Wednesday 15th August 2018
	The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Solitary Sandpiper on Tresco, Isles of Scilly; the fifteenth record for those islands where the most recent British record was also present on 12th-17th October 2012 (on Bryher then St Mary's). New rarities elsewhere were a Hooded Merganser on the Shetland Isles at Lerwick with a White-rumped Sandpiper nearby at Pool of Virkie, and a Bonaparte's Gull on North Uist, Western Isles. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were the Forster's Tern in County Louth, Ferruginous Duck in Essex, and Bonaparte's Gulls in both Kent and Wirral. Seawatching produced Wilson's Petrels passing both County Clare and County Cork and between County Clare and Cornwall totals of 19 Cory's Shearwaters, 42 Great Shearwaters, Sabine's Gull and Long-tailed Skua. Scarcities included Night Heron (Herefordshire), Red-backed Shrike (East Yorkshire), Red-necked Phalarope (Leicestershire), White Stork (Norfolk), Surf Scoter (Angus), two Cattle Egrets and four Spotted Crakes.
-  Chris Batty, RBA