Tuesday 1st May 2018
	The highlight of the day was the reappearance of the Snowy Owl in Lincolnshire by The Wash at Frampton Marsh - the first sighting of this bird since the 22nd March - where it joined a newly arrived Black-winged Stilt on the reserve. Discoveries elsewhere today included an Iberian Chiffchaff on the Wirral at Thurstaston, a Red-rumped Swallow on the Shetland Isles on Foula, a flyover Alpine Swift in Hampshire and a brief Bee-eater in East Sussex. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were the American Bittern in Suffolk, Green Heron in Pembrokeshire, American White-winged Scoter in Lothian, Iberian Chiffchaff in Cornwall, Bonaparte's Gull in Devon, Savi's Warbler in Hampshire and Black-winged Stilt in Norfolk. Scarcities included Purple Heron (East Yorkshire), Pectoral Sandpiper (Devon), Ring-necked Duck (Cleveland), Snow Goose (Merseyside), Waxwing (Suffolk), Cattle Egret (Dorset), two each both Wryneck and Glossy Ibis, four Golden Orioles and 13 migrant Dotterel (together in East Yorkshire).
-  Chris Batty, RBA