A personal account of the rare and scarce birds seen in Britain in 2008. Features many of the year's major rarities including Little Blue & Green Herons, Alder Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Greater Sandplover, Steppe Grey & Brown Shrikes, Audouin's Gull, White-crowned Sparrow, Pacific Diver, Dark-eyed Junco, Little Crake, Snowy Owl and Ross's Gull. For a complete list of species see below. Total running time: 2 hours and 44 minutes.
Disc One
White crowned Sparrow – Cley, Norfolk – January
Snow Buntings Salthouse, Norfolk - January
Pacific Diver – Llys-y-Fran Reservoir, Pembrokeshire - January
Spotted Sandpiper – Lisvane Reservoir, Glamorgan - January
Wallcreeper – Bolougne, France - January
Waxwing – Allestree, Derbyshire - March
Hawfinch - Cromford, Derbyshire - March
Black-bellied Dipper – Watton, East Yorkshire - March
Night Heron – Mere Sands Wood Lwt, Lancashire - March
Green-winged Teal - Marshside, Lancashire - March
Black Duck – Marloes Mere, Pembrokeshire - March
Rose-coloured Starling – Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire - March
Red-necked Grebe – Cheddar Reservoir, Somerset - April
Dark-eyed Junco – Dungeness, Kent - April
Little Crake – Exminster Marshes RSPB, Devon - April
Ring-billed Gull – Lamby Lake, Glamorgan - April
Great-grey Shrike – Half moon plantation, Gloucestershire - April
Ross’s Gull – Lytham St.Annes, Lancashire - April
Whiskered Tern – Kenfig Pools, Glamorgan – May
Wood Warbler – Loch en Eilein, Highlands - May
King Eider – Girvan, Ayrshire - May
Snowy Owl – Sollas, North Uist - May
Black-throated Diver – Lochindorb, Highlands – May
Slavonian Grebe Loch Ruthven, Highlands - May
Whinchat – Boat of Garton, Highlands – May
Red-throated Diver – Loch Ruthven, Highlands – May
Disc Two
Red-footed Falcon – Ingleby, Derbyshire – May
American Golden Plover – Pegwell Bay, kent – June
Common Rosefinch – Tyndrum, Forth – June
Terek Sandpiper – Saltholme Pools, Cleveland – July
Red-backed Shrike – Sea Palling, Norfolk – July
Lesser Grey Shrike – Wareham, Dorset – August
Hooded Merganser – Weymouth, Dorset – August
Black Stork – Greenside, Co. Durham – August
Audouin’s Gull – Chapel St. Leonards, Lincolnshire – August
Rose-coloured Starling – St.Agnes, Cornwall – August
Semi-palmated Sandpiper – Dawlish Warren, Devon - August
Tawny Pipit – Portland Bill, Dorset – September
Grey Phalarope – Shustoke Reservoir, Warwickshire – September
Greater Sand Plover –Ythan Estuary, Aberdeen – September
Pectoral Sandpiper – Cresswell ponds NWT, Northumberland – September
Stilt Sandpiper – Campfield Marsh RSPB, Cumbria – September
Brown Shrike - Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire – September
Lesser Grey Shrike - Weybourne, Norfolk – September
Little Blue Heron – Letterfrack, Galway - October
Scarlet Tanager – Garinish Point, Cork – October
Alder Flycatcher – Nanjizal Valley, Cornwall – October
Red-eyed Vireo – Trevilley Farm, Cornwall – October
Sociable Plover – St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly – October
Disc Three
Olive-backed Pipit – St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly - October
Green Heron - West Hythe, Kent - October
Serin – Rainham Marsh RSPB, London - October
Steppe Grey Shrike – Grainthorpe Have, Lincolnshire - November
Desert Wheatear – Saltfleet, Lincolnshire - November
Two-barred Crossbill – Bilsdale, North Yorkshire - November
Dark-eyed Junco – East Coker, Somerset – November
Cattle Egret – Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire – December
Spotted Sandpiper – Tittesworth Reservoir, Staffordshire – December
Waxwings – Codsall & Belvide, Staffordshire – December
Snowy Owl – Zennor, Cornwall – December
Ring-billed Gull – Helston, Cornwall – December
