Wednesday 23rd May 2018
	Discoveries today included an unidentified albatross species passing Holme Dunes, Norfolk, a Gull-billed Tern in Cheshire at Burton Mere Wetlands in the evening and nearby now two Iberian Chiffchaffs on the Wirral; one still on territory at Thurstaston and another at Red Rocks. Single Bee-eaters were noted in Cornwall, Dorset, Glamorgan, Kent, Isles of Scilly, Suffolk and West Sussex. Lingering rarities reported as still present were the American White-winged Scoter in Lothian, Forster's Tern in County Wexford, King Eider in Aberdeenshire, Black-winged Stilt in Cambridgeshire, and Iberian Chiffchaffs in both Cornwall (2) and North Yorkshire. Scarcities included White-winged Black Tern (Norfolk), Rose-coloured Starling and Dotterel (together in East Yorkshire), Marsh Warbler and Red-backed Shrike (together on the Shetland Isles), Red-necked Phalarope (Lincolnshire), Hoopoe (East Sussex), Surf Scoter (Lothian), two each of Red-breasted Flycatcher, Golden Oriole, Pectoral Sandpiper, American Wigeon, Grey-headed Wagtail, three Glossy Ibises and a total of 11 Temminck's Stints. Significant late news concerned a singing female Little Crake heard at Ouse Fen, Cambridgeshire on 21st May.
-  Chris Batty, RBA