I used to get annoyed when I’d hear pilots specifically request any IFR traffic and you’d hear a reply from ATC saying that there was perhaps one or none. Then the pilot would ask separately for any VFR traffic and the controller would come back with 5-10 more.
I feel like coverage and procedure have improved significantly in the last 10 years as you don’t hear those types of things these days. I’ve also started getting a lot more of the “unidentified aircraft 15 miles east of Romsey, you’ve got another aircraft converging at your 2 o’clock.
Thumbs up for that ATC’ers.