Friday 11th August 2023
	The highlight of the day was the discovery of Black Storks both in Kent at Pegwell Bay and in Lincolnshire at Freiston Shore, and on the Orkney Isles a White-rumped Sandpiper on Westray. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were the Hudsonian Godwit on the Shetland Isles, Forster's Tern in Dorset, Black-winged Pratincole in County Donegal, Pacific Golden Plover on the Orkney Isles, Long-billed Dowitcher in Norfolk, and Black-winged Stilts in Lincolnshire (7) and South Yorkshire (5). Seabirding highlights were a Scopoli's Shearwater and two Wilson's Petrels at sea off the Isles of Scilly, Long-tailed Skua in Highland, two Sabine's Gulls in County Cork, and totals of at least 387 Great Shearwaters and 6,423 Cory's Shearwaters; including 4,542 passing Toe Head, County Cork. Scarcities included Short-toed Lark (Pembrokeshire), Night Heron (Hampshire), Ring-billed Gull (County Galway), Corncrake (Cornwall), Glossy Ibis (Cambridgeshire), and two each of Purple Heron and Pectoral Sandpiper.
-  Chris Batty, RBA