Widely twitched megas belatedly accepted by BBRC

The latest 'Work in Progress' file from the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) includes two surprises, with a couple of notable megas belatedly accepted.

Both were widely twitched at the time, making for a pleasing pair of 'armchair' ticks for many twitchers active in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

An adult male Moltoni's Warbler at Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk, between 30 September and 5 October 2007 becomes Britain's second record. Widely twitched at the time as the first record of the then-subspecies in living memory – pre-dated only by a male shot on St Kilda in June 1894 – it brings Britain's total of accepted records up to 12. Two have since been recorded in Norfolk, males at Blakeney Point in 2015 and 2018, with the former particularly well-received by birders dipping the nearby Citril Finch from the previous day.

The Moltoni's Warbler at Burnham Overy Dunes in September-October 2007 has finally been accepted by the BBRC (Peter Simpson).

An adult Long-toed Stint at Weir Wood Reservoir, East Sussex, in mid-September 2011 was controversially deemed Not Proven by the BBRC when first submitted at the time, but a recent reassessment has seen the record belatedly make the grade. Present for seven days at the East Sussex site, distant views of this diminutive Calidris made the identification process difficult and convoluted, with the identification first swinging from Temminck's Stint to Least Sandpiper. Consensus on its true identity was reached on its final day, leaving would-be twitchers scrambling to reach the site before nightfall – and plenty more to dip the following day. It was previously present for an evening at Farlington Marshes, Hampshire, on 8 September, where it was reported at the time as a putative Least Sandpiper.

Britain's third record, it follows birds at Marazion, Cornwall, in June 1970 and Saltholme RSPB, Cleveland, in August 1982. It proved to be another 10 years before another individual became accessible in Britain, when an adult at St Aidan's RSPB, West Yorkshire, in October 2021 sparked one of the biggest twitches of the year.