Tuesday 8th May 2018
	New rarities today were all brief encounters with an Olive-backed Pipit reported in Norfolk at Cley, single Red-rumped Swallows in Cornwall at Nanjizal and East Yorkshire at Easington and then Spurn, and in Dorset a Savi's Warbler singing at Radipole Lake and a Black Kite over Hartland Moor. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were the American Bittern in Suffolk, American White-winged Scoter in Lothian, Snowy Owl on the Western Isles, Black Duck in Highland, territorial Iberian Chiffchaffs in each of Cornwall, Norfolk and Wirral, and single Black-winged Stilts in both Cambridgeshire and Essex. Scarcities included Red-backed Shrike (Devon), Golden Oriole (Norfolk), Temminck's Stint (London), Ring-necked Duck (Cleveland), Ring-billed Gull (Cornwall), Cattle Egret (Cheshire), Grey-headed Wagtail (Lothian), two each of both Purple Heron and Surf Scoter, seven Glossy Ibises and a total of 13 migrant Dotterel.
-  Chris Batty, RBA