Thursday 20th September 2018
	Seawatching was the go-to activity today - a Barolo Shearwater off Heysham and Fleetwood (Lancashire) and a probable Madeiran Petrel off Porthgwarra (Cornwall) were the rarest sightings, but the excellent counts of Great Shearwaters off southwest England were also notable, which included a minimum of 2,506 off Porthgwarra (Cornwall), 2,400 off St Agnes (Isles of Scilly) and 658 off Lizard Point (Cornwall). England's first American landbird of the autumn arrived in the form of a Red-eyed Vireo in Cornwall, whilst a Pacific Golden Plover in Suffolk appears to be the same bird reported as an American Golden Plover at the same site back in August. White-rumped Sandpipers were discovered in Co Mayo and Co Galway. Lingering rarities comprised Pallid Harriers (Hertfordshire and Norfolk), Lesser Yellowlegs (Cornwall), Bonaparte's Gull (Co Sligo), Long-billed Dowitcher (Lincolnshire), American White-winged Scoter (Lothian), Citrine Wagtail (Isles of Scilly) and subalpine warbler species (Shetland).
-  Stuart Piner, RBA