Kerry at 3.15pm along with some big counts of large shearwaters later in the day, eg 488 Cory's Shearwaters and 351 Great Shearwaters past Galley Head in County Cork. The pick of the other new rarities found was a Marsh Sandpiper at Frampton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire, which represented a long awaited county first. Two Citrine Wagtails were found in east Scotland - at Barns Ness in Lothian and Nigg Bay in Aberdeenshire. The flush of birds along the east coast continued today with new Greenish Warblers at Blakeney Point in Norfolk and Scarborough in North Yorkshire along with remaining birds at Stiffkey and East Hills (both Norfolk). Scarce migrants along the east coast included an Ortolan Bunting in Kent, about 18 Wrynecks, 3 to 4 Icterine Warblers, 7 Barred Warblers, 2 Red-backed Shrikes and 3.Common Rosefinches on the northern Isles. Elsewhere, a Black Kite was in County Wicklow, the Lesser Scaup remained in Somerset, but there were just 2 Bee-eaters seen in the Isle of Wight. A Melodious Warbler was at Dungeness, Spotted Crakes remained in Leicestershire and Devon, 7 Dotterel were in Hertfordshire and there were Temminck's Stints in Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire and Devon.
-  Pete Hayman, RBA