Thursday 16th August 2018
	The highlight of the day was the continued presence of the Solitary Sandpiper on the Isles of Scilly. Other lingering rarities comprised both the Hooded Merganser and White-rumped Sandpiper on the Shetland Isles, and single Bonaparte's Gulls in each of Kent, Western Isles and the Wirral. New-in were an Arctic Warbler on the Shetland Isles on Fair Isle and a Black Kite in Cornwall near Helston. Notable seabirds today were 10 Wilson's Petrels and three Cory's Shearwaters together at sea off the Isles of Scilly, three Sabine's Gulls passing County Clare, a Long-tailed Skua in County Durham and a total of 13 Great Shearwaters (including nine between Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire). Scarcities included American Golden Plover (Suffolk), White Stork (Norfolk), Purple Heron (Dorset), Red-backed Shrike (East Yorkshire), Red-necked Phalarope (Leicestershire), Pectoral Sandpiper (Northumberland), Glossy Ibis (Devon), two Cattle Egrets and four Spotted Crakes.
-  Chris Batty, RBA