Sunday 12th January 2025
	Surprise news today of the reappearance of the juvenile pale morph Booted Eagle in west Cornwall at Marazion; it had first been present nine miles to the west on 10th-11th October 2024 (and reported again nearby on 20th October). In Northumberland the adult male Black Scoter reappeared at Goswick; this bird is now at least sixteen years old. Rarities elsewhere comprised the Double-crested Cormorant still in County Leitrim, Canvasback still in Essex, American Coot in Shetland, American Pipit in Northumberland, Least Sandpiper and Kentish Plover in Somerset, Pallid Harriers in both Norfolk and Pembrokeshire, Bonaparte's Gull in Cornwall, Long-billed Dowitchers in Norfolk and County Wexford, Lesser Yellowlegs in Hampshire, Ferruginous Ducks in Essex, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, London, and Warwickshire, and Lesser Scaups in County Armagh, Essex, Perth and Kinross (3), and County Wexford (2). Unfortunately the report of a Gyr Falcon in Dorset on Friday appears to have been a hoax.
-  Chris Batty, RBA