Saturday 12th August 2023
	Another great day for seawatching with a Barolo Shearwater in Cornwall passing Porthgwarra (the sixth sighting there since 14th July), Scopoli's Shearwaters in County Clare and County Mayo, Long-tailed Skua in County Clare, and totals of 13 Wilson's Petrels, 19 Sabine's Gulls, 688 Great Shearwaters, and 6,862 Cory's Shearwaters. In Lothian the Stejneger's Scoter reappeared in the Firth of Forth, now at Musselburgh Lagoons, having last been seen in Fife on 13th May. Rarities elsewhere comprised the Hudsonian Godwit still on the Shetland Isles, Forster's Tern still in Dorset, Black-winged Pratincole in County Donegal, Black Storks in both Kent and Lincolnshire, Pacific Golden Plover and White-rumped Sandpiper on the Orkney Isles, Long-billed Dowitcher in Norfolk, King Eider in Lothian, Bonaparte's Gull in Kent, and five Black-winged Stilts together in Lincolnshire. Scarcities included Short-toed Lark (Pembrokeshire), Montagu's Harrier (Essex), American Golden Plover (County Londonderry), Ring-billed Gull (County Galway), Ring-necked Duck (Suffolk), two Pectoral Sandpipers, and three each of Red-backed Shrike and Glossy Ibis.
-  Chris Batty, RBA