THERE have been sightings of a rare migrant bird at the Upton Warren Nature Reserve.

The bird, a Temminck’s stint, usually breeds in the Arctic, and passes through the UK on its way to breeding grounds in Africa and Asia in the winter, but the sighting is unusual.

John Belsey, a volunteer at Upton Warren, explained: “These tiny birds are incredible – each spring and summer they migrate between Africa and parts of southeast Asia and their breeding grounds in the Arctic, Russia and Scandinavia.

“While there’s the possibility of them visiting somewhere like Upton Warren on both parts of that migration, it’s actually really rare for them to stop off inland on their autumn journey. Of the 24 birds that have dropped in since 1965, only two have been at this time of year.

“As with all waders, they are adept at finding insects and other small invertebrates in mud. The Flashes pools at Upton Warren are perfect for this – they consist of a series of shallow pools with lots of muddy edges.”

Annually only about 50-100 Temminck’s stints are ever reported in the UK, so the spotting is a real treat for bird lovers.

Mr Belsey continued: “The bird is quite small and can be tricky to identify so it’s thanks to the keen eyes of regular visitor and birder Andy Pitt that the alert was first raised.

“There is a large group of volunteers that help to manage the reserve to ensure suitable habitat for the birds and other wildlife that both breed and visit this fantastic place.

“Not only do we get chance to get outside, do something for wildlife and make friends, we also get to see our hard work paying off. We’ve had a really good year for breeding birds this year and when something as rare as a Temminck’s stint drops in and stays for a few days, we know we’ve done something right.”